Figured Bass Exercises

The material contained in this volume is, as far as possible, arranged in progressive order. The three sections into which the work is divided correspond roughly to an elementary, an intermediate and an advanced stage of instruction. All the exercises, with the exception of the preliminary exercises, are excerpts from original compositions of the thorough-bass period; the majority of the chorales has been taken from old collections. The exercises should be carried out in accordance with the following principles:

• Chorales are played strictly in four parts; the given melody is always the topmost voice. The four-part texture includes the possibility that on occasion two voices may arrive at a simultaneous unison, so that in actual fact only three keys will in that case be depressed. On rare occasions, chords that demand five parts may be called for in chorales. (In this volume, chorales are distinguished by being printed with continuous bar-lines extending across both staves of each system.)
• Recitatives are normally performed in three to four parts. As the vocal line should not be duplicated in the accompaniment, the top line of the latter is determined in an easy and natural way by the smooth linking of the chords. The contour of the vocal line can from time to time provide the skeleton for the progress of the accompaniment’s top line. The accompaniments of instrumental pieces, songs and arias is in anything from two to many parts; the number of parts used can also vary during the course of a piece. In the case of rapidly-moving individual parts, a thinner texture is recommended, whereas calm harmonic progressions and isolated chords can be played more fully.
• Good continuo style does not, however, consist of a plain succession of chords, but includes passages in which the part-writing results in an emphasis on the horizontal aspect, and in which the separate parts can acquire a certain individual Iife of their own by virtue of their rhythmic independence.
• The exercises contained in this volume should be played on a keyboard instrument. Beginners are, however, recommended in addition to work out occasional ones of the problems on paper.

Since a secure feeling for style and a thorough knowledge and understanding of Baroque keyboard writing is essential for good continuo playing, the student is recommended not only to play original Baroque keyboard music, but also to study already-realized figured-bass parts and to play such parts frequently. The more recent collected editions of the important composers of the thorough-bass period include continuo parts that are, almost throughout, model examples of the art of continuo realization.