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Chopin and His Europe Festival Returns

Warsaw is once again gearing up for one of its annual musical highlights. The 21st edition of the Chopin and His Europe Festival kicked off on 20 August and runs until 6 September, packing in 29 concerts featuring a mix of world-renowned soloists, orchestras, and chamber ensembles. Read more

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Topic: Learning to sightread figured bass (Read 2577 times)

kalirren

PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 146

Learning to sightread figured bass

on: December 10, 2013, 11:05:46 PM

This is a technique my teacher never taught me, and I'm interested in learning it.

Any tips, from those who have learned the skill successfully? Any favorite books/methods? Prerequisite/preparatory exercises?

I'm all ears.

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faulty_damper

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Posts: 3929

Re: Learning to sightread figured bass

Reply #1 on: December 11, 2013, 01:26:45 AM

It's like reading noteheads, except with numbers. As long as you understand what inversion/chord it refers to, you'll be fine. You'll have to spend time familiarizing yourself with common progressions so you'll know which keys to depress to avoid parallels in voicing, which is a common problem for beginners. I hope you know what parallels mean.

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momopi

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Sr. Member
Posts: 298

Re: Learning to sightread figured bass

Reply #2 on: February 21, 2014, 03:56:36 PM

I got myself an introductory book to the works of Scarlatti and it has figured bass on it. I don;t understand anything. $:-\$ Welp!

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momopi

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Sr. Member
Posts: 298

Re: Learning to sightread figured bass

Reply #3 on: March 04, 2020, 02:25:08 AM

I did not bother with figured bass years ago due to hyper busy work schedule.

But now, I'm looking at it again. Figured bass still escapes me. I will highly appreciate links, suggestions, and explanations so I can play Scarlatti with joy!

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Piano Street Magazine:Chopin and His Europe Festival Returns

Topic: Learning to sightread figured bass (Read 2577 times)

Piano Street Magazine:A Jazz Piano Christmas 2025 – But not at the Kennedy Center

Piano Street Magazine:
Chopin and His Europe Festival Returns

Piano Street Magazine:
A Jazz Piano Christmas 2025 – But not at the Kennedy Center