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((Short description|Baroque musical accompaniment))
((More citations needed|date=March 2020))

'''Basso continuo''' parts, almost universal in the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] era (1600–1750), provided the [[harmony (music)|harmonic]] structure of the music by supplying a [[bassline]] and a [[chord progression]]. The phrase is often shortened to '''continuo''', and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part are called the ''continuo group''. 
[[File:Soloquartet and strings.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A harpsichordist and a bassist play continuo for a small group of singers (the solo ensemble of the [[Kreuznacher Diakonie Choir]]). ]]

==Forces==
The composition of the continuo group is often left to the discretion of the performers (or, for a large performance, the [[conductor (music)|conductor]]), and practice varied enormously within the Baroque period. At least one instrument capable of playing chords must be included, such as a [[harpsichord]], [[organ (music)|organ]], [[lute]], [[theorbo]], [[guitar]], [[Regal (instrument)|regal]], or [[harp]]. In addition, any number of instruments that play in the [[bass (music)|bass]] register may be included, such as [[cello]], [[double bass]], [[viol|bass viol]], or [[bassoon]]. In modern performances of chamber works, the most common combination is harpsichord and cello for instrumental works and secular vocal works, such as [[opera]]s, and organ  and cello for [[sacred music]]. A double bass may be added, particularly when accompanying a lower-pitched solo voice (e.g., a bass singer).

In larger orchestral works, typically performers match the [[Family (musical instruments)|instrument families]] used in the full ensemble: including bassoon when the work includes [[oboe]]s or other woodwinds, but restricting it to cello and/or [[double bass]] if only strings are involved, although occasionally individual movements of suites deviate from this at the musical director's discretion (e.g. bassoon without oboes). [[Harp]]s, lutes, and other handheld instruments are more typical of early 17th-century music. Sometimes instruments are specified by the composer: in ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' (1607) [[Monteverdi]] calls for an exceptionally varied instrumentation, with multiple harpsichords and lutes with a [[bass violin]] in the pastoral scenes followed by lamenting to the accompaniment of [[Positive organ|''organo di legno'']] and ''[[chitarrone]]'', while [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] stands watch to the sound of a regal. [[Contrabassoon]] is rare as a continuo instrument, but is often used in J. S. Bach's [[Johannespassion]] which calls for "bassono grosso".<ref>"''Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Johannes-Passion'', Bärenreiter, 1988, 3rd edition, 1999</ref>

The keyboard (or other chord-playing instrument) player ''realizes'' (that is, adds in an improvised fashion) a continuo part by playing, in addition to the notated bass line, notes above it to complete chords, either determined ahead of time or [[Musical improvisation|improvised]] in performance. The [[figured bass]] notation, described below, is a guide, but performers are also expected to use their musical judgment and the other instruments or voices (notably the lead [[melody]] and any [[accidental (music)|accidental]]s that might be present in it) as a guide. Experienced players sometimes incorporate [[Motive (music)|motives]] found in the other instrumental parts into their improvised chordal accompaniment. Modern editions of such music usually supply a realized keyboard part, fully written out in [[staff notation]] for a player, in place of improvisation. With the rise in [[historically informed performance]], however, the number of performers who are able to improvise their parts from the figures, as Baroque players would have done, has increased.((citation needed|date=December 2015))

==Notation==
((Main|Figured bass))

Chord-playing continuo instrument parts are often written in figured bass. A part so annotated consists of a [[bass line]] in [[Musical note|note]]s on a [[musical staff]] plus numbers and [[Accidental (music)|accidental]]s (or in some cases [[Backslash|(back)slash]]es added to a number) beneath the staff to indicate what [[interval (music)|interval]]s above the bass notes should be played, and therefore which [[Inverted chord|inversions]] of which chords are to be played.

The phrase ''[[tasto solo]]'' indicates that only the bass line (without any upper chords) is to be played for a short period, usually until the next figure is encountered. This instructs the chord-playing instrumentalist not to play any improvised chords for a period. The reason ''tasto solo'' had to be specified was because it was an accepted convention that if no figures were present in a section of otherwise figured bass line, the chord-playing performer would either assume that it was a [[root-position]] triad, or deduce from the harmonic motion that another figure was implied. For example, if a continuo part in the key of C begins with a C bass note in the first measure, which descends to a B((music|natural)) in the second measure, even in the absence of figures, the chord-playing instrumentalist would know to play a [[first inversion]] [[dominant chord|V chord]] (spelled B–D–G, from bottom note of the chord to the top).

==History==
Basso continuo, though an essential structural and identifying element of the Baroque period, continued to be used in many works, mostly (but not limited to) sacred choral works, of the [[Classical music era|classical]] period (up to around 1800).<ref>"[http://thegreathistoryofarts.weebly.com/classical-era.html Classical Era (1750–1820)]", ''TheGreatHistoryofArts.Weebly.com''. Accessed: 27 July 2017.</ref>((Failed verification|date=July 2016))<!--Source emphasizes the rapid decline of continuo practice in the Classical Era, and does not say what sort of music might have proved most resistant to this discontinuance.--> An example is [[C. P. E. Bach]]'s Concerto in D minor for flute, strings and basso continuo. Examples of its use in the 19th century are rarer, but they do exist: [[mass (music)|mass]]es by [[Anton Bruckner]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], and [[Franz Schubert]], for example, have a basso continuo part that was for an organist.

== See also ==
* [[Comping (jazz)|Comping]], a similar type of accompaniment in jazz music

==References==
((Reflist))

((Authority control))

[[Category:Baroque music]]
[[Category:Chord progressions]]
[[Category:Musical historicism]]

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