In music, yesterday, we had a test on figured bass. All went fine until the question, 'what is the abbreviated figuring for a root position chord?'

I was a bit confused because, as far as I knew there are at least two possibilities: '5' and nothing at all, so I figured nothing didn't count as a figuring and chose 5.

When it came to marking it, I was told that the only answer is no figuring, and that 5 was wrong. About 90% sure I wasn't making it up about 5, I insisted that I'd seen it used before, which got me an annoyed look and a thoroughly unconvinced 'Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because baroque recorder music can be weird!'

I've just been looking it up to check, and there's loads of 5s in excercises in grade 6 Music Theory In Practice, and I have it written in my theory notes from ages ago (taught by my piano teacher, who, as far as I know, doesn't have a knowledge limited to 'weird recorder music'). And, of course, there's a scattering through the bass parts of my recorder music.

It's not that uncommon, is it?

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest

Sarah

A bit of a trick question

A reasonable assumption given the wording of the question

Uncalled for sarcasm

Actually both you and your teacher are partly right and partly wrong.

The full story is that:

When a bass note is written and the root position chord is required above it then no figure is written.

When the harmony changes to root position (from anything else) over a sustained bass note then a 5 is written to show the change (but typically there is no bass note directly above it.

I hope that clears things up.



p.s. Although I know the theory my brain does not go quickly enough to actually play accompaniments from a figured bass!

p.p.s Reply keyed entirely with my Left Hand!

Thanks, Tom.

Hopefully that didn't take you too long to type out.

I thought it must have been something like that.

I wonder if she'd mind me taking in some examples of 5s to show her....

Actually we are all wrong. I am wrong too (though what I wrote is common practice). Here is what C P E Bach says in the chapter on Thorough Bass in his book Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments


Chapter 5 Para 9:

"The common chord is played when there appears over a bass that is not passing, either nothing at all, an isolated accidental, or 8, 5, 3, each by itself, or combined with one or both of the other numerals"

Cheers
Tom