How to Play Basso Continuo: The 15 Things Every Beginner Needs to Know

Support me on PATREON: __________ HOW TO PLAY BASSO CONTINUO / If you’re learning to play figured bass and need some basso continuo examples, a basso continuo demonstration, or just need an explanation of some basso continuo and figured bass symbols, this video will help you out! This video includes the fifteen things I think every beginning continuo player should know about basso continuo realization, as well as a short history of basso continuo and practical advice for how to play basso continuo and how to learn more. I demonstrate using examples from the Kyrie of Bach’s B Minor Mass, a recitative from Bach cantata BWV 26, “Every Valley” from Handel’s Messiah, “Thy Hand Belinda” from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and a continuo treatise by Jean-François Dandrieu. I also discuss standard cadential figures and how to play them, as well as suggestions for further basso continuo and figured bass practice and study. If you want to learn how to pla