Congratulations! You’ve been asked to join your orchestra’s continuo section. But you only know enough about this system to interpret numbers below the staff. For 10 points each:
[10e] Those numbers denote intervals above this notation’s namesake line, creating different chordal inversions. Modern-day music theory students still learn how to “realize” chords from this notation at a keyboard.
ANSWER: figured bass [or thoroughbass; prompt on figured harmony]
[10h] If you see the directive “[this word] solo,” you should play only the bass line, with no realizations. In a different context, this is the second word in a directive that tells musicians to bow a string instrument over the fingerboard.
ANSWER: tasto [accept tasto solo; accept sul tasto]
[10m] When you see a dotted line next to a figure, you should sustain that note and create one of these effects. Fourth species counterpoint uses ligature to create these dissonances via syncopation.
ANSWER: suspensions
<Jacob Egol, Classical Music and Opera>