7.7.14 Figured bass

LilyPond has support for figured bass

     
     <<
       \new Voice { \clef bass dis4 c d ais g fis}
       \new FiguredBass \figuremode {
         < 6 >4 < 7\+ >8 < 6+ [_!] >
         < 6 >4 <6 5 [3+] >
         < _ >4 < 6 5/>4
       }
     >>

The support for figured bass consists of two parts: there is an input mode, introduced by \figuremode, where you can enter bass figures as numbers, and there is a context called FiguredBass that takes care of making BassFigure objects.

In figures input mode, a group of bass figures is delimited by < and >. The duration is entered after the >

<4 6>

Accidentals are added when you append -, !, and + to the numbers. A plus sign is added when you append \+, and diminished fifths and sevenths can be obtained with 5/ and 7/.

<4- 6+ 7!> <5++> <3--> <7/> r <6\+ 5/>

Spaces may be inserted by using _. Brackets are introduced with [ and ]. You can also include text strings and text markups, see Overview of text markup commands.

< [4 6] 8 [_! 12] > < 5 \markup { \number 6 \super (1) } >

It is also possible to use continuation lines for repeated figures,

<<
  \new Staff {
    \clef bass
    c4 c c
  }
  \figures {
    \set useBassFigureExtenders = ##t
    <4 6> <3 6> <3 7>
  }
>>

In this case, the extender lines always replace existing figures.

The FiguredBass context doesn't pay attention to the actual bass line. As a consequence, you may have to insert extra figures to get extender lines below all notes, and you may have to add \! to avoid getting an extender line, e.g.

When using continuation lines, common figures are always put in the same vertical position. When this is unwanted, you can insert a rest with r. The rest will clear any previous alignment. For example, you can write

  <4 6>8 r8

instead of

  <4 6>4

Accidentals and plus signs can appear before or after the numbers, depending on the figuredBassAlterationDirection and figuredBassPlusDirection properties

Although the support for figured bass may superficially resemble chord support, it is much simpler. The \figuremode mode simply stores the numbers and FiguredBass context prints them as entered. There is no conversion to pitches and no realizations of the bass are played in the MIDI file.

Internally, the code produces markup texts. You can use any of the markup text properties to override formatting. For example, the vertical spacing of the figures may be set with baseline-skip.

Figured bass can also be added to Staff contexts directly. In this case, their vertical position is adjusted automatically.

Bugs

When using figured bass above the staff with extender lines and implicitBassFigures the lines may become swapped around. Maintaining order consistently will be impossible when multiple figures have overlapping extender lines. To avoid this problem, plese use stacking-dir on BassFigureAlignment.

See also

Program reference: NewBassFigure, BassFigureAlignment, BassFigureLine, BassFigureBracket, and BassFigureContinuation objects and FiguredBass context.