51³Ô¹Ï

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ground bass

[ beys ]

noun

Music.
  1. a short fundamental bass part continually repeated throughout a movement.


ground bass

/ ²ú±ðɪ²õ /

noun

  1. music a short melodic bass line that is repeated over and over again
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged†2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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51³Ô¹Ï History and Origins

Origin of ground bass1

First recorded in 1690–1700
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Yet Johnson’s overall sprightliness covers a ground bass of melancholy and lament.

From

She’s the calm center, the ground bass, and though she acknowledges the looser culture around her with a shy shimmy, the influence flows more strongly in the opposite direction.

From

But the raucous swallows, the woman’s droning commands, the ground bass of the machinery mesmerized her.

From

The “Goldberg†Variations, too, unfold over a ground bass, beginning with a descent from G to D, but this time in G major.

From

Both use a "passacaglia" or "ground bass", and share an intensity and sobriety of mood.

From

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