Ground bass

A recurring bass pattern that underlies successive variations or harmonies. It provides a persistent foundation while other musical material changes above it.

Basso ostinato: A persistent bass pattern repeated throughout a musical passage or work. Ground bass is a specific form of this broader repeating-bass technique.
La Folia: A European harmonic and melodic scheme that became a widely used basis for variations. Its recurring progression inspired variations that often function like ground-bass works.
Baroque music: European art music composed roughly from 1600 to 1750, marked by expressive contrast and elaborate counterpoint. Ground bass became a prominent compositional resource in the Baroque era.
Improvisation: The creation of music in performance, either spontaneously or within agreed constraints. A repeating bass gives performers a stable framework for improvised variations.
Ostinato: A short musical pattern repeated persistently, usually in one voice. A ground bass functions as an ostinato in the lowest musical register.
When I Am Laid in Earth: An aria from Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas, supported by a descending chromatic bass. Purcell's aria turns a repeated bass into a sustained expression of grief.
Henry Purcell: An English composer of the seventeenth century known for his vocal, theatrical, and instrumental music. Purcell made ground bass a vivid expressive device in English stage music.
Counterpoint: The technique of combining independent melodic lines into a coherent musical texture. A ground bass can serve as one fixed line against which upper voices move independently.
Ground progression: A recurring sequence of chords that supports successive musical variations. Unlike a ground bass, it repeats a harmonic sequence rather than necessarily repeating a bass melody.
Dido and Aeneas: An opera by Henry Purcell, first performed in the late seventeenth century. Its lament is among the best-known uses of ground bass in vocal music.

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