View source for Alberti bass

{{Short description|Type of accompaniment figure in music}}
[[Image:Mozart k545 opening.svg|thumb|300px|Mozart's ''Piano Sonata, K 545'' (1788) opening. {{audio|Mozart k545 opening.mid|Play}}]]
{{Listen
 | filename     = Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - sonata no. 16 in c major, k.545 'sonata facile' - i. allegro.ogg
 | title        = 1. Allegro
 | description  = Performed by Robin Alciatore. 
}}
[[File:Alberti bass 4-4 and 3-4 equivalents.png|300px|thumb|Equivalent patterns in {{music|time|4|4}} and {{music|time|3|4}}<ref name="Alfred's">Palmer, Willard A.; Manus, Morton; and Lethco, Amanda Vick (2005). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7WF6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course - Theory Book 3]'', p.12. Alfred Music. {{ISBN|9781457407482}}.</ref> {{audio|Alberti bass 4-4 and 3-4 equivalents 4-4.mid|Play {{music|time|4|4}}}} and {{audio|Alberti bass 4-4 and 3-4 equivalents 3-4.mid|Play {{music|time|3|4}}}}]]
[[File:Alberti bass V7 variants.png|thumb|300px|Alberti bass patterns on V<sup>7</sup>]]
[[File:Alberti bass in Thomas Attwood's Sonatina in G Major opening.png|thumb|300px|Alberti bass in the opening of [[Thomas Attwood (composer)|Thomas Attwood]]'s (1765–1838) Sonatina in G Major<ref>Magrath, Jane (1988). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=K53c6CVpSwQC&q=%22alberti+bass%22&pg=PA45 Masterwork Practice & Performance, Level 3]'', p.40. Alfred Music. {{ISBN|9781457410819}}.</ref> {{audio|Alberti bass in Thomas Attwood's Sonatina in G Major opening.mid|Play}}]]
[[File:Alberti bass in Clementi Opus 36, No. 2 opening.png|thumb|300px|Alberti bass in the opening of [[Muzio Clementi]]'s Sonatina in G, Op. 36, No. 2 (1797)<ref name="Goldman"/> {{audio|Alberti bass in Clementi Opus 36, No. 2 opening.mid|Play}}]]
[[File:Alberti bass in Beethoven WoO 78, Variation V opening.png|thumb|300px|The opening of the 5th of Beethoven's Seven Variations on "[[God Save the King]]" [[WoO]] 78 (1804) introduces Alberti bass patterns<ref>Benward, Bruce and Saker, Marylin (2009). ''Music in Theory and Practice, Vol. II'', p.122-3. McGraw Hill. 8th edition. {{ISBN|978-0-07-310188-0}}.</ref> {{audio|Alberti bass in Beethoven WoO 78, Variation V opening.mid|Play}}]]

'''Alberti bass''' is a particular kind of [[accompaniment]] [[figure (music)|figure]] in [[music]], often used in the [[classical music era|Classical era]], and sometimes  the [[Romantic music|Romantic era]]. It was named after [[Domenico Alberti]] (1710–1740/46), who used it extensively, although he was not the first to use it.<ref name="baker">"Alberti Bass." ''Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music''. Ed. Laura Kuhn. Schirmer-Thomson Gale, 1999. {{ISBN|9780028654157}}.</ref>

Alberti bass is a kind of [[broken chord]] or [[arpeggio|arpeggiated]] accompaniment, where the notes of the [[chord (music)|chord]] are presented in the order lowest, highest, middle, highest. This pattern is then repeated several times throughout the music.<ref name="baker"/> The broken chord pattern helps to create a smooth, sustained, flowing sound on the piano. "Chords of harmony broken up into short patterns. Steady bass patterns in orchestral music which give the rhythmic drive to Classical music, compensating for the energetic drive of the Baroque [[basso continuo]] line."<ref>Hurry, Pam; Phillips, Mark; and Richards, Mark (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YIjzx6AoIvYC&dq=%22alberti+bass%22&pg=PP54 Heinemann Advanced Music]'', p.48. Heinemann. {{ISBN|9780435812584}}.</ref>

Alberti bass is usually found in the left hand of pieces for [[keyboard instrument]]s, especially for [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s piano pieces. However, it is also found in pieces for other instruments. It has been described as "a true tolerable monotony,"<ref>Aschenbrenner, L. (2012). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8ATZBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22alberti+bass%22&pg=PA200 The Concept of Coherence in Art]'', p.200. Springer Science & Business Media. {{ISBN|9789400953277}}.</ref> and as "perhaps the most overworked fixture of eighteenth-century music."<ref name="Bernstein">[[Leonard Bernstein|Bernstein, Leonard]] (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hFFMAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22alberti+bass%22&pg=PT51 The Infinite Variety of Music]'', p.51. Amadeus Press. {{ISBN|9781574674026}}. "But over and over again we can find Mozart using this figuration in such a way that it is transformed by the sheer beauty of his melodic invention above it."</ref>

Well-known examples of Alberti bass include the beginning of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] [[Piano Sonata, K. 545 (Mozart)|Piano Sonata, K 545]], and the third movement of Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)|Moonlight Sonata]].{{efn|Given as an example in sources including <ref name="Goldman">[[Richard Franko Goldman|Goldman, Richard Franko]] (1965). ''Harmony in Western Music'', p.20-1 & 174. Barrie & Jenkins. {{ISBN|0-214-66680-8}}. "Examples of the Alberti bass...will be found...in the well-known C-major Sonata of Mozart (K. 545)."</ref><ref name="Bernstein"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Rink|first=John|title=Musical Performance: A Guide to Understanding|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaYxRe-5ztIC&q=alberti+bass|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=9780521788625|page=40|quote=The first two bars of Mozart's Piano Sonata in C major K. 545... The passage consists of an Alberti-bass accompaniment supporting...[a] melody.}}</ref><ref name="Overly"/>}} A famous example from 20th-century American popular music is the bass guitar part of the 1962 [[surf rock]] standard "[[Pipeline (instrumental)|Pipeline]]", by [[The Chantays]].<ref name="Overly">Overly, Mike (March 25, 2015). "[https://12tonemusic.wordpress.com/tag/the-chantays/ Surfin’ With Mozart]", ''12ToneMusic.WordPress.com''. Accessed: 21 July 2019.</ref><ref>Abjorensen, Norman (2017). ''[https://books.google.com/books? Basslines with broken chords are also important in Boogie Woogie piano music. For instance Yancey Special by Meade Lux Lewis uses a typical Alberti bass. id=6ZyrDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93&dq=the+chantays+pipeline+%22alberti+bass%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhr5mvl8fjAhUOB3wKHeMFA4MQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=the%20chantays%20pipeline%20%22alberti%20bass%22&f=false Historical Dictionary of Popular Music]'', p.93. Rowman & Littlefield. {{ISBN|9781538102152}}.</ref> Alberti bass is also used in the ending theme of [[Nintendo]]'s [[Super Mario Bros. 2]]. <ref>[https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/download/pdf/858 "Ending"]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GB8SSIK0sQ&t=33s "Ending Theme - Super Mario Bros. 2"]</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Accompaniment}}

[[Category:Accompaniment]]
[[Category:Piano]]


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