Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/B/Basso rivolato

by John Weeks Moore

Basso rivolato. A term used by the Italians to signify that bass which, instead of being the fundamental, or lowest unto of the chord to which it is applied, consists of the third, or the fifth, of the fundamental note. Such a bass is also called basso secondo, to distinguish it front the fundamental bass, which is called basso primo.