What Is a Partimento?

In his book The Art of Partimento, Giorgio Sanguinetti gives the following general definition: “a partimento is a sketch, written on a single staff, whose main purpose is to be a guide for improvisation of a composition at the keyboard”(Sanguinetti (2012), p. 14). It can be provided with or without thoroughbass figures.

See also partimento diminuito.

Select Bibliography

Sanguinetti, Giorgio. The Art of Partimento — History, Theory, and Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).