Alberti Bass
(Al-BUR-tee-Bays)


A stereotyped accompaniment played on a keyboard instrument with the left hand. The chords of the Alberti Bass are played as arpeggios, or broken chords. Named for Domenico Alberti ca. (1710 - 1740) who used them extensively, they are quite common to the works of Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and early Ludwig van Beethoven.


Alberti Bass

Play example (MIDI file format)

Dictionary Home