partimenti

Partimenti was a pedagogical method that was prevalent in 18th-century Neopolitan music conservatories, used to teach students how to improvise melodic and contrapuntal lines over given bass lines at the keyboard (in this case, a harpsichord).  This gave students important insight into harmony, voice-leading, and composition in the galant style.  This particular bass line is excerpted from an exercise by Francesco Durante, who was headmaster at one of these Neopolitan conservatories.  First Durante's bass line is introduced alone, then a melodic line is created above it.  Recorded on an iPhone SE.