Hardly anyone had heard of Partimento a few years ago: now everyone's talking about it, and there is a wealth of material - much of it complex. This is by far the best general introduction to Partimento that I've found. Many thanks - as always!

I feel so inadequate after watching this.

The fun thing is that I actually studied Partimento for years, but without naming it! °°
This is basically how we harmonize a bass in Composition course in Conservatories here in Italy*: while any instrumentalist/singer has basic Harmony exercise in which they just to add very simple voices over the bass, we composers had to actually build very complex contrapuntal 4-voice writing starting from the bass.
But yet, I graduated in 2012, and I swear I never heard the word Partimento until 4-5 six years ago.

[* there was a reform after I graduated, I', not sure they still do this way. I hope, thogh.]

Didn't expect Pachelbel to jump at me all of a sudden and yet 17:42

A masterpiece: you do justice to the 21st century Italian revival. In only 13 years, scholars like Gjerdingen, Sanguinetti, and Baragwanath have ignited a 2nd Renaissance ad fontes, resurrecting a rich tradition of pedagogy and composing, the nearly lost Musica Practica which informed the classical era. It is a revelation, truly. Thank you so much for all your work.

Your fascinating and beautiful presentation makes an arcane topic in performance practice come alive. When I wrote my doctoral thesis on Spiridion's "Nova instructio" (Stanford, 1980) I had little expectation that his work would have relevance some forty years later, let alone be introduced to thousands of viewers worldwide through a medium that had yet to be developed.

During my years of musical training and education, I've always felt like something was missing. My own speculation lead me to believe that improvisation was the missing link, but I didn't know where to start. I think that I was given an answer to my original pondering, today, after learning about partimenti. I think we should teach partimento along with solfeggio and the rules. It's the thing that's missing and that's holding great musicians back from improving even more.

I studied composition at the Milan conservatory in the 80s and 90s--this was taught almost verbatim. The only exception is that it all had to be in 4 parts. From there, you later moved on to counterpoint (up to 8 parts) and to fugue. Perhaps you didn't get out as the most creative guy in the world, but the technical knowledge was invaluable. Fantastic video.

You put the party into partimento

I realize that this video was the beginning of my journey. I can't thank you enough for this very informative video.

The art of Partimento book takes time to read and digest but the whole video gives the entire summary of how the idea of History , Theory and Practice.... was done at that point of time . Gracias💛

I never heard about it in my conservatory days, and it is a shame. To me, this explains so much about the style and the music of that time. It also looks really similar to how they still teach music at like jazz conservatories. You learn the structures, the harmonic skeletons, the melodic 'riffs' or 'licks', and learn them in all keys and positions. Then through constant exposure and repetition you engrain that musical vocabulary in your mind and body.

We are tought partimento as part of our formation in composition at the Conservatory in Belgium, but the time dedicated to it ridiculously short (6 months!) it's frustrating but on the other hand I would never have heard of this beautiful tool nor your channel if it wasn't for my studies. Blessed we are!

5:15  The knowing pain of being a classical period fan and having poor Cimarosa, Paisiello, Sacchini etc, being consigned to the Professor and Marry-Ann status. 😥

I only heard of partimento a few months ago and was fascinated to know that that was how Alma Deutscher and the Neapolitan children of hundreds of years ago were taught. Thanks for making this and for all the wonderful information and resources on your website.

Excellent video! 👏👏

Your channel and "En blanc et noir" are my current "go to's". Thank you for the high quality of the many presentations. How I wish this level had been available back in university days in Ottawa Ontario Canada, in the 1980s.

Terrific video. Felt a bit at times like a reading straight out of Gjerdingen and Sanguinetti — glad to see their book covers at the end of the video but may have been appropriate to mention them by name.

Never clicked faster

This is just terrific.  I'm falling short of words to praise it.  This is must-watch for anyone trying to understand the structures and textures of Baroque music, or, as the French conservatory knew, any music, and why the figured bass is (figuratively and literally!) the root of all, and worth understanding and studying.  Thank you for this terrific offering, expectably great from this channel, and of such singular importance!  Right up there with the tomes of Gjerdingen and Sanguinetti, in video form with links.