Partimento is a Neapolitan method of teaching composition and improvisation using a digital or non-digital bass recording. The student was expected to develop this bass into a full-fledged polyphonic piece directly at the instrument.
Partimenti by Giovanni Paisiello is a unique methodological legacy of the Neapolitan school created specifically for the Russian Empire.
During his stay in St. Petersburg as court composer to Catherine II 1776-84 Paisiello taught harpsichord to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna wife of the future Emperor Paul I. In 1782 he published his main instructional work for her `Regole per bene accompagnare il partimento o sia il basso fondamentale sopra il Cembalo` Rules for good accompaniment on partimento or fundamental bass on the harpsichord.
The collection consists of 46 partimenti which are divided into three logical parts
- rules Regole - the basics of harmonization of intervals resolution of consonances and dissonances basic harmonic formulas;
- practical basses Partimenti - exercises arranged in order of increasing difficulty from simple cadence patterns to developed pieces;
- modulations - schemes for transition from one key to another.