Questions tagged [counterpoint]
Questions relating to the uses, history, types, or analysis of counterpoint.
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Retrograde and Inverted songs
I am looking for retrograde and inverted remakes of classical pieces. Even better if they are being played simultaneously with the origina, like Pachelbel's Canon, Original Version and Retrograde ...
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Are same interval leaps consented in second species counterpoint?
I've been told that, in second species counterpoint, presenting the same interval in 2 consecutive bars is an error. What then if the intervals skips in opposite directions?
Like this:
Is this ...
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Meaning of "Battuta" in Counterpoint
What is Battuta and does it only apply to voice leading by
contrary motion?
For example, in treble clef, if going from "E-G" (major-tenth - that
is, the "E" is in the bass and the "G" is in ...
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Counterpoint (Fux): 3rd species, 3 voices, closing formulas
I am working my way through Gradus ad Parnassum (Mann translation). The chapter is: third species in three voices.
At page 92, I see an example (Fig. 130) that ends like this:
I cannot understand the ...
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Is one octave above tonic also considered as tonic?
I try to learn rules of counterpoint. Yesterday I got this nice source of rules. The second rule there states:
The 7th degree must resolve to the tonic, or it can descend stepwise
if the ...
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Hidden fifths between tenor and soprano in Tchaikovsky's "Guide to harmony"
I have been working through Tchaikovsky's "Guide to practical harmony" and found the following example quite early in the book:
I am talking about the first measure. To me it seems that soprano and ...
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Are counterpoint and harmony mutually exclusive?
I understand that harmony and counterpoint are more tools than set of rules to follow, the first works vertically, enhancing a single melody line, while the other combines multiple melody lines in a ...
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Diatonic Function of Accidentals in Counterpoint
Why is it in counterpoint that the fourth degree of natural mode "F"
lowered to "Bb" instead of remaining as "B"?
Why isn't the fourth degree lowered for other modes? Shouldn't the "B"
remain ...
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1st Species Counterpoint Tritone Reached Melodically by Step
I'm reading Alfred Mann's translation of Fux's Gradus (original available here). On page 35, footnote 9 (presumably Alfred Mann, certainly not the original author) says "The tritone is to be avoided ...
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What interval sequences "defined" Fux's counterpoint?
Motivation
When Fux laid out his rules for counterpoint, he did so primarily in terms of melodic (horizontal) movements within each voice and secondarily in terms of harmonic (vertical) relationships ...
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Counterpoint without a leading tone?
In minuet in A minor by Johann Krieger, it doesn't have a major 7th going to the octave, but it has the fifth going to the tonic and the tonic playing an octave above on both notes. Is this a common ...
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Can you leap to a 4th on weak beats in 3rd species counterpoint
I am doing a 3rd species 4:1 counterpoint exercise and I was told that on weakbeats you could use consonant or dissonant intervals. If the intervals on the weakbeats are consonant then the melody can ...
user35708
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How to think about this moment from BWV 816
I've been tasked by a textbook I'm going through to make a harmonic analysis of the G major "Gavotte" from BWV816, "The French Suite" specifically minding a handful of questions ...
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Can you remove harmony from counterpoint?
For example, two melodies at once but one melody is only on the on beats while the other is only on the off beats, does this remove the harmony from counterpoint?
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How to differentiate countermelody from arpeggiated accompaniment?
I wonder what would be the main difference between arpeggiated accompaniment and counter melody.
Could it be the rule that an arpeggiated accompaniment would be more repetitive (because it consists ...
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