Questions tagged [counterpoint]
Questions relating to the uses, history, types, or analysis of counterpoint.
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How do you define Harmonic Retrogression with regard to intensity?
I was doing some practice problems in the AP Barron's Music Theory book, and one of the practice problems asks: “When harmonies within a phrase move from a strong intensity to a less strong intensity [...
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what was a skip according to fux and what is it in general
I wonder what a skip actually is for Fux. Because, in Gradus he says a reversal is needed after a skip but then he does something like that:
To clarify, I've no problem with how it sounds, it sounds ...
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Are augmented fourth allowed in second species counterpoint?
I'm trying to learn counterpoint with the help of the Gradus.
I think I've made many mistakes but I'm not sure if they're allowed or not.
At bar 62 (upbeat) you may see an augmented fourth, used as ...
Dom♦
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Are parallel 5ths still problematic if the texture switches between 2 and 3 voices?
This is a 3-part counterpoint I am working on. It is not a strict counterpoint exercise but I want to try keep within the guidelines as much as possible. In m. 19 the middle voice (in red) stops ...
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what are the options for the penultimate measure in the 3rd species counterpoint
Mr. Fux says:
Then, Mr. Fux does:
In Gradus ad Parnassum (Mann's translation).
Is the last one a mistake? There's nothing written in the book that it's a mistake.
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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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Voice leading errors in Bach's WTC 1 fugue in C major?
Bach is supposed to be the master of all things music, but in the first fugue of the WTC (BWV 846), there seem to be a lot of counterpoint errors and voice leading errors. In the Urtext edition, there ...
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Fux Counterpoint
In Fux's study of First Species modal counterpoint, why is it permitted to raise the 7th as he approached the final cadence. I realize that allowing that creates a leading tone which sounds better, ...
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How to study part-writing as a self-taught musician?
I've recently picked up Schoenberg's "Preliminary Exercises In Counterpoint" after reading most of "Fundamentals of Musical Composition" as he indicates there and in other texts ...
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Key modulation in a fugue, how to not lose sight of the tonic?
Now I'm having some more trouble with my fugue. But this time it has to do with key modulation. I feel my fugue is becoming too jazzy thanks to the modulation.
There are the primary modulations(from ...
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What is the difference between a double fugue and a fugue with multiple countersubjects?
The double fugue is apparently a type of fugue with two subjects. What I don't understand is what differentiates a second subject from a countersubject, and why a so-called double fugue cannot be ...
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What are some strategies one could use to put as many suspensions as possible in a chord progression?
I ask this question in the context of strict (florid) tonal counterpoint as taught, for example, by Albrechtsberger and many later writers.
Fux in his Gradus ad Parnassum recommends putting many ...
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What's "species counterpoint"? Are there any other types of counterpoint?
I believe the title says it all. On Wikipedia it shows the five species but I have the idea that there is another type of counterpoint not based on those species. Is that vague idea of mine correct?
I ...
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consonant skips in 2nd species counterpoint
From The Complete Musician by Laitz
Consonant skips are motions by a third.
Well, I think we have a confusion here because by saying 'consonant' I suppose Laitz implied that both vertically and ...
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Harmonic Voices Alongside Counterpoint
I'm writing a piece for a rather large ensemble:
full string section
SATB choir plus soloists
2 of oboe, bassoon, and trombone
c-g timpani
In one of the sections, the chorus sings a fugato while the ...
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