Topics for this chapter

Assignments for this chapter

Musical Terms

Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Composing Species Counterpoint

Guidelines for Composing Species Counterpoint

First Species Guidelines

For 1:1 counterpoint:

  1. Only consonant intervals can be used: perfect fifths, perfect fourths, thirds and sixths. Remember: in this style, the perfect fourth is considered to be a dissonance, so don't use a fourth above or below the c.f.
  2. You must begin and end with a perfect octave, unison or fifth. Use the ending fifth rarely—try to always end with an octave or unison. It's fine to start with a fifth, however.
  3. Do not have any other unisons, other than at the beginning or end—you lose the independence of the voices that way.
  4. As noted above, watch out for all direct and parallel motion into a fifth or an octave.
  5. Keep the c.f. and the counterpoint no more than a tenth apart—an octave plus a third.
  6. Don't move in parallel sixths or thirds more than three notes at a time—after three parallel motions of a sixth or third, break it up with contrary or oblique motion.
  7. Avoid having both voices skip in the same direction. At most, only once per exercise, and ideally, never.
  8. The goal of all good counterpoint is plenty of contrary motion—this allows for the most independence between the voices.

Second Species Guidelines

For 2:1 counterpoint:

  1. The downbeat of each measure must be a consonance, just as in 1:1 counterpoint.
  2. The unaccented portion of each measure (i.e. the second half note) may be either a consonance or a dissonance.
    1. If it is a consonance, it may be introduced freely, with movement by a step or a skip.
    2. If it is a dissonance, it must be approached by step-wise motion only. The voice with the dissonance should then continue moving in the same direction. See the examples above.
  3. Care must still be taken to avoid direct motion into a fifth or octave!

Fourth Species Guidelines

For 2:1 fourth species counterpoint (involving suspensions and resolutions of dissonances)

  1. Dissonances may only appear on accented half notes—that is, they only appear on the downbeat of the measure. This is the complete opposite of second species, where the dissonance only appear in the middle of the bar.
  2. The dissonances must be tied over from the previous measure. The note that is the tied note must have been a consonance on the previous beat.
  3. The essense of this style is the sound of the consonant interval becoming a dissonant interval when the c.f. moves, and then resolving again into a consonant interval.
  4. NOTE: when the dissonances resolve, they should resolve into imperfect consonances—third and sixths—not perfect fifths or octaves.
  5. It follows then that when the counterpoint is in the upper voice, only the seventh and the fourth can be used as suspended dissonance. These resolve into sixths and thirds, respectively.
  6. It further follows that when the counterpoint is in the lower voice, only the second and ninth can serve as dissonances. The second then resolves into a third, and the 9th into a 10th. See examples above.
  7. In the exercises, look for opportunities to create a chain of suspensions and resolutions.
    1. These will occure easily when the c.f. is moving either upwards or downwards by step. See examples above.

Here are more details regarding the process for creating fourth species counterpoint:

PLEASE LISTEN TO IT, so it's sound in your ears and not just notes on the page:

The final result will be a passage that includes some suspensions (i.e., in the fourth species) along with some normal second species counterpoint. Here's a classic example directly out of the Fux counterpoint book:

When the desceinding line appears in the upper voice, the normal suspension chain is seconds resolving to thirds, or ninths resolving to tenths:


A Feeling for Harmony Hompage