Topmusicanswers
Species Counterpoint is that method of teaching laid out most famously by Johann Joseph Fux in his treatise Gradus ad Parnassum. Its method relies upon breaking contrapuntal study into five parts for each combination of two, three and four voices.
- What is the purpose of species counterpoint?
- How do you counterpoint a species?
- How do you end first species counterpoint?
- What does species counterpoint mean?
What is the purpose of species counterpoint?
The seminal composition text, Gradus ad Parnassum (1725), by Johann Joseph Fux, teaches contrapuntal composition through “species counterpoint.” Species counterpoint uses simple rhythmic values and teaches composers how to write one, two, three, or four notes against a larger value, usually a whole note.
How do you counterpoint a species?
Start with writing a small, four or six bar First Species counterpoint. Then move on to Second Species, and keep the same cantus firmus and just add more notes on the counterpoint voice. Do the same with Third Species, and then look to create dissonance in the first part of the bar for the Fourth Species.
How do you end first species counterpoint?
Ending a first-species counterpoint
If the cantus ends re–do, the counterpoint's final two pitches should be ti–do. If the cantus ends ti–do, the counterpoint's final two pitches should be re–do. Thus the penultimate bar will either be a minor third or a major sixth between the two lines.
What does species counterpoint mean?
Species counterpoint is a method used for centuries to teach students how to compose the sort of counterpoint found in the works of Palestrina. ... For each stage the student is asked to write a different species (or type) of contrapuntral line to go with a given melody in semibreves called the cantus firmus.
