Counterpoint

Hello,

I was just curious if any of you know of a site or sites that have information on counterpoint?

Google? Why ask here when you can just check for yourself?

There's a guide to it posted here, on YC.

counterpoint? where would that be? in the wiki bit possibly?

this is one I particularly like:

Species Counterpoint

Thanks everybody!

Oooh...yeah, thanks QC from me too. I have the Fux Gradus ad Parnassum in Mann's translation, but that Species Counterpoint site might actually be more practicable.

Check the http://www.musique.umontreal.ca/personnel/Belkin/bk.C/index.html guide to Counterpoint. The guy has also written guides for orchestration, form and harmony. :)

Check the http://www.musique.umontreal.ca/personnel/Belkin/bk.C/index.html guide to Counterpoint. The guy has also written guides for orchestration, form and harmony. :)

LOL... "the guy" is professor Alan Belkin, one of the finest composition teachers in Canada.

Thanks for posting these. I know absolutely nothing about counterpoint so i'll study them carefully.

Hi people,

I have been reading this forum for some weeks now, and I've just started learning counterpoint. I have these first species counterpoint with cantus firmi form the internet, is it okay for me to post them here so that maybe someone can point out errors?

counterpoint.pdf

counterpoint.mus

I haven't looked very close at all, but one general suggestion is to pay some attention to leaps. You seem to tend to leap quite a bit occasionally; what's more important, you don't always recover your leaps. Any leap (I believe even thirds, but even more importantly greater leaps) should be followed by motion in the opposite direction of the leap. An upward leap, for instance, should be folllowed by downward motion. Also, somewhere you have a leap of a sixth, and my gut feeling says (although it could be wrong) that this ought to be too big. I might return to this at some point when I have more time.

Hi people,

I have been reading this forum for some weeks now, and I've just started learning counterpoint. I have these first species counterpoint with cantus firmi form the internet, is it okay for me to post them here so that maybe someone can point out errors?

Look okay to me, apart from Fux 3, 2nd line, 3rd chord in (59). I don't think perfect 4ths are allowed as these were regarded as dissonant.

I would probably use more contrary motion myself, but this is a matter of taste.

Great. Keep it going!

and there are just a few too many 6ths in a row in most of your examples.

while these aren't "wrong" by themselves, the point is to learn to seek out the use of all the (legal) intervals to enrich the palette.

Also, you use a great deal of parallel movement, which is fine (those 6ths and 3rds) except you also need to be learning about contrary motion (which will be your best friend in later days of counterpoint study).

I'm not sure about the Fux, but I do know that some schools forbid tied whole notes or repetitions of notes. Again, as a "learning experience" you would probably do well to avoid them as well (makes it harder, but that's when you learn, isn't it).

I'm not sure about the Fux, but I do know that some schools forbid tied whole notes or repetitions of notes. Again, as a "learning experience" you would probably do well to avoid them as well (makes it harder, but that's when you learn, isn't it).

I wasn't allowed tied notes until species 4, surely not in species 1, and came back to mention that. Repetitions were ok as long as the note sounded. Hence counter point.

Cheers, at least Quasimodo can think about it.

Thanks, I'll take all this into consideration for the next ones :) Tied notes where shown as ok in the webtext I had, basically it's just the repeated notes tied. I now about the one sixth down jump which I chose to keep because i thought it sounded pretty nice. I'll try to work on more contrary motions, more 6ths, and try less jumps or sraighten them out.