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¡¼Principles of Counterpoint by Alan Belkin¡½
¡¡¡¡The pedagogy of counterpoint
¡¡¡¡The pedagogy of counterpoint is often a confused mix of style and method. Most approaches limit themselves more or less closely to one style, making some attempt at graduated exercises, often derived from the species method of Fux.
¡¡¡¡Fux' method does have pedagogical value, but its advantages are best understood independently of stylistic issues. The main advantages to the species approach, especially for beginners, are:
¡¡¡¡* By eliminating explicit variety of rhythm in the first four species, and by
¡¡¡¡imposing stable harmonic rhythm, it frees the student to concentrate on line and
¡¡¡¡dissonance. (I say "explicit variety of rhythm" because even in a line in steady quarter
¡¡¡¡notes, changes of direction imply some rhythmic groupings)
¡¡¡¡* The use of a supplied cantus in whole notes provides a skeleton for the overall
¡¡¡¡form, freeing the student from having to plan a complete harmonic structure from scratch.
¡¡¡¡* The limitation to the most elementary harmonies simplifies the understanding of
¡¡¡¡dissonance.
¡¡¡¡* The emphasis on vocal writing provides an excellent starting point for
¡¡¡¡contrapuntal study, for three main reasons:
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡* Every student has a voice.
¡¡¡¡* Most traditional instruments are designed to sing, that is to say to imitate
¡¡¡¡the voice.
¡¡¡¡* Instruments are much more varied in construction and idiom then voices.
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡* The avoidance of motives, at least in the earlier stages, frees the student from the
¡¡¡¡formal consequences they engender.
¡¡¡¡* The progression from two part, to three part and four part (etc.) writing is logical,
¡¡¡¡although creating harmonic fullness in two parts poses some unique problems.
¡¡¡¡* Each of the first four species focuses effectively on just one or two elements:
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡* The first species, eschewing dissonance completely, forces concentration
¡¡¡¡on relationships of contour.
¡¡¡¡* The second species introduces the problem of balancing the three simplest
¡¡¡¡forms of linear development between two harmonies: Static elaboration (neighbor
¡¡¡¡notes), gradual development (passing tones), and more dramatic leaping
¡¡¡¡movement (arpeggiation).
¡¡¡¡The third species introduces other idioms for linear development between
¡¡¡¡harmonies: The succession of two passing tones (including the relatively accented
¡¡¡¡passing tone); combinations of passing tones, neighbor notes, and arpeggiation,
¡¡¡¡and (depending on the teacher's preference) perhaps the cambiata and double
¡¡¡¡neighbor figures as well. In fact, third species counterpoint corresponds almost
¡¡¡¡exactly to the ancient tradition of "differencias", wherein the student
¡¡¡¡systematically explores all possible ways of filling in the space between two
¡¡¡¡chord tones with a given number of notes. (The technique of differencias was part
¡¡¡¡of the training both of composers and performers; the latter frequently needed to
¡¡¡¡be able to improvise ornamentation.) Schoenberg's "Preliminary Exercises in
¡¡¡¡Counterpoint" uses a variant of this method.
¡¡¡¡* The fourth species focuses on suspensions. With suspensions, for the first
¡¡¡¡time, the student encounters melody and harmony out of phase on the strong beat
¡¡¡¡of the bar and the start of more elaborate patterns of elaboration.
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡* The fifth species, the culmination of all the previous ones, provides preliminary
¡¡¡¡work in rhythmic flexibility. Apart from a few more elaborate idioms like the various
¡¡¡¡ornamental resolutions for suspensions, the student mainly works on controlling rhythmic
¡¡¡¡momentum (but without motives).
¡¡¡¡* Finally, the mixed species exercises, used in some pedagogical traditions, provide
¡¡¡¡an introduction to stratified textures, and encourage exploration of simultaneous
¡¡¡¡dissonances while maintaining a clear harmonic context.
¡¡¡¡Thus, "strict" counterpoint can be useful. However as the student advances, many of its pedagogical restrictions become stultifying constraints. For example, the student who never works without a cantus firmus never learns to plan a complete harmonic succession on his own. The monotony of harmonic rhythm - not to mention of meter (many texts never even go beyond 4/4 time!) is an enormous omission, leaving the student with no guidance whatsoever about how the mobile bass, which is so typical in contrapuntal textures, affects harmonic momentum and form. The limitation to simple harmony becomes a ludicrous handicap when applied to, say, invertible counterpoint, where the use of seventh chords multiples the useful possibilities enormously. And so on...
¡¡¡¡Other approaches to learning counterpoint are usually directly style based, for the most part either attempting to imitate either Palestrina or Bach. While they vary in efficacy, they share a serious limitation: In teaching a specific style, general principles are easily obscured. Also, as Roger Sessions points out, in the Foreword to his excellent Harmonic Practice, for a composer, a style is never a closed set of limitations, but a constantly¡¡evolving language. For these reasons, this approach seems more appropriate for training musicologists than composers.
¡¡¡¡Whatever the pedagogical regime, there are two essentials for any successful study of counterpoint:
¡¡¡¡* Students must sing the individual lines aloud in turn while listening to the others.
¡¡¡¡The other lines should be sung by other students or played on the keyboard. This is
¡¡¡¡contrapuntal ear training: It directs attention to various lines in turn with the others as
¡¡¡¡background. It leads to an intimate knowledge of the music's inner details, that is
¡¡¡¡otherwise unattainable.
¡¡¡¡* Quantity counts: the more exercises the student does of each type, the more he
¡¡¡¡becomes familiar with the ways in which notes can be combined. Since the basic
¡¡¡¡movements between chord tones are relatively limited (see below), after a while, many
¡¡¡¡patterns become familiar.
¡¡¡¡Finally, we would recommend that any counterpoint exercise, from the simplest to the most elaborate, be discussed as a real composition, with a beginning, a development, and an end. This is the only way to evaluate counterpoint that will be consistently relevant to the real problems faced by a composer.
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¡¼Principles of Counterpoint by Alan Belkin¡½


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