Counterpoint

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Brian Coffill

Johann Pachelbel (1653 -1706), Canon in D
AP Music Theory
November 5 2010
Warm-Up:
Transpose this melody to BM without using key signatures




Homework:
Taking a musical idea        and moving it to another key
Transposition
Stocks'
Bohn's
Cantus
Firmus
Counterpoint
Each species has
two specific parts:
A specified method of writing voices against one another
"Contrapuntal"
Latin: "Fixed Song"
Established bass line, in whole notes
Typically taken from pre-existing material
Liturgical music
Popular music
Counterpoint
(Typically Gregorian Chant Melodies)
Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377),  "Douce Dame jolie"
Two sets of rules:
Melodic
Intervallic
Specifically related to contour of top line
Specifically related to intervals between the two voices
Written "against" the Cantus Firmus
First Species Counterpoint
Rules that govern melodic lines in all species of Counterpoint:
Familiar forms of Counterpoint:
Fugue
Round
Canon...
1. The last note must be approached by step
"final"
2. Permitted
melodic intervals
P1, P4, P5, P8
M2, m2, M3, m3
Ascending m6*
*Must be immediately  followed by descending motion
(only thinking about one voice at a time)
3. Each skip or leap should be followed by a step in the opposite direction.
Cantus Firmus moves up,        counterpoint moves down
Rules that govern the relationship between the two lines in all species of Counterpoint:
2. Use mainly contrary motion
1. Build from the Cantus Firmus up
"Note against Note"
Glossary of Counterpoint Terms:
Step: melodic interval of a half step or whole step
Skip: melodic interval of a 3rd or 4th
Leap: melodic interval of anything more than a 4th
1. Avoid unisons except first and last notes
2. Avoid parallel fifths or parallel octaves
When the two voices move in the same direction,
separated by the interval of a 5th
3. Avoid spacing the voices beyond the interval of a tenth
4. Avoid dissonances between the two voices
M2, m2
M7, m7
Augmented or diminished intervals
P4
Rules:
We have a Cantus Firmus...
...time to write some Counterpoint!
Always whole notes!
Species: a defined type of Counterpoint writing
Exact same melody, repeated at different times against itself
"Twinkle, Twinkle"
"Brother John"
- Very similar to a Round
- States basic melody, followed shortly by imitations, typically before the first idea has finished
- Imitations can be variations, or employ Melodic Modifications
- Brother John Canon:
Augmentation
Diminution
Augmentation and Diminution
Strange variations on a Canon:
Increasingly complex restatements of the first musical idea
These restatements usually appear only after the first idea has been fully stated.
- Write a 4 measure melody
- Transpose it to the 3rd and 5th in the same key
- Email to yorktownmusictheory
@gmail.com
We can also transpose within the same key...
(this is called Modal Transposition... we'll discuss why next week)
Sing Brother John in CM
Same key, different starting pitch...
Species Counterpoint
November 6 2010
Victor Borge, "What does a conductor do?"
AP Music Theory
- Compose 2 First Species counterpoints, based on today's Cantus Firmus
- Email to yorktownmusictheory
@gmail.com
Warm-Up:
Transpose this melody to BM without using key signatures




Homework:
1. Avoid unisons except first and last notes
3. Each skip or leap should be followed by a step in the opposite direction.
3. Avoid spacing the voices beyond the interval of a tenth
Augmented or diminished intervals
Overall melodic rules:
4. Avoid dissonances between the two voices
M2, m2
2. Permitted melodic intervals:
P1, M2/m2, M3/m3, P4, P5,  m6
When the two voices move in the same direction,
separated by the interval of a 5th
1. The final must be approached by step
P4
M7, m7
2. Avoid parallel fifths or parallel octaves
AP Music Theory
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad"
Dictation Quiz

First Species Counterpoint

Homework:
November 10, 2010
- Transcribe your own Cantus Firmus from your iPod

- Write a First Species counterpoint over it
Dictation Quiz
The man, the man, the armed man,
The armed man
The armed man should be feared, should be feared.
Everywhere it has been proclaimed
That each man shall arm himself
With a coat of iron mail.
2. Use Mainly contrary motion
Overall intervallic rules:
1. Build from the Cantus Firmus up
5. Begin and end on unison, octave, or 5th
First Species Rules
6. Use only whole notes
Write a counterpoint on Pachelbel's Canon
Write your own counterpoint on Pachelbel's Canon
Write your own counterpoint on L'Homme Arme
In small groups, write your own Cantus Firmus based on a song on your iPod.
Select someone else's Cantus Firmus to write counterpoint over
AP Music Theory
November 15, 2010
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7, ii Berlin Philharmonic,
conducted by Herbert von Karajan
- Write a Cantus Firmus
- Create 3 staves over the C.F.
- Write 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Species Counterpoint lines
- Email.
Dictation Quiz

Second Species Counterpoint

Homework:
Second Species Counterpoint
Dictation Quiz: Intervals
2 1
AGAINST
First Species Counterpoint
AGAINST
1 1
Second Species Rules
1.  Follow First Species rules, unless  otherwise specified
3. You may begin on an upbeat
4. Avoid unisons, except the first or last note
AGAINST
Third Species Counterpoint
4 1
(3 or)
2. Use half notes or whole notes in the counterpoint line
2. Counterpoint = quarter, half, or whole notes
1.  Follow all First and Second Species rules,
unless  otherwise specified
Third Species Rules
Second Species on L'Homme Arme
Third Species on L'Homme Arme

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