Examples of Musical Counterpoint

Music is an art that has accompanied humanity in the search for the expression and manipulation of sound. Thanks to all those curious enough to grow creativity have developed theoretical and technical bases that serve as a framework for the creation of wonderful works with which we can relate intellectually and emotionally.

In this lesson from a TEACHER you will know what the musical counterpoint and examples and, thus, you can expand your knowledge regarding one of those basic techniques of music theory, used in classical musical forms with excellence such as the canon and the fugue.

The word counterpoint It is derived from the Latin term "punctum" or point, thus used to refer to musical notes. Counterpoint is a musical technique that is responsible for analyze the harmonic and rhythmic relationship between two or more voices in the polyphony, that is, when there are independent melodic lines that sound simultaneously. With this we rule out the possibility that in the monophony (a single voice or melodic line) there is the counterpoint.

By mentioning polyphonywe refer to a key point, since the musical counterpoint not only analyzes the chords (homophony) but the melodic progression of voices which also includes accents and their form of movement and development. Another important part of the counterpoint is the recognition of the consonance and dissonance (the balance between the loudness of 2 or more notes).

From the minimum of 2, the counterpoint is not rooted in a specific number of voices. We must recognize that the lower the number of voices, the analysis of the counterpoint will be less complex, since the possibility of variations and movements of the same decreases. On the contrary, the study of counterpoint can become extremely complex when dealing with 4 or more voices.

Counterpoint begins to be studied in the 14th century through the voices in genres such as the motet and the madrigal, characteristic of music performed for liturgical purposes. Counterpoint and polyphony go hand in hand, so when dealing with various voices in these works, counterpoint began to be a crucial factor in the study of music theory.

The counterpoint reached a high degree of development during the Renaissance and especially in the Baroque music. Polyphony laid most of its foundations finally in the classicismthanks to the works of musicians such as Johann Sebastián Bach, who is considered the father of the leakage, one of the most complex musical forms in relation to structure and counterpoint.

In general, in the course of the history of classical music the most common in compositions was the use of 4 voices: bass, tenor, alto and soprano (going from the lowest to the highest), so that many of the established rules of counterpoint are based on the role played by said formation, or with fewer voices.

The counterpoint requires a very complex analysis thanks to all the variables that can be presented. In summary we can reduce the types of counterpoint to 5 types:

1. Note against note.
2. Two notes against one.
3. Three to six notes against one.
4. Suspended notes (continue to sound after being played).
5. Flowery counterpoint ”refers to all of the above in combination.

Additionally there are contrapuntal derivations, techniques to play with the counterpoint such as:

• Melodic inversion
• Retrography
• Retrograde investment
• Augmentation
• Decrease

And finally there are the following structures or forms of counterpoint:

• Free imitation, where the main motive is developed in one voice, to be later imitated by the others.
• The Canon, it is based on the melodic or rhythmic imitation of a voice, displaced or changed with contrapuntal derivations.
• The multiple counterpoint, when there is more than one type of counterpoint, a triple, quadruple combination, etc. It is this technique on which the form of the fugue is based, which is par excellence the maximum expression of counterpoint.