Tonal Counterpoint for the 21st-Century Musician

An Introduction

By (author) Teresa Davidian

Publication date:

10 February 2015

Length of book:

260 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442234598

Students today have grown up in the age of digital technology. As a result, they process information in radically different ways than preceding generations. They like their information fast and consider visual images as important as textual content. In Tonal Counterpoint for the 21st-Century Musician, Teresa Davidian finally provides students a textbook that is quick, direct, and visual—a direct reflection of the age in which they live. This book is easy to understand, comprehensive, and distinctly modern in its approach to the study of counterpoint. Written in a style that is clear, simple, and informal writing style, Davidian artfully mixes the history of counterpoint with an outline of its structure, placing musical examples from J. S. Bach side by side with those from The Beatles to illustrate the universality and currency of counterpoint in music analysis and composition.

Designed as a single-semester introduction, Tonal Counterpoint brings the study of counterpoint into the present by:

Making ample use of diagrams and flow charts
Including helpful step-by-step prompt sheets for analyzing inventions and fugues
Placing just as much emphasis on the composition as on the analysis of counterpoint
Offering a broad array of musical examples, including the work of women composers, American songwriters, current students, and pop music composers

Throughout, Davidian explains how the techniques of 18th-century contrapoint still readily apply to how music is composed today.

Tonal Counterpoint for the 21st-Century Musician is ideal for students in the fields of music theory, composition, music history, and performance.

Preface
Introduction

1: Melody
General Characteristics
Melodic Organization
Putting It All Together
Beyond the Rules
Exercises

2: First Species — 1:1
General Characteristics
Putting It All Together
Conclusion
Exercises

3: Second Species — 2:1
General Characteristics
How to Construct 2:1
Conclusion
Exercises

4: Third Species — 3:1 and 4:1
Three Notes Against One (3:1)
Four Notes Against One (4:1)
Rhythmic Interplay between the Lines
Beyond Third Species
Exercises

5: Analyzing and Composing a Simple Piece in Two Parts
General Characteristics of Musical Form
Analyzing Form
Binary Form
Composing a Binary-Form Piece
Beyond Form and Analysis
Exercises

6:Double Counterpoint
General Remarks and Principles
How to Construct Double Counterpoint
Exercises

7: Two-part Canon
General Remarks and Principles
Common Canons
How to Write a Two-Part Canon
Canon Transformations
Still More Canons
Conclusion
Exercises

8: J. S. Bach’s Two-part Invention
Analyzing Inventions
Section 1
Section 2
Concluding Measures
Overall Construction
Composing Inventions
Exercises

9: Counterpoint in Three and Four Parts
Back to the Species
General Characteristics
The Difference between Harmony and Counterpoint
How to Construct Species Counterpoint in Three Parts
How to Construct Species Counterpoint in Four Parts
Beyond Four-Part Counterpoint
Exercises

10: Fugue
Bach and the Fugue
Section 1: Exposition
Section 2: Development
Final Portion220
Overall Construction
Composing Fugues
Exercises

Bibliography
Index

Students today, having grown up in the age of digital technology, like their information fast and consider visual images as important as textual content. In this single-semester introduction, Davidian provides students with a textbook that is a direct reflection of the age in which they live. Throughout, the author explains how the techniques of 18th-century counterpoint still readily apply to how music is composed today.