Counterpoint
First Species Counterpoint, Rule by Rule
Species counterpoint isolates one compositional decision at a time. First species isolates the hardest one: how to make two voices sound like two voices.
Cantus firmus
A pre-existing melody, often plainchant or a chorale tune, used as the fixed line against which new voices are written in counterpoint.
Also called: Cantus, Fixed melody, Fixed song
A cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody, usually in long notes, to which one or more new voices are added. The term is Latin for fixed song. In Renaissance and Baroque counterpoint, the cantus firmus is often a line of plainchant or a chorale tune, and the composer writes new parts above or below it under the rules of counterpoint. In species counterpoint exercises, the teacher supplies a short cantus firmus that begins and ends on the tonic. In some Renaissance masses the cantus firmus is placed in the tenor. In a Baroque chorale prelude, such as those by Bach, the chorale is the fixed line while other voices are developed around it.
Related terms
- Species counterpointA graded method of learning counterpoint in five stages, from one note against one note to florid lines, as set out by Johann Joseph Fux.
- CounterpointThe writing of two or more independent melodic lines that sound together, linked by rules for consonance, dissonance and voice leading.
- ImitationA technique in which a melody or motif is restated in another voice after a short delay, often at a different pitch, creating a dialogue between parts.
- PolyphonyA texture of two or more independent melodic lines of similar importance, each with its own rhythm and contour, as in fugue or motet.