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.
Consonance
An interval or chord that sounds stable and at rest in a given style, such as the octave, fifth and major third.
Also called: consonant interval, consonant
A consonance is an interval or chord that sounds stable and at rest in a given musical style. In common-practice harmony, the unison, octave, perfect fifth and the major and minor thirds and sixths are consonant, while seconds, sevenths and the tritone are dissonant. The perfect fourth counts as consonant in some contexts and dissonant in others, depending on the other notes and voices involved. The classification depends on context, and theorists have explained the difference in different ways, from the behaviour of overtones to learned habit.
Related terms
- DissonanceAn interval or chord heard as unstable or tense, which in tonal music usually moves on to a consonance.
- Perfect intervalA unison, fourth, fifth or octave, which has one standard size and becomes augmented or diminished when widened or narrowed.
- IntervalThe distance between two pitches, measured by the number of letter names it spans and by the number of semitones.
- Major intervalA second, third, sixth or seventh that spans the number of semitones found in the major scale on its lower note.