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.
Species counterpoint
A graded method of learning counterpoint in five stages, from one note against one note to florid lines, as set out by Johann Joseph Fux.
Also called: Fux species, Five species of counterpoint
Species counterpoint is a graded method of learning counterpoint, in which a new line is written against a given cantus firmus with increasing rhythmic complexity. The five species run from one note against one, through two notes against one, four notes against one, and syncopation, to a florid line of mixed values. Each species adds rules, for instance on dissonance, which is allowed only in certain positions. The method is set out in Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum, which became a widely used textbook. Today it remains a training ground for common-practice voice leading. In first species, every interval must be a consonance, and the exercise starts and ends on a perfect consonance.
Related terms
- CounterpointThe writing of two or more independent melodic lines that sound together, linked by rules for consonance, dissonance and voice leading.
- Cantus firmusA pre-existing melody, often plainchant or a chorale tune, used as the fixed line against which new voices are written in counterpoint.
- Voice leadingHow individual parts move from one chord to the next, favouring stepwise motion and common tones so that each line stays smooth and clear.
- Parallel fifthsTwo voices that move in the same direction and stay a perfect fifth apart from one chord to the next, a standard fault in part writing.