Editing Counterpoint (section)

== Species counterpoint ==
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
  \new Staff \relative c' { d4 e f g | a b c d | e d c b | a b c a | g a b cis | d1 | }
  \new Staff \relative c' { d1 | f | g | f | e | d | \bar "|." }
>>
</score>|align=center|caption=Example of "third species" counterpoint}}
Species counterpoint was developed as a pedagogical tool in which students progress through several "species" of increasing complexity, with a very simple part that remains constant known as the [[cantus firmus]] (Latin for "fixed melody"). Species counterpoint generally offers less freedom to the composer than other types of counterpoint and therefore is called a "strict" counterpoint. The student gradually attains the ability to write ''free'' counterpoint (that is, less rigorously constrained counterpoint, usually without a cantus firmus) according to the given rules at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jeppesen |first=Knud |author-link=Knud Jeppesen |others=trans. by [[Glen Haydon]], with a new foreword by Alfred Mann |title=Counterpoint: the polyphonic vocal style of the sixteenth century |orig-year=1939 |url=https://archive.org/details/counterpointpoly0000jepp |url-access=registration |year=1992 |publisher=Dover |location=New York |isbn=0-486-27036-X }}</ref> The idea is at least as old as 1532, when Giovanni Maria Lanfranco described a similar concept in his ''Scintille di musica'' (Brescia, 1533). The 16th-century [[Venetian School (music)|Venetian]] theorist [[Gioseffe Zarlino|Zarlino]] elaborated on the idea in his influential ''Le institutioni harmoniche'', and it was first presented in a codified form in 1619 by [[Lodovico Zacconi]] in his ''Prattica di musica''. Zacconi, unlike later theorists, included a few extra contrapuntal techniques, such as [[Inversion (music)#Counterpoint|invertible counterpoint]].
[[File:Fux-Gradus-ad-Parnassum.jpg|thumb|''Gradus ad Parnassum'' (1725) by Johann Joseph Fux defines the modern system of teaching counterpoint]]
In 1725 [[Johann Joseph Fux]] published ''[[Gradus ad Parnassum]]'' (Steps to Parnassus), in which he described five species:

# Note against note;
# Two notes against one;
# Four notes against one;
# Notes offset against each other (as [[Nonchord tone|suspensions]]);
# All the first four species together, as "florid" counterpoint.

A succession of later theorists quite closely imitated Fux's seminal work, often with some small and idiosyncratic modifications in the rules. Many of Fux's rules concerning the purely linear construction of melodies have their origin in [[solfeggio]]. Concerning the common practice era, alterations to the melodic rules were introduced to enable the function of certain harmonic forms. The combination of these melodies produced the basic harmonic structure, the [[figured bass]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

===Considerations for all species===
The following rules apply to melodic writing in each species, for each part:

# The [[Mode (music)#Western Church|final]] note must be approached by [[Steps and skips|step]]. If the final is approached from below, then the [[leading tone]] must be raised in a minor key (Dorian, [[Hypodorian]], Aeolian, [[Hypoaeolian]]), but not in Phrygian or Hypophrygian mode. Thus, in the Dorian mode on D, a C{{music|sharp}} is necessary at the [[cadence]].{{sfn|Salzer|Schachter1989|page={{Page needed|date=October 2015}}}}
# Permitted melodic intervals are the perfect unison, fourth, fifth, and octave, as well as the major and minor second, major and minor third, and ascending minor sixth. The ascending minor sixth must be immediately followed by motion downwards.
# If writing two [[Steps and skips|skips]] in the same direction—something that must be only rarely done—the second must be smaller than the first, and the interval between the first and the third note may not be dissonant. The three notes should be from the same triad; if this is impossible, they should not outline more than one octave. In general, do not write more than two skips in the same direction.
# If writing a skip in one direction, it is best to proceed after the skip with step-wise motion in the other direction.
# The interval of a [[tritone]] in three notes should be avoided (for example, an ascending melodic motion F–A–B{{music|natural}})<ref>{{Cite book|title=[[The New Oxford Companion to Music]]|date=1983|publisher=Oxford University Press|author1=Arnold, Denis.|author-link=Denis Arnold|author2=Scholes, Percy A.|author2-link=Percy Scholes|pages=1877–1958|isbn=0193113163|oclc=10096883|location=Oxford}}</ref> as is the interval of a seventh in three notes.
# There must be a climax or high point in the line countering the [[cantus firmus]]. This usually occurs somewhere in the middle of exercise and must occur on a strong beat.
# An outlining of a seventh is avoided within a single line moving in the same direction.

And, in all species, the following rules govern the combination of the parts:

# The counterpoint must begin and end on a perfect [[Consonance and dissonance|consonance]].
# [[Contrary motion]] should dominate.
# Perfect consonances must be approached by oblique or contrary motion.
# Imperfect consonances may be approached by any type of motion.
# The interval of a tenth should not be exceeded between two adjacent parts unless by necessity.
# Build from the bass, upward.

=== First species ===
In ''first species'' counterpoint, each note in every added part (parts being also referred to as ''lines'' or ''voices'') sounds against one note in the cantus firmus. Notes in all parts are sounded simultaneously, and move against each other simultaneously. Since all notes in First species counterpoint are whole notes, rhythmic independence is not available.<ref>
{{cite web | url=https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/current/theory_materials/Counterpoint%20online.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023092047/https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/current/theory_materials/Counterpoint%20online.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=23 October 2018 |author=Anon. |title=Species Counterpoint | publisher=Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, Canada | access-date=16 May 2020}} (archive from 23 October 2018)</ref>

In the present context, a "step" is a melodic interval of a half or whole step. A "skip" is an interval of a third or fourth. (See [[Steps and skips]].) An interval of a fifth or larger is referred to as a "leap".

A few further rules given by Fux, by study of the Palestrina style, and usually given in the works of later counterpoint pedagogues,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fux|first=Johann Joseph 1660–1741|url=https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_275485|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003205348/https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_275485|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 3, 2020|title=The study of counterpoint from Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad parnassum|series=The Norton library, N277|date=1965|publisher=W. W. Norton|edition=Rev.|location=New York}}</ref><!--Who says that most later counterpoint teachers give these rules?--> are as follows.
{{Image frame|width=392|content=<score sound="1">
\relative c'' {
  <<
    \new Staff { \clef "treble" d1 a b d cis d }
    \new Staff { \clef "treble" d,1 f g f e d }
  >>
}
</score>|caption=Short example of "first species" counterpoint}}
# Begin and end on either the unison, octave, or fifth, unless the added part is underneath, in which case begin and end only on unison or octave.
# Use no unisons except at the beginning or end.
# Avoid [[Consecutive fifths|parallel fifths or octaves]] between any two parts; and avoid [[Consecutive fifths#Hidden consecutives|"hidden" parallel fifths or octaves]]: that is, movement by [[Contrary motion|similar motion]] to a perfect fifth or octave, unless one part (sometimes restricted to the ''higher'' of the parts) moves by step.
# Avoid moving in parallel fourths. (In practice Palestrina and others frequently allowed themselves such progressions, especially if they do not involve the lowest of the parts.)
# Do not use an interval more than three times in a row.
# Attempt to use up to three parallel thirds or sixths in a row.
# Attempt to keep any two adjacent parts within a tenth of each other, unless an exceptionally pleasing line can be written by moving outside that range.
# Avoid having any two parts move in the same direction by skip.
# Attempt to have as much contrary motion as possible.
# Avoid dissonant intervals between any two parts: major or minor second, major or minor seventh, any augmented or diminished interval, and perfect fourth (in many contexts).

In the adjacent example in two parts, the cantus firmus is the lower part. (The same cantus firmus is used for later examples also. Each is in the [[Dorian mode]].)

===Second species===
In ''second species'' counterpoint, two notes in each of the added parts work against each longer note in the given part.
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> {
# (set-global-staff-size 15)
\relative c' {
<< \new Staff {
r2 a' d c b e d a b cis d1
\bar "|." }
\new Staff {
d,1 f g f e d} >>
}
}
</score>
<br />Short example of "second species" counterpoint
}}

Additional considerations in second species counterpoint are as follows, and are in addition to the considerations for first species:
# It is permissible to begin on an upbeat, leaving a half-rest in the added voice.
# The accented beat may be consonant (perfect or imperfect), the unaccented beat may then have dissonance, in the form of three kinds of melodic embellishment: Passing Note (scalic movement between two consonances), Neighbour Note (a step away from a consonance and back to the same consonance) or an Escape Tone (a step in one direction to a dissonance followed by a leap in the opposite direction to a consonance).
The accented beat may have dissonance as well, but the unaccented beat that follows it must be consonant. This is known as Accented Dissonance, and takes the form of either a Neighbour note or a Passing note, which must resolve down to a consonance on the offbeat. 
# Avoid the interval of the unison except at the beginning or end of the example, except that it may occur on the unaccented portion of the bar.
# Use caution with successive accented perfect fifths or octaves. They must not be used as part of a sequential pattern. The example shown is weak due to similar motion in the second measure in both voices. A good rule to follow: if one voice skips or jumps try to use step-wise motion in the other voice or at the very least contrary motion.

===Third species===
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> {
# (set-global-staff-size 16)
\relative c' {
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff {
d e f g a b c d
e d c b a b c a g a b cis d1
\bar "|." }
\new Staff {
d,1 f g f e d
}
>>
}
}
</score>
<br />Short example of "third species" counterpoint
}}
In ''third species'' counterpoint, four (or three, etc.) notes move against each longer note in the given part.

Three special figures are introduced into third species and later added to fifth species, and ultimately outside the restrictions of ''species writing''. There are three figures to consider: The ''nota [[cambiata]]'', ''double neighbor tones'', and ''double passing tones''.

Double neighbor tones: the figure is prolonged over four beats and allows special dissonances. The upper and lower tones are prepared on beat 1 and resolved on beat 4. The fifth note or downbeat of the next measure should move by step in the same direction as the last two notes of the double neighbor figure. Lastly a double passing tone allows two dissonant passing tones in a row. The figure would consist of 4 notes moving in the same direction by step. The two notes that allow dissonance would be beat 2 and 3 or 3 and 4. The dissonant interval of a fourth would proceed into a diminished fifth and the next note would resolve at the interval of a sixth.{{sfn|Salzer|Schachter1989|page={{Page needed|date=October 2015}}}}
[[File:Ascending Double Passing Tone.jpg|thumb|Example of a double passing tone in which the two middle notes are a dissonant interval from the cantus firmus, a fourth and a diminished fifth]]
[[File:Descending Double Neighbor Figure.jpg|thumb|Example of a descending double neighbor figure against a cantus firmus]]
[[File:Ascending Double Neighbor Figure.jpg|thumb|Example of an ascending double neighbor figure (with an interesting tritone leap at the end) against a cantus firmus]]

===Fourth species===
In ''fourth species'' counterpoint, some notes are sustained or ''suspended'' in an added part while notes move against them in the given part, often creating a [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonance]] on the beat, followed by the suspended note then changing (and "catching up") to create a subsequent [[Consonance and dissonance|consonance]] with the note in the given part as it continues to sound. As before, fourth species counterpoint is called ''expanded'' when the added-part notes vary in length among themselves. The technique requires chains of notes sustained across the boundaries determined by beat, and so creates [[syncopation]]. A dissonant interval is allowed on beat 1 because of the syncopation created by the suspension. While it is not incorrect to start with a half note, it is also common to start 4th species with a half rest.
<score sound="1">
\relative c' {
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff {
\set Staff.explicitKeySignatureVisibility = #all-invisible
a'2 d~ d c~ c bes~
\key d \minor bes
a b cis d1 \bar "|."
}
\new Staff {
d, f g f e d \bar "|."
}
>>
}
</score>Short example of "fourth species" counterpoint

===Fifth species (florid counterpoint)===
In ''fifth species'' counterpoint, sometimes called ''florid counterpoint'', the other four species of counterpoint are combined within the added parts. In the example, the first and second bars are second species, the third bar is third species, the fourth and fifth bars are third and embellished fourth species, and the final bar is first species. In florid counterpoint it is important that no one species dominates the composition.
<score sound="1">
\relative c' {
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff {
r2 a' d c b4 c d e f e d2~ d4 cis8 b cis2 d1 \bar "|."
}
\new Staff {
d, f g f e d \bar "|."
}
>>
}
</score>
Short example of "Florid" counterpoint