What is counterpoint?
Q: What is counterpoint?
A: Counterpoint is the art of composing music by combining different parts (voices) in a way that sounds nice. Music composed like this is called contrapuntal.
Q: How does counterpoint differ from harmony?
A: Counterpoint involves multiple melodies being played simultaneously, while harmony involves chords being added to a single melody.
Q: What does it mean when music is "invertible"?
A: When music is written so that the parts can be swapped round it is called "invertible counterpoint". This means that the top part and bottom part can be switched without changing the overall sound of the piece.
Q: What was Giovanni da Palestrina's contribution to polyphony?
A: The greatest composer of polyphony was Giovanni da Palestrina (1525-1594). Students learning the art of composition today still learn counterpoint by taking Palestrina’s music as their model.
Q: What type of music uses polyphony?
A: Polyphony was used in all church music in the Renaissance. It has also been used more recently in some classical and popular genres such as jazz and rock.
Q: Is imitation necessary for counterpoint?
A: Imitation is not necessary for counterpoint, although it often occurs in contrapuntal compositions. The important thing is that each part (i.e., each voice) should be equally important, rather than one part singing the tune with others just accompanying it.
Q: What does "punctus contra punctum" mean?
A: Punctus contra punctum comes from Latin and literally translates to “note against note” or “point against point”; this phrase refers to how several hundred years ago composers found ways to write contrapuntal music by taking a main tune (called a “Cantus Firmus”) and then adding one or two or more parts to it.
