Prep for Friday, January 11

First, if you have yet to pass either of the “fundamentals” quizzes (types of motion or consonance and dissonance), review the necessary materials and retake those quizzes. Likewise, if you have not passed composing and singing a cantus firmus with a partner, prepare to re-assess that. Make it a priority to have all of these things completed successfully by Friday.

New materials

Review the reading on Composing a first-species counterpoint, and watch the video on that page demonstrating the compositional process.

In the rules and guidelines provided in the readings, video, and my in-person comments so far—as well as the insights you have expressed in your analyses—there are several underlying principles that determine what makes good and bad counterpoint. Based on our activities and resources so far, with an emphasis on the first-species resources, what do you think these principles are?

ENTRY TICKET: Before class on Friday, tweet an original answer to this question, providing one possible underlying principle of good counterpoint you can discern from our work so far, or one response (a respectful correction or an elaboration) to one of your classmates’ tweets.