Species Counterpoint

It sounds a bit like saying:

Do you find it useful to play Bach.....only with a metronome?

Is there not a risk of becoming a bit of a slave and too much of a subject to it?

I ask because I find it incredibly difficult to stay within all those constraints.

It is an exercise..it certainly has its utility, having constraints that force your creativity to comply with certain rules is good practice for improving.

Clearly, if you then tell me that you do it for 8 hours a day, then yes, you are truly a slave to it

Dilettante wrote:

Do you find it useful to do counterpoint exercises ... working by species?

Is there not a risk of becoming a bit of a slave to them and too much of a subject?

As always, it depends on what you want to do, how much time you can dedicate to the subject, and eight thousand other things.

If you are interested in understanding counterpoint deeply, a year of species exercises is not wasted time... keeping in mind, however, that it is only a fraction of the things you must do to master counterpoint (precisely so as not to remain subjects of the species!).

on the sidelines of RedScharlach's intervention, the important thing is to look far ahead. If the study of species is a first step, and you are aware that it is not THE counterpoint, then worrying is useless. And if you are afraid of remaining tied to rules, well, write on a post-it to transgress them immediately after having learned them

I agree with Thallo and RedScharlach, although I must say that for me the work of stylistic systematization was more useful later on... counterpoint in the style of Dubois is only a training exercise but it isn't music... true counterpoint is found in the repertoire

Species counterpoint, as mentioned above, is only a first step to begin working with independent voices. I do not even have students perform tonal counterpoint in the style of Dubois or similar, finding it completely ahistorical and unmusical (unless there is some organist who must, unfortunately, take the exam); instead, I focus on Renaissance counterpoint and Bachian harmonic counterpoint.

From species, by applying rhythmic modules, counterpoint becomes "expanded" (Owen's definition, http://www.edizionicurci.it/printed-music/scheda.asp?id=220 ) and things become more interesting.

Then, in my opinion, one also does counterpoint by writing basses or chorales: the moment you decide how to move the voices, for example the soprano relative to the bass, it is already counterpoint.

It seems to me that this is an undue deep dive and could eventually serve to start or to become very skilled in this art... in case one cannot (or succeeds in) doing anything else... like the harmonic one indicated by Zedef.... what would that be?

I mean... according to which method?

modal counterpoint

c'è il manuale di Zanolini

Given that I don't have the Dubois, I don't know what is meant by species counterpoint.

Anyway, mimesis is a good way to start understanding the essence of counterpoint and more.

Then the artist or the talent within the Composer will know how to interpret or modify the technique as they please.

For harmonic counterpoint, there are the 2-voice inventions, those with 3 voices, fugues for organ—for keyboard—for whatever one wants (Art of Fugue, for example), motets, etc.. if desired, there is the text on Bachian counterpoint also by Zanolini (The technique of instrumental counterpoint in the era of Bach, Suvini Zerboni).

What remains obscure to me is the meaning of raffaeleb's post, instead..

Zedef wrote:

Instead, the meaning of raffaeleb's post remains obscure to me..

In fact, I wanted to ask as well... perhaps he is referring in general to counterpoint technique ...regardless of the syntax

Thank you for the answers.

thallo wrote:

write down on a post-it to transgress them immediately after learning them

Very cute, I'll make a note of it