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A Plus course · 22 lessons

Hold your own line.

Counterpoint is two or more tunes sung at once, each a melody of its own, fitting together. You start by leading a round, and finish by writing your own line against a melody.

  • 22 lessons, 2 to 4 minutes each
  • About 70 minutes in all
  • No reading music

Try the first lesson free See the lessons

Chapter I · The argument

By the last book, you can

  1. Hold your line while drones, rounds and canons pull at your ear.

  2. Sing a descant over a tune, and two songs at once.

  3. Hear which notes are smooth together and which rub.

  4. Choose your own notes against a slow melody, and write a counterpoint.

Chapter II · Of motion

Three ways two lines can move

Two voices can move the same way, opposite ways, or one can hold while the other moves. Opposite ways keeps them most independent.

Same way Both lines rise or fall together.
Opposite ways One rises while the other falls.
One holds One line stays put while the other moves.

Smooth and rubbing, in this style

Smooth
unisonthirdfifthsixthoctave
Rub
secondfourthseventh

A rub wants to move. In the last book you hold one into the next note, where it rubs, then let it fall a step.

Chapter III · The lessons

Five books, from a round to your own line

5 units, 22 lessons

  1. Stage 1Book I

    Hold your own

    Lead a round, follow which voice moved, hold a drone and a repeating pattern.

    1. Be a round Free
    2. Which voice moved?
    3. Be the drone
    4. A pattern that repeats
    5. Hold the floor

  2. Stage 2Book II

    Rounds and canons

    Come in second, sing a round in minor, a canon a bar behind, and the middle seat.

    1. The second voice
    2. A round in minor
    3. Lead, then follow
    4. In the middle

  3. Stage 3Book III

    Two lines, one song

    Call and response, a slow line under a tune, a descant above it, and two songs at once.

    1. Call and response
    2. A slow line under a tune
    3. Float above it
    4. Two songs at once
    5. The last verse

  4. Stage 4Book IV

    Note against note

    Smooth and rubbing notes, the ways lines move, and the first two species.

    1. Smooth and rubbing
    2. Ways to move
    3. First species
    4. Two against one
    5. Hold the cantus

  5. Stage 5Book V

    Make your own

    Choose your notes, hold one into a rub and let it fall, then write a counterpoint.

    1. Your choice
    2. Hold on, then let go
    3. Write a counterpoint

Chapter IV · An exercise

Be a round

You need your phone's voice recorder and a quiet room. Headphones help.

Three voices, one tune, each two bars after the last.

  1. Start here. Record yourself singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat twice through.

  2. Play it back. When it reaches "Gently down the stream", start singing from the top.

  3. Keep your own line going while your recording sings different words against you.

  4. If it pulls you onto its notes, listen more and sing no louder: that's the skill.

Lesson 1 does this with three voices joining you two bars apart, then plays a round where all four voices are you.

What the app listens for

The app hears your notes on pitch while other voices sing, when you're pulled onto theirs, and how your own line moves. Blend and balance are yours to check.

Up to three stars and XP for your notes on pitch, and Own line counts your notes in a row on pitch while the other voices sound.The same take shows the plain measure, such as "14 of 16 notes on pitch, pulled once", with no stars or combos.

Counterpoint's first lesson, Be a round: singing Row, Row, Row on the lane while the other voices' notes come in two bars apart. Counterpoint's first lesson, Be a round: singing Row, Row, Row on the lane while the other voices' notes come in two bars apart.
Your choice, in unit 5: at each note of the slow line, every note that fits lights up, and you choose which one to sing. Your choice, in unit 5: at each note of the slow line, every note that fits lights up, and you choose which one to sing.

In the margins

Three notes in the margin

To the reader

Before you begin

Who it's for

  • Choir singers who get pulled onto the tune or the loudest part.
  • Anyone who enjoys rounds and wants to hold the hardest seat.
  • Songwriters and arrangers who want to write a second line that stands on its own.

What you need

  • Headphones, wired if you have them, so you hear your own voice against the others.
  • A few minutes a day.
  • No reading music: the notes are shapes on a lane, and the rules come one at a time.

Singing it safely

  • Don't sing louder to hear yourself: listen more instead.
  • Wired headphones, or one ear lifted, help you hear your own voice.
  • Stop if anything tightens, tickles or hurts. Don't practise when hoarse.

The songs

  • Row, Row, Row Your Boat Traditional, public domain
  • Are You Sleeping Traditional, 18th century, public domain
  • Ode to Joy Public domain melody (1824)
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful Hymn tune (1740s), public domain
  • The canon, the descant and the slow lines Written for the course

Questions and answers

Questions

How long does it take?

22 lessons of 2 to 4 minutes, about 70 minutes in all. Each book ends in a challenge.

Is it safe for my voice?

Yes. You never sing louder to be heard: you listen more instead. Stop if anything tightens or hurts. It isn't a voice teacher.

Do I need to read music?

No. You learn each line by ear from a guide, and the rules come one at a time, as you meet them.

Is this music theory?

It's singing first. You hear and sing why notes rub and how lines move, then use the same rules to choose your own notes.

What does it cost?

Lesson 1 is free, with no account needed. The rest is part of Plus; saving your progress takes a free account.

Finis

Start the round.

Lesson 1 takes a few minutes: you start the round, and three voices join you two bars apart.

No account needed to try it. Saving your progress takes a free account.

Try the first lesson free See Plus

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