12 Weeks
Level 2
3-Credit Tuition
$1,545Non-Credit Tuition
$1,290Counterpoint is the technique of writing independent melodic lines that work together to create effective music. This linear perspective has influenced some of the most popular songs and artists in the 20th century, including the music of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and many other contemporary artists—even in the sampling techniques of hip-hop and techno. The study of Counterpoint is essential knowledge for songwriters, composers, and musicians who want to strengthen their compositional skills.
Berklee Online's Counterpoint course explores the mechanics of basic contrapuntal technique, focusing on the horizontal aspects of composition; in other words, how melodies interact with one another. The course begins with writing a simple melodic line that works with an existing melody. You will then learn to add complexity to your melodic lines using thicker textures and the concepts of consonance and dissonance. You will study motivic manipulations of sequence, inversion, retrograde, and other variations. The course also explores various canonic techniques, including simple, mirror, crab, and mensuration canons.
This course uses musical examples from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th century periods, in addition to relevant examples from contemporary popular artists and styles. You'll have access to a timeline from which you can see the chronological and geographical placement of musical examples as you listen to them. Throughout the course, you will strengthen your music listening, reading, and writing skills through hands-on writing activities. The goal of the course is to give you a broad overview of counterpoint and improve your compositional skills, regardless of stylistic preference.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Identify and compose music using various contrapuntal techniques
- Differentiate and apply counterpoint ratios, including 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, suspensions, and consonant syncopations
- Identify stylistic uses of consonance and dissonance in diverse style periods
- Manipulate and apply motives, using sequence, inversion, retrograde, and other variations
- Write canons, including simple, accompanied, at intervals other than the octave, crab, and mensuration canons
Syllabus
What Is Counterpoint?
- Three Musical Textures
- Counterpoint Overview
- Consonance and Dissonance
- Degrees of Dissonance
- 1:1 and 2:1 Ratios
Lesson 2: Ratios, Phrases, and Form
- Applying Ratio Principles
- Identifying Form in Music
- The Phrase
- Phrases in Jacquet de la Guerre's "Menuet"
- Call and Response Phrasal Format
- The Cadence
- Antecedents and Consequents
- 3:1 and 4:1 Ratios and Syncopation
Lesson 3: Non-Chord Tones
- Chord Tones
- What Are Non-Chord Tones?
- Passing and Neighbor Tones
- Suspensions
- Retardations, Anticipations, and Pedal Tones
- Appoggiatura, Escape Tone, Cambiata
- Writing Counterpoint with Non-Chord Tones
Lesson 4: Motivic Manipulation
- What Is a Motive?
- How to Use a Motive as a Generating Device
- Motivic Manipulation
- Digging in Deeper
- Repetition
- Do You Want to Dance? Basse Danse, Yours or Mine?
Lesson 5: Canon
- What Is a Canon?
- Sumer Is Icumin In
- Bizet, L'Arlesienne, "Farandole"
- How to Write a Simple Canon at the Octave
Lesson 6: Writing Two-Part Tonal Counterpoint with Simple Canon
- Revisiting Bizet
- Canon and Non-Canonic Imitative Counterpoint
- Analyzing Bach's "Minuet"
Lesson 7: Accompanied Canon
- Getting Acquainted with Pachelbel's "Canon in D"
- "Canon in D" in the 21st Century
- Moving Forward with the Ground (or Under the Ground as in Purcell's "Lament")
- Returning to Summer
Lesson 8: Inverted Canon at the 4th and 5th
- Canons at Intervals Other than the Octave
- Inverted Canon (or Canone in Moto Contrario)
- Bach's "Goldberg Variation No. 12"
Lesson 9: Double Counterpoint, Alchemy, and the Crab Canon
- Double Counterpoint
- Bach's Invention No. 6
- Theile, Musicalisches Kunstbuch, Selections from Number 7
- Crab Canon
Lesson 10: Stretching and Squeezing Time: Prolation and the Mensuration Canon
- Defining Prolation and Mensuration
- Canons by Augmentation and Diminution
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Josquin des Prez' "Ex una voces tres" from Agnus Dei II
Lesson 11: Versatility of the Canon
- "Thirteen Canons for Women's Voices, No. 4, Op. 113, No. 6"
- Revisiting "Sumer Is Icumen In"
- Early 20th Century Example: Bartok
Lesson 12: Introduction to "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber
- Listening to Barber's "Adagio for Strings"
- "Adagio for Strings:" Melody, Phrase 1
- "Adagio for Strings:" Melody, Phrases 2-3
- "Adagio for Strings:" Section 2 Summary
- "Adagio for Strings:" Registral and Tonal Centers
- Structural Melodic Summary
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Theory 201, Music Theory and Composition 1, or Getting Inside Harmony 2, or equivalent knowledge and experience is required.
Student should be able to:
- Demonstrate fluent music reading skills including use of treble and bass clefs, intervals, key signatures, time signatures, and chord identification
Textbook(s)
- Contemporary Counterpoint: Theory & Application by Beth Denisch (Berklee Press, 2017)
Software
- Notation software, such as Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore (free), etc.
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
Beth Denisch is a Professor in the Composition department at Berklee College of Music. Her music has been performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada, Mexico, Greece, Ukraine, Russia, China, and Thailand and recorded by Juxtab, Albany, and Interval record labels.
She has received awards and grants from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, PatsyLu Fund, American Composers Forum, and American Music Center. Her music has been commissioned by the Handel and Haydn Society, St. Louis Historical Society, Equinox Chamber Players, Philadelphia Classical Symphony, and Chamber Orchestra Kremlin. Denisch is active in the Feminist Theory and Music, Gender Research in Music and Education, and Women's Philharmonic Advocacy organizations. She holds a bachelor of music degree from North Texas State University and master and doctoral degrees in music from Boston University. Read Less
Instructor
Pianist and composer, Brian Buch, received his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Indiana University and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition from Boston University. His primary teachers have been Alla Cohen, Sam Headrick, Richard Cornell, and Sven-David Sandstrom. Buch is an assistant professor of composition at the Berklee College of Music. As a composer, Brian writes for all genres of classical and jazz music. As a pianist, Brian frequently performs classical and jazz throughout the United States. Many of Brian’s compositions have received national and international recognition (including the MTNA, Robert Helps, Lepo Sumera in Tallinn, Estonia, Moscow Conservatory, and Queen Elisabeth Composition Competitions in Brussels). His music has been performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Bosnia, and Serbia, broadcast on NPR, Russian Television Network, WGBH, WHRB Harvard, and other major radio stations throughout the US. His music has been released on record labels Centaur, Marquis Classics, MSR Classics, and Ablaze Records. Buch has released three CDs of original music – Shifting Spheres, From the River Flow the Stars, Poems to Sing at Night, and Stone of Traveling Winds
Instructor
Joo Park is a composer and pianist. She seeks to write music that explores the dual nature of existence: simple and complex, obsessive and impulsive, serious and humorous, and tonal and atonal. She wants to create music that combines fascinating musical traditions, such as tonality and counterpoint, with her approach to timbre, chords, fast-changing meters, and texture. She intends to create music that is positive and easy to listen to, and yet intellectual.
Park is the author of the book Musical Creativity in Composition and Improvisation, published by Springer. Her CD, Passionate Message, published by Silkheart, contains six of her compositions and piano performances. Park's recent piano performances include Alban Berg’s "Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano," and Francis Poulenc’s "Sextet," directed by John Heiss. Her compositions have been performed in the U.S., Korea, and Europe, and have won competitions, including the Joseph Dorfman Memorial Composer's Competition and the Beethoven Club contest. Read Less
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Counterpoint can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
