Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Are you confused about what polyphony is? Do you want to know how to write counterpoint? Elegant can mean tasteful, but it can also mean well-designed, which the following example pieces are. Counterpoint and polyphony appear in arrangements in many different styles and will enhance your writing skills no matter what type of music you write. Keep reading What Are Some Elegant Examples of Polyphony to learn what it is and how it works.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Elegant Examples of Polyphony: What is Counterpoint?
Both polyphony and counterpoint consist of music that has two or more simultaneous melodies:
- Polyphony means “many sounds” (poly means many and phone means sound, denoting multiple melodies).
- Counterpoint (CP) is note-against-note writing (contra means against and punctum means point, denoting the “points” or notes in the score).
- The terms polyphony and counterpoint are often used interchangeably. However, polyphony will often be used more for world music while counterpoint is usually used in the context of Western classical music.
Western polyphonic music developed during the 13th century, and the term counterpoint came into common use in the 14th century.
For today’s music examples, I’ll be using music from the Baroque period – when polyphonic writing was at its apex. However, you can find polyphony, to one degree or another, in many different genres of music:
- Classical: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
- Folk: Babylon
- Jazz: Sing, Sing, Sing
- Movie Scores: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Pop: Sing Your Praise to the Lord
- Rock: Miracle Out of Nowhere
- Showtunes: Fugue for Tinhorns
Video: Counterpoint Used in Pop Music
Video: Counterpoint Used in Movies
Elegant Examples of Polyphony: How Does Counterpoint Work?
Our first elegant example of polyphonic writing is Bach’s Invention No. 1 in C Major BWV 772. For a PDF of the invention score: click here.
According to the New Harvard Dictionary of Music:
Contrapuntal motion is regulated by direction, by rhythmic differentiation, and by separation. (205)
What does this mean for your polyphonic writing?
Direction:
- Parallel motion, if overused, won’t lend itself to independent parts.
- Oblique and contrary motion work well for helping parts to sound like separate melodies.
- Similar motion walks the line between these two extremes.
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
Motion Soundtrack:
Separation:
- Keep your parts at least a (harmonic) interval of a fourth apart or your listeners will perceive your melodies as merging.
- Avoid parallel fifths and octaves, because they tend to fuse into a single part (e.g., guitar power chords). Therefore, when you’re writing invertible counterpoint, you need to be careful of fourths as well because they’ll become fifths when inverted.
- Thirds and sixths work well when writing invertible polyphony.
Rhythmic Differentiation:
- Make sure that you have rhythmic contrast between your melodies.
- In other words, when one part is rhythmically active, have the other part hang back.
- This features one melody over another, making it easier for your audience to follow the main theme as it moves between parts.
What about Invention No. 1?
- In Invention No. 1, notice the separation between the parts (in both the video and score).
- Rhythmic differentiation is showcased in this piece.
- Usually, when one staff has sixteenth notes, the other will have eight notes.
- Measures 1 and 2 (video time stamp 0:05-0:13) demonstrate imitative counterpoint, where the bass staff echoes the melody from the treble staff part.
- Measures 3 and 4 (video time stamp 0:13-0:20) breaks the imitation and uses free counterpoint instead.
Video: Bach Invention No. 1
Elegant Examples of Polyphony: Ostinato and Variation in Counterpoint
Our second elegant example, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, is structured differently than Bach’s piece. It uses an ostinato bass combined with the variation technique:
- You can easily see that the left hand in the video has an ostinato pattern. Namely, the bass melody repeats throughout the entire piece, though it does get an octave makeover halfway through.
- Each repetition of the theme has the same chord progression backing it: D major, A major, B minor, F# minor, G major, D major, G major, A major.
- Later variations of the theme repackage the melody’s rhythm and adds ornamentation.
Video: Pachelbel Canon in D
Final Thoughts on “What Are Some Elegant Examples of Polyphony”
Takeaway points:
- Parallel motion, if overused, won’t lend itself to independent parts in your polyphonic writing.
- Thirds and sixths work well when inverting melodies.
- Make sure that you have rhythmic contrast between your parts.
Have fun writing!
Related Posts
- Explore Bach’s Epic Orchestral Music in Less Than Four Minutes
- Explore Bach’s Hypnotic Choral Music in Less Than Four Minutes
- Writing Well Crafted Songs
© 2024 Geoffrey Keith
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