Two-part Writing

Guidelines for Two-part Writing (Counterpoint in the style of C.P.E. Bach, F.J. Haydn, and many of their central-European contemporaries)

Adapted from C.P.E. Bach’s Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (tr. & ed. by William Mitchell; New York: Norton, 1949), and Kennan’s Counterpoint (4th ed.; London: Pearson, 1998)

1. PERFECT CONSONANCES between bass and treble should be

  • avoided on strong beats, except

  1. when both parts arpeggiate simultaneously, suggesting a larger number of voices

  2. at the beginning of the phrase, or at cadences

  3. when P4 is part of a “K64”; in this case the P4 is really an NCT, functioning as a dissonance

  4. other cases when P4 acts clearly as a dissonance (as in a suspension)

  • avoided in succession at any level of metric structure, except

  1. when both parts arpeggiate simultaneously, suggesting a larger number of voices

  2. at phrase endings, ONLY with conventional cadences involving P5-P8 or P8-P5

  3. at phrase beginnings and endings, when a clear feeling of announcement is the aim

  4. on the weak beats of successive bars or weak subdivisions of successive beats

  • approached by oblique or contrary motion, except

  1. when both parts arpeggiate simultaneously, suggesting a larger number of voices

  2. direct motion P5-P8 or P8-P5 is OK in conventional cadences

  3. in sequences only: on the weak beats of successive bars or weak subdivisions of successive beats

  • approached by stepwise motion in at least one part, except

  1. when both parts arpeggiate simultaneously, suggesting a larger number of voices

  2. in sequences only: on the weak beats of successive bars or weak subdivisions of successive beats


2. DISSONANCES between bass and treble should be

  • resolved by step, even if not right away

  • resolved to a note that clarifies the harmony, even if not right away

  • approached by oblique or contrary motion

  • one of the non-chord tone types: N (neighbor, including Camb. and Ch.), A (appogiatura), E (escape tone), P (passing tone), S (suspension), or R (retardation).


3. The majority of intervals formed between the bass and treble chord tones should be IMPERFECT CONSONANCES

4. Rhythmic and motivic considerations

  • Do not halt motion in both voices at the same time

  • Emphasize alternations in activity between complementary voices, so that one voice pauses or slows while another contains denser activity.

  • Make sure each phrase has a good balance of oblique, contrary, and parallel motion.

  • Reduce, reuse, recycle: Produce a texture with an overall stylistic unity by basing it on a small amount of material — take a single motive and make use of its rhythm repeatedly, rather than diversifying and varying the character.