This little book on counterpoint is designed to provide beginning composers with a simple introduction to the main techniques of both strict and functional counterpoint. All of my canon composition lessons presuppose that you understand the concepts presented here, so this introduction will be a good refresher course for those of you who can read music but are rusty on the basics of music composition.
Much of the material is based on the German book from which I learned the subject: Der Lineare Satz, by
Hermann Grabner, a 20th century German composer and teacher of composition. His book on
harmony theory was for a long time a standard textbook in German universities.
It is assumed that the reader can already read music and has some understanding of harmony
theory. Specifically, the reader should understand the following concepts:
- intervals
- scales
- triads
- chords and general harmonic voice leading principles (although many of the latter will be dealt with from a contrapuntal perspective in this book).
Enjoy! See also musicarroll.com