Counterpoint: Melodic Conversations
Brahms was quoted as saying “without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind”.
People that haven’t tried to compose often think that it’s all about inspiration.
That only certain gifted and talented individuals can compose. (I used to think that too, until I tried to compose a piece with a focus on craft.)
What would this mean for the future of classical music?
If composing new pieces is only left in the hands of a very limited few, then classical guitar will probably not survive for much longer.
But what if that whole way of thinking is just…. wrong?
Let’s turn to someone who most people think of when it comes to gifted composers - Mozart:
This quote is very revealing. It shows us that Mozart was working hard on his craftsmanship. He dedicated a lot of time and thought to composing. AND he studied the music of ALL the famous master composers over and over again.
THAT’S what it takes to become a great composer, not talent and inspiration.
This is comforting news for us because it means almost anyone can become a good, if not great composer.
It just takes training: thought, time and study.
(Just like playing guitar does!)
Counterpoint: The study of melodic conversation
One of the things that many composers from the past studied was counterpoint.
Counterpoint means ‘note against note’ and is the study of voice leading.
I like to say counterpoint is ‘melody against melody’ - i.e. how separate melodies work together to create a musical conversation.
Counterpoint is a part of everything we play on guitar, so understanding it is helpful for your playing and overall understanding of music too.
Below is an example of a counterpoint exercise that we did in a recent workshop on CCG. You can try playing it on guitar and break it down as two parts.
Play the bottom part by itself and then the melody only.
During our counterpoint workshop, we learned about things like:
How to write smooth melodies
What intervals to avoid
How to create balance throughout the whole exercise
How to develop your ears to be aware of playing multiple voices at one time
If you’d like to join us for our next session on counterpoint, then you can become a member of The Creative Classical Guitarist with a free 7 day trial. There are two sessions and you can watch the recordings of previous session and this one if you can’t make it.
