Counterpoint

Fauxbourdon is a contrapuntal technique originating in the early Renaissance, often resulting in parallel sixths, though not exclusively so. Today this term is frequently used in a broader sense to indicate any passage of parallel sixth chords, regardless of the musical period. (Very) Select Bibliography Gjerdingen, Robert O. Music in the Galant Style (New York: […]

The Greek term hemidiapente is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the diminished fifth, hemi meaning “half”, dia “over”, pente “five”. See also diatessaron, diapente and diapason. (Very) Select Bibliography Mattheson, Johann. Der vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739). Walther, Johann Gottfried. Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732).

The Greek term diapason has several meanings in English. One of them is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the octave, dia meaning “over”, pason “all”. See also diatessaron, hemidiapente and diapente. (Very) Select Bibliography Baragwanath, Nicholas. Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the “Thread” of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3

The Greek term diatessaron is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the perfect fourth, dia meaning “over”, tessaron “four”. See also hemidiapente, diapente and diapason. (Very) Select Bibliography Baragwanath, Nicholas. Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the “Thread” of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 10 (RV 580), in: Music Theory

The Greek term diapente is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the perfect fifth, dia meaning “over”, pente “five”. Johann Mattheson, for instance, gives the following description: “The fifth is called diapente, i.e. “over five”, because it comprises five diatonic tones, of which the two outermost, as endpoints, are principally perceived.”

A Corelli (or Corellian) Leapfrog —a term coined by Gjerdingen in homage to Arcangelo Corelli— is a contrapuntal technique typically involving two upper voices above a bass. Consider the opening three bars of the following realisation of the fourth verset in G major by the Bolognese counterpoint master Stanislao Mattei (1750–1825). (For more on Mattei

The Italian expression colla parte means ‘with the part’ and is used in music mainly for an instrumental part that doubles (almost literally) a vocal part.

Changing notes or double neighbour notes are two consecutive neighbour notes between which the chord factor is absent. There are two versions: Both versions are characterized by the following intervallic pattern: a step, a third (between the neighbour notes) and again a step. See also neighbour note.

An appoggiatura is a non-chordal note on a beat

An octave displacement is a register switch in which a melodic line is continued an octave higher or lower than expected after a note on a strong beat, often because of a tessitura issue. Example a illustrates how two octave displacements in the upper part of bar 2 ensure that the first and last pitch