Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive introduction to Renaissance-style counterpoint
Review: Peter Schubert is on the faculty of McGill University. As a first-time teacher of species counterpoint I am impressed by this book's organization, clarity of explanation and vast quantity of practice exercises. For the sake of the beginner student fine nuances of style are skipped, especially in the early chapters, in favor of a thorough grounding in rules, divided into "hard" and "soft" categories. The former are regarded as unyielding benchmarks of correctness, while the latter have to do more with stylistic ease and euphony. The sheer quantity of rules may overwhelm some students; careful explanation by the instructor is necessary to avoid glazed-over eyes and discouragement. At least in my edition there is as yet no attempt to put some of the examples and exercises in audio form, as do many theory texts today. I also think answer keys for some of the shorter exercises would make this book even more useful, though of course such things tempt some students to peek.

Still, the organization of the material and the obvious expertise of the author make this textbook a most impressive entry in the music theory teaching sweepstakes.