Counterpoint
Entry for EPMOW by Philip Tagg
counterpoint (adj. contrapuntal), from Latin contrapunctus (originally punctus contra punctum = ‘note against note’): (1) type of polyphony whose instrumental or vocal lines clearly differ in melodic profile; (2) by analogy, the intentional contradiction in music of concurrent verbal or visual events.
1. Counterpoint is often understood as the horizontal aspect of polyphony, harmony as its vertical aspect. The problem with this popular distinction is that since chords, the building blocks of harmony, are usually sounded in sequence and since each constituent note of each chord can often be heard as horizontally related to a note in the next one, harmony frequently gives rise to internal melodies, some of which may ‘clearly differ in melodic profile’ — counterpoint; conversely, the simultaneous sounding of lines with differing melodic profile (counterpoint) entails by definition consideration of the music’s vertical aspect — harmony. Therefore, since melodic profile is as much a matter of distinct rhythm as of pitch, it is more accurate to consider homophony (music whose parts move in the same rhythm) as a the polyphonic antithesis to counterpoint. Even so, polyphonic music can be considered contrapuntal or homophonic only by degree, never in absolute terms. For example, the final chorus in most trad jazz band performances of almost any number (many instrumentalists improvising different rhythmic and tonal lines around the same tune and its chords, e.g. King Oliver, 1923) is more contrapuntal than the preceding solos (one melodic line, a bass line and chordal rhythm), much more so than conventional hymn singing (voices moving to different notes in the same rhythm) and infinitely more so than doubling a vocal line at the third or sixth (following the same pitch profile in the same rhythm). In short, the more differences there are between concurrent parts in terms of melodic rhythm and pitch profile, the more contrapuntal the music.
Imitative counterpoint of the type taught to composition students is uncommon in popular music, even though a few well-known canons (Frère Jacques, Three Blind Mice, London’s Burning, for example) must be among the most frequently sung songs in the world. Indeed, despite the fact that canonic singing is also widespread in some parts of Africa (e.g. the Ekonda of Zaïre, the Shona of Zimbabwe, the Jabo of Liberia) (Nketia, 1974: 144-5), the most common forms of counterpoint in popular music are: (i) the simultaneous occurrence of different melodies in the overlap between call and response (see example 1); (ii) the contrapuntal interplay between (a) melodic line, (b) accompanying or lead instrument, (c) bass line (see example 2).
Ex.1 Overlapping call and response parts in Please Mr. Postman (Marvelettes, 1961) [only in PDF].
Ex.2 Melodic line, lead instrument and bass line in Satisfaction (Rolling Stones, 1965) [only in PDF].
2. ‘Counterpoint’ also denotes the technique whereby music is used to contradict or problematise the face value of concurrent actions or words. For example, to highlight essential aspects of the drama that are not visible or otherwise audible, Morricone, in the Bertolucci film 1900 (1976), uses music in the most delicate and noble vein of Viennese classicism to accompany two visual sequences showing peasants in abject poverty. Counterpointing can also be used ironically to provoke reflective distancing on the part of the audience. Kubrick’s use of Vera Lynn’s rendition of We’ll Meet Again (1942) to underscore the atomic holocaust at the end of Dr. Strangelove (1963) clearly illustrates this phenomenon. A noted exponent of counterpointing in the rock-pop sphere was Frank Zappa who chose a cheerful singalong ballad style to accompany the socio-sexual self-degradation of Bobby Brown (1979) and who, in You Are What You Is (1981), set some of the most prosaic concepts in the English language — ‘appropriate’ and ‘post office’ — to ecstatic pentatonic melismas in the pop-gospel idiom.
Bibliography
Nketia, J H Kwabena. 1974. The Music of Africa. New York: Norton.
Discography
[734 words]
