Analysing polyphonic music requires tracking multiple independent voices simultaneously in a score. This lesson develops the analytical skills — score reading, voice leading tracing, formal identification — needed to understand contrapuntal music at a professional level.
Score Reading for Polyphony
Analysing a polyphonic score requires different skills from analysing a melody-with-accompaniment score. In polyphonic music, every voice is equally important and must be followed independently. The analyst must simultaneously track several distinct dimensions of the music:
- Voice leading in each individual voice — is each voice melodically coherent and grammatically correct? Does it follow species counterpoint principles or, in later styles, the appropriate stylistic norms?
- Harmonic intervals between pairs of voices — are all dissonances prepared and resolved? Are there parallel perfect consonances?
- Formal structure — where do subject entries occur, where are the episodes, what is the phrase structure?
- Overall harmonic plan — what keys are visited, in what order, and how do the modulations work?
- Motivic content — what motives appear in the subject and countersubject, and how do they develop through the piece?
This multi-level analysis is demanding but develops through practice. The recommended approach for beginners is to analyse one level at a time. First read through the score while following only the bass. Then re-read following only the soprano. Then identify the harmonic intervals between bass and soprano at each beat. Then add the inner voices. Finally, step back and identify the formal sections. Trying to do all of this simultaneously on a first pass will overwhelm working memory; layered analysis distributes the load across multiple passes.
Identifying Non-Chord Tones
A central task in contrapuntal analysis is identifying non-chord tones (also called non-harmonic tones or embellishing tones): notes that are dissonant against the prevailing harmony and must be explained as passing tones, neighbour tones, suspensions, or other standard types. In a Bach chorale, for instance, not every note belongs to the chord symbol written below the staff — many notes are non-chord tones that create voice leading between structural chord tones.
The standard taxonomy of non-chord tones in tonal analysis:
- Passing tone (PT): stepwise between two consonances. May be accented (on a strong beat) or unaccented (on a weak beat).
- Neighbour tone (NT): steps away from a consonance and immediately returns. Upper neighbour or lower neighbour.
- Suspension (S): prepared as consonance, held over, resolves downward by step. Labelled by interval pair: 7-6, 4-3, 9-8, 2-3.
- Retardation: like a suspension but resolves upward by step. Rare except at cadences in late tonal music.
- Anticipation (ANT): arrives early, is held, then confirmed by the harmony shift.
- Escape tone or échappée (ET): steps in one direction and leaps in the opposite. Mirror image of the appoggiatura.
- Appoggiatura (APP): approached by leap and resolved by step. Often accented and expressively prominent.
- Cambiata (changing note figure): down by step, down by third, up by step. A specific Renaissance figure with its own grammar.
- Pedal tone (pedal): sustained note (usually in the bass) while harmonies change above or below.
The Bach Chorale as Analytical Template
Bach's 371 four-part chorales (BWV 253-438 and others) are the standard analytical training material for tonal counterpoint. Each chorale is a four-voice setting of a hymn tune, lasting 30-60 seconds, with rich harmonic content and exemplary voice leading. The student should analyse multiple chorales per week, identifying for each chord the Roman numeral, the inversion, and any non-chord tones in each voice. Over a year of consistent analysis, the student develops an internalised sense of tonal voice leading that informs all subsequent composition.
Specific aspects to identify in each chorale: the cadences (PAC, IAC, half cadence, deceptive cadence) and their locations; the modulations and the pivot chords that effect them; the doublings at each chord (which chord tone is doubled and why); and the voice-leading patterns that emerge from the constraints (typically, soprano and bass move in contrary motion at structural points; inner voices move minimally to preserve the harmony).
Formal Analysis of Fugues
A complete fugue analysis should identify the following structural elements:
- The key and mode of the fugue.
- The subject — mark its first occurrence with brackets.
- The answer and its type (real or tonal). If tonal, identify which notes are modified.
- The countersubject if present, and whether it is in invertible counterpoint with the subject.
- Each subject entry in the exposition, noting which voice, which beat, and which key (subject is in tonic; answer is in dominant).
- The end of the exposition, typically marked by a cadence in the home key or dominant.
- Each episode, with its sequential pattern identified and labelled. Note the keys visited and the harmonic motion through the episode.
- Each middle entry — voice, key, measure number, and whether the subject appears in original form, inversion, augmentation, or diminution.
- Any stretto passage — measure numbers, voices involved, and the stretto interval.
- The final section — pedal point if present, location and type of final cadence (PAC, with or without Picardy third).
This analytical map allows you to see the entire architecture of the fugue at a glance. The analysis is best presented as both a written narrative and as a measure-by-measure chart or graph showing the location of each subject entry, episode, and key area.
Tools for Analysis
Practical tools for contrapuntal analysis include: pencil and printed score (still the gold standard, allowing direct annotation); analysis software like MuseScore or Sibelius for marking up digital scores; recordings synchronised with score-following apps; and analytical reference books like Allen Forte and Steven Gilbert's Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis for deep voice-leading analysis. The student should develop a consistent notation system for their analyses — colour coding for subject entries, brackets for cadences, Roman numerals beneath each chord — so that their annotated scores remain readable as study references.
Sources and Further Reading
- Gauldin. A Practical Approach to 18th-Century Counterpoint. Waveland Press. Chapters on Analysis.
- Aldwell and Schachter. Harmony and Voice Leading. Schirmer/Cengage. Chapters on Analysis.
- Open Music Theory — Analytical Methods (openmusictheory.net, CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Kennan. Counterpoint. Prentice-Hall. Analysis chapters.
- IMSLP — All referenced scores available free at imslp.org.