species counterpoint

noun

Definition of species counterpoint

1 : a traditional method of instruction in 16th-century counterpoint based on five increasingly demanding types of two-voice contrapuntal writing based on a preexisting cantus firmus The discipline of species counterpoint was first put forth by Johann Joseph Fux in Gradus ad Parnassum (1725) as a tool for teaching composers.— Markand Thakar, Counterpoint, 1990

— called also strict counterpoint

— compare first species, second species, third species, fourth species, fifth species

2 : counterpoint that follows the rules of species counterpoint More recently, Schubert's exercises in species counterpoint and fugue for Salieri and Sechter have attracted attention …— R. Larry Todd, Mendelssohn's Musical Education, 1983

— called also strict counterpoint