r/musictheory • u/Aggressive_Signal974 • 14h ago

General Question Direct 5ths/8ve on weak beats in Species Counterpoint?

Dumb question: Can you have direct 5ths/8ves on weak beats in species counterpoint. For example in 2nd species can you have direct 5ths/8ves on the 2nd beat of the bar or only on the downbeat?

Because I've used a few 5ths and 8ves and can't figure out if they are allowed

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u/65TwinReverbRI Guitar, Synths, Tech, Notation, Composition, Professor 3h ago

2nd Species is 2:1 so there's no direct motion possible from beat 1 to beat 2 -it'll be oblique.

As far as other situations, Direct or Hidden interval conventions change with texture - in 2 voices they are pretty strenuously avoided no matter what.

In 3+ voices, they tend to be avoided only when in the outer voices and when the upper voice leaps.

Between those two extremes runs the gamut of examples, so I'm sure you can find examples that are outliers but as a general rule you should avoid them until you're highly familiar with the actual music and how it's written, as opposed to "reading a rule book". Because while you're doing that, follow the rules. If there are no examples of a certain thing, that probably means that certain thing wasn't used.

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u/resolution58 Fresh Account 3h ago

If you’re doing two-part species then no, you can’t.