C Ionian
A free mixture of whole, half, and quarter notes — everything you have learned, combined into a flowing line.
Cantus firmus: Fux, Gradus ad Parnassum (Figure 88) — 9 measures
Your line: written above the cantus firmus
To pass: complete every measure with no rule violations and score at least 70/100
How Fifth Species works
All previous species are now available at once: choose a note duration with the duration picker (or keys 1/2/4), then place notes anywhere on the grid.
Each technique keeps its own rules: downbeats consonant (or properly suspended), dissonant quarters passing by step, suspensions prepared and resolved.
Good florid counterpoint breathes: vary the rhythm, start measures with longer values, and let the line accelerate toward cadences.
This is the closest species to real composed melody — treat it as writing music, not solving a puzzle.
The rules
- Downbeats consonant or suspended. Every downbeat is either a consonance or a correctly prepared suspension resolving down by step.
- Dissonant quarters move by step. Shorter dissonances must pass or turn by step between consonances.
- Suspensions follow fourth-species rules. Prepared on a weak beat by a consonance, held over the barline, resolved down by step.
- Vary the rhythm. Mix whole, half, and quarter notes. A florid line that uses only one value collapses back into an earlier species.
- Begin and end on a perfect consonance. The first and last intervals must be a unison, perfect fifth, or octave against the cantus firmus (a fifth below the CF is not allowed when writing underneath it).
- No parallel or hidden fifths and octaves. Two voices may not move in the same direction into a perfect fifth or octave. Consecutive perfect intervals of the same size destroy voice independence.
- Singable melodic intervals only. No melodic tritones, sevenths, or leaps larger than an octave. Your line should be singable.
- Recover from leaps by stepping back. After a leap (especially a large one), change direction and move by step to fill in the gap.
- Aim for a single climax. Your line should have one highest note, ideally somewhere in the middle of the phrase.
- Keep the line varied. Avoid long chains of parallel thirds or sixths, and avoid mid-phrase unisons with the cantus firmus.
- Prefer contrary motion. Moving against the cantus firmus keeps the two voices independent. Aim for contrary motion at least ~40% of the time.
Tips
- • A reliable florid recipe per measure: half note on the downbeat, two quarters after — or a suspension figure.
- • Save runs of quarters for the middle of the phrase; open and close with calmer rhythms.
- • When stuck, write the measure in second species first, then decorate it.