A Treatise on Simple Counterpoint in Forty Lessons

Counterpoint is the art of holding two melodies at once, each complete in itself, yet neither willing to yield to the other. It is the technique that gave us the Masses of Palestrina, the fugues of Bach, and the infinite beauty that emerges when independent voices interweave without colliding. This 1907 textbook, born from decades of teaching at Oberlin Conservatory, distills that ancient art into forty progressive lessons. Lehmann begins where all mastery must begin: with definitions, intervals, and the fundamental rules that govern musical harmony. From there, he guides students through the five species of counterpoint, each a distinct relationship between the fixed cantus firmus and the newly crafted melodic line. The student learns first to add a single note against a single note, then two notes against one, then three, until reaching the complex florid counterpoint where voices dance freely while still obeying invisible laws. Through clear examples and rigorous exercises, the student learns to create dissonances, employ syncopation, and understand harmonic progressions while maintaining the independence of every melodic line. This is not a dusty relic. It remains one of the clearest, most practical introductions to the grammar underlying all Western classical music. Whether you are a composition student, an arranger seeking deeper understanding, or simply a curious listener who wants to hear the architecture beneath the beauty, these forty lessons offer a direct path to mastering the technique that made Bach possible.