Counterpoint
The theory and technique of combining independent melodic lines.
What it means
Counterpoint is the art of combining two or more melodically independent voices so that each makes sense on its own while together they form a satisfying harmonic progression. The name comes from the Latin punctus contra punctum, "note against note", the original basic technique.
Musical use
Contrapuntal practice developed from the strict "note against note" writing of the Renaissance through increasingly free rhythms to the Baroque fugue, where subjects and countersubjects enter in imitation of one another. Key techniques include imitation, inversion, retrograde motion and stretto, along with avoiding forbidden parallels such as parallel octaves and fifths, which would undo the independence of the voices. Counterpoint contrasts with homophonic writing, where one voice leads and the rest accompany; since the Viennese classical era the two principles have often been mixed within a single work.
Performance practice
Practise contrapuntal music one line at a time, then in pairs, before putting the full texture together — only then do you hear how each line makes sense on its own and how it fits into the whole.