The classical composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert all studied Species Counterpoint as one of the foundations of their composition training. The same lessons were even a central part of the music education of composers who were less obviously classical in style, like Scott Joplin, Arnold Schoenberg, and Quincy Jones. Despite this, counterpoint is rarely given the same level of attention any longer in modern music schools. This course uses primary documents -- in some cases the actual homework assignments of the great composers -- to teach the "secret sauce" behind simple but effective melodies and creative harmonic progressions.

I am a music theorist (PhD Louisiana State University, 2019) with an interest in historical composition pedagogy. I use my YouTube channel and this Teach:able website to spread as much knowledge as I can about classical composition methods, especially counterpoint, that I believe can still be critically relevant to modern musicians.

When I was in high school, I tried to teach myself counterpoint with whatever textbooks I could get my hands on, but the results were very disappointing. I was a bright kid, but I needed a teacher. Haydn taught Beethoven shoulder-to-shoulder, and counterpoint was always intended to be taught one-on-one, like an apprenticeship. And so, even when I studied music theory in college, I discovered that the large class sizes and standardized grading rubrics were not well designed for the effective teaching of counterpoint. I have intended the courses I make here on Teach:able to model the historical pedagogy, including direct feedback and coaching, and I hope that my efforts here will help the type of student that I once was.