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September 13, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 6 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 9/13/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

This is from J. S. Bach’s Contrapunctus VII from Die kunst der fuge (The Art of Fugue). What rhythmic technique has he used in changing the melody in the top staff to the one in the bottom?

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Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, September 17th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 9/13/21

This is a good example of diminution. All the note values on the top staff have been cut in half, resulting in the same melody on the bottom staff, but twice as fast. Bach’s ingenuity lies in fashioning a melody that works in counterpoint with a diminished version of itself. He never actually finished Contrapunctus, but the many fugues of this work show him at the pinnacle of his contrapuntal genius.

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Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: bach, breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, diminution, fugue, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, rhythm

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrew Seid says

    September 13, 2021 at 11:53 am

    diminution

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:04 am

      Diminution is the solution! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Raul Murciano, Jr. says

    September 14, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    Diminution

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:04 am

      Three cheers! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Katrina says

    September 15, 2021 at 11:51 am

    Diminution!

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:04 am

      🙂 You rock!

      Reply

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