As a student of the guitar, there have been several eureka moments since I first picked one up - the moment I first figured out how to build complex voicings from barre chords, when I realised the importance of voice separation, learning that the rhythmic accent of the notes is more important than the notes themselves - all these nice things. One of the biggest eureka moments, however, was when I discovered contrapuntal techniques.
Counterpoint is defined as the relationship between two or more harmonically related but rhythmically unrelated musical lines. In layman’s terms, it is simply playing two or more melodies together in order to create a more rich and complex piece of music. This is seemingly very common on some instruments - such as the piano. But on guitar, it is quite rare to find rich contrapuntal lines - and in my opinion - it is what separates a mediocre guitarist from an excellent one. Talented young guitarists these days such as Julian Lage, Antoine Boyer and Yamandu Costa have all mastered contrapuntal techniques. Even yesterday’s guitarists - the guitar heroes of the 80s, had mastered counterpoint to some degree - as shown by their incredibly detailed guitar lead solos and homages to common practice period composers such as Bach.
So, why don’t we find contrapuntal techniques so much in modern guitar performance as much as we do instruments like the piano? I believe this stems from the inherent structure of the guitar. In order to play two or more simultaneous melodies on the guitar - it is simply very difficult. On the piano, it is difficult too - but you don’t need to add extra stress to your fingers, or wrap them around in alien positions to achieve this. Not to say the guitar is more difficult than the piano, the reality is probably quite the contrary - but on the subject of counterpoint, I would say guitar is one of the most inefficient polyphonic instruments. If the guitar is inefficient, then how do we conquer these obstacles? Simple - we need to make compromises. And the compromises that we make on the guitar actually lead to beautiful sounds and rich, unique structures that might not commonly occur on other instruments. It’s like the old musical adage, it’s not about the sound that you make, but the silence inbetween it, with compromise you are forced to leave gaps in your lines, which oftentimes actually works in your favour.
With this in mind, I’m going to present some tips for making good counterpoint happen on the guitar.
The three voices
You will often see material online refer to three voices: lower voice, middle voice, and upper voice. You can think of them as 3 distinct, voice-separated melodies. The higher voice simply refers to the highest notes in a piece of music. Most commonly this refers to the main melody of a piece. The lower voice refers to the lowest notes, oftentimes making up the bassline. The middle voice refers to notes in between the distinct lower and upper voices. The middle voice is the most difficult to master - but the rewards for mastering it are plenty. Consider Bill Evans for instance - his distinct sound probably comes from utter mastery of the middle voice.
Voice separation
If you haven’t mastered voice separation yet, do so before you move onto counterpoint. Voice separation is the ability to make 2 or more parts of a piece on guitar sound distinct from each other. For example, if you were playing a simple chord melody piece which consisted of some chords and the melody on top of it - the chords and the melody should sound like two distinct, different parts - almost like 2 different guitars were playing them. There are many techniques for this, and I won’t go much into it here. This can be achieved with syncopation, differences in velocity, stroke angle, etc. It’s a very complex subject and will change one’s guitar playing in itself.
Voice leading
Voice leading is another complex subject. Voice leading, in my understanding, basically refers to which notes should lead to the next notes. If you are playing a chord progression, the note of each chord should flow into the next one like a gentle stream. Thankfully the guitar, as a transposing instrument, happens to make this quite easy by default - most open chords on guitar actually voice lead into each other quite well. In the context of counterpoint, you need to consider which intervals you are using between notes. Different types of lines will warrant a different flavour of voice leading. Bad voice leading can ruin a piece. Although a complex subject with no easy rules except “keep trying until you find something that sounds good,” one silver lining of voice leading is that good voice leading usually occurs when you are moving your fingers as little as possible - since effective intervals don’t require long or awkward stretches (usually.) They are usually major/minor 2nds - with the occasional 3rd or 5th. The biggest annoyances will come from the main melodies of a piece which often can include awkward intervals.
Only one line should be complex rhythmically
As previously stated, playing simultaneous melodies on the guitar is a great challenge. Therefore, a guitarist should pick only one line which is complex in rhythm. And when I say in rhythm I am mostly referring to the frequency of the notes. The other lines should be lazy. If you are playing a jazz standard, for instance, then one with a slow melody with few notes could be accompanied by a more complex middle or lower voice. If there are more notes in the melody, then consider making your other voices simpler. There are some exceptions to this rule. For instance, there is a type of contrapuntal playing in which 2 lines from 2 different voices follow directly each other (e.g. not played simultaneously, but voice-separated,) - in this case, both lines should be equally complex rhythmically.
Only one line should be complex harmonically
In most cases, the melody of a piece will be the most harmonically complex. Therefore, the others should be simple, using basic intervals such as the 3rd, 5th or major/minor 2nds. You should only really draw most of your attention to one line. The other lines are just (very delicious) icing.
The main theme of a piece is king
The main theme (or melody) of a piece is king. Everything should move around this. Every compromise should serve this. It should also be played with more ornamentation, tonal complexity, and velocity than all of the other lines. If the main theme has awkward stretches, and it can’t be helped, then you’ll need to transpose all of your other lines to accommodate this, no matter how annoying it is. This is where most frustrations of playing in a contrapuntal manner come from.
Simple is best
Don’t make a piece too complicated. You are not Bach sitting at a harpsichord with ten fingers at your disposal and the budget of an earl or the catholic church. Most likely, you are a bedroom guitarist like myself struggling with a highly inefficient (but beautiful) instrument. Be reminded that good counterpoint on the guitar comes from compromise - and the best way to achieve compromise is simplicity. If you came up with a very cool contrapuntal idea which is hard to play or sounds clunky, think of a way to simplify it to make it sound more fluid and legato. Feel free to miss out some notes, or simplify some intervals. A complex piece will often sound clunky. I often see a lot of fellow bedroom guitarists on Youtube playing some ridiculously complex multi-line pieces consisting of a clunky bassline, poorly voice led middle voice, and lacklustre main theme. It is impressive, sure, but does it really sound good? Without the audio processing, how would it sound to hear it in front of them? If they played it more simply, with fluidity - voice leading - and a well ornamented theme - surely it would be more pleasing to the ear. In honesty, I’d like to hear a very simple chord melody piece with almost no counterpoint in which the main theme is played beautifully, rather than an awkward version of Fly me to the moon with an impressive but jarring double-time walking bassline.
Bach is overrated
Okay, I may get a lot of flak for this one, but one of the biggest pieces of advice given to guitar students who want to master the instrument is simply to practise countless Bach pieces until your fingers fall off. Don’t get me wrong, Bach is an extremely important composer and by learning his pieces, along with the correct fingerings, it will help you become a much better guitarist. It can also be essential learning to ensure your fingerings are correct and ergonomic. But most people, including myself, simply don’t have the patience or academic knowledge for learning a lot of Bach pieces. Listen to Bach. Practise Bach sometimes. But there’s no need to turn it into your religion. In my opinion, it is much better to try to put counterpoint into pieces you already know, than learn other pieces. Not only is it more fun, but you will also be learning how to arrange pieces with counterpoint at the same time.
That being said, keep in mind we are all different learners. Some people are more receptive to this method of study than others. If you enjoy pracitsing Bach, then I don’t advise against it. All I’m saying is that if practising Bach bores you - then don’t pressure yourself with it. Instead, try to sneak some Bach lines into jazz standards you are already familiar with, or something.
If the playing is not relaxed, you likely need to change something
This goes back to “simple is best”, but once again I must reiterate that any type of performance shouldn’t be clunky. It should be fluid and relaxed. If you are making too many awkward stretches and/or are sacrificing legato in your main theme for a contrapuntal line - then consider changing it. Assuming your fingers are already used to playing the guitar, they shouldn’t feel pain when playing a piece (unless you are out of practice and need to re-strengthen them, of course.) Everyone also has their own limitations. This may be improved with finger-strengthening exercises, or it could be a physiological limit. Don’t try to exceed these limits when arranging a piece. There are separate exercises for that.
Study material directed at other polyphonic instruments
Since the guitar is not commonly associated with contrapuntal playing, it is essential to also harness material available for other polyphonic instruments. In particular, resources directed at the piano are of particular interest. The piano naturally lends well to contrapuntal playing, and by practising techniques associated with the piano, you can greatly increase your technical vocabulary for the guitar.
In conclusion
Contrapuntal playing is essential on the path towards guitar mastery. It is a technique that has been honed by all the greats and often ignored or not noticed by guitarists. If you are an intermediate (or higher) guitarist striving to be an excellent guitarist and haven’t learned how to play contrapuntal lines yet - then do everything in your power to learn this essential technique. In all likelihood, you are playing some degree of counterpoint without realising it. Even rhythmically playing chords in technically counterpoint - you have more than one harmonically related note moving in tandem.
Further study
In this essay I have covered several aspects of counterpoint on the guitar. However, these are simply words, and words may not be of much use to a musician - at least not as much as actual music and instruction. Therefore, I will list several resources which may help you on your journey.
Instruction
- “Martin Taylor demonstrates how to achieve counterpoint with finger-style guitar” - Martin Taylor, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31pHidEBdk4
- “Ted Greene Baroque Improv” (2 parts) - Ted Greene, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkuo2384ZN4
- For “study material directed at other polyphonic instruments”, anything from Open Studio directed at piano is worth a watch - https://www.youtube.com/@OpenStudioJazz/
- "The King of Modern Counterpoint" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBnDmCUVD7s
Examples
- “Somewhere over the rainbow” - Antoine Boyer, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIarR8kMYSk
- “Ted Greene - Solo Guitar - Autumn Leaves” - Ted Greene, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDuee6blvj8
- “Martin Taylor and Julian Lage - Some Day My Prince Will Come" - Martin Taylor & Julian Lage, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsuQbOg9oM