2021 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 1-12
Counterpoint is an essential technique for the composition of European art music. Few studies have reported its pedagogical possibility in school music education because of its difficulty ; counterpoint requires comprehensive musical ability. Although teaching counterpoint in school education is impractical, treating introductory practice to it seems to be instructive. “Block composition”, a pedagogical composition method devised by the author, includes a comparison between the note groups and this feature is expected to function as an introduction to counterpoint in terms of its serious consideration of the relationships in the sounds. In this research, high school students practiced block composition with contemporary music style and effects of the practice was analyzed with questionnaires and an evaluation of their works. The results showed an improvement of students’ thinking and listening abilities for the relationship of musical elements. In addition, some students used advanced imitative techniques in their works. This suggests that the practice has a potential for connecting students to contrapuntal technique. All the results suggest positive pedagogical value of block composition as an introduction to counterpoint in school music education.
