Part Writer

This software provides a solution to partwriting exercises that is consistent with the rules of common practice tonal counterpoint. For a given chord progression and starting position (both specified by the user) it calculates a solution in 4-part counterpoint that provides the smoothest voice-leading. It is in no way intended to replace a user’s understanding of the exercise, but rather is an exploratory, pedagogical tool designed to facilitate the learning process. It is my vision that this software will be used by instructors in a classroom or online setting to quickly realize chord progressions that are typically found in common practice tonal music. For example, a lecturer may choose to display the program on a projector screen and comment on a particular solution. If the instruction is done online the lecturer may choose to share screens with students, thus providing a simple, intuitive way to generate different realizations.

Each realization is selected from millions of possible solutions (many of which obviously break the rules) and is generated in mere seconds. As a theory student I remember spending 10-15 minutes trying to solve these puzzles; the more difficult ones required upwards of half an hour. While the solution provided is often not the most Bach-like or thematically interesting, it does adhere to the principles that students are required to learn. Thus, I believe the program is most suited to aid in educating 1) music majors in their freshman/sophomore year of study and 2) high school students enrolled in AP/IB Music Theory. Additionally, this tool can be used by private music teachers who require their students to learn music theory.