Editing Counterpoint (section)

==Contrapuntal derivations==
Since the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] period in European music, much contrapuntal music has been written in imitative counterpoint. In imitative counterpoint, two or more voices enter at different times, and (especially when entering) each voice repeats some version of the same melodic element. The [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]], the [[ricercar]], and later, the [[Canon (music)|canon]] and [[fugue]] (the contrapuntal form ''par excellence'') all feature imitative counterpoint, which also frequently appears in [[choir|choral]] works such as [[motet]]s and [[madrigal (music)|madrigals]]. Imitative counterpoint spawned a number of devices, including:

;[[Melodic inversion]]: The inverse of a given fragment of melody is the fragment turned upside down—so if the original fragment has a rising major third (see [[interval (music)|interval]]), the inverted fragment has a falling major (or perhaps minor) third, etc. (Compare, in [[twelve-tone technique]], the inversion of the tone row, which is the so-called prime series turned upside down.) (Note: in ''invertible counterpoint'', including ''double'' and ''triple counterpoint'', the term ''inversion'' is used in a different sense altogether. At least one pair of parts is switched, so that the one that was higher becomes lower. See [[Inversion (music)#Counterpoint|Inversion in counterpoint]]; it is not a kind of imitation, but a rearrangement of the parts.)
;[[Retrograde (music)|Retrograde]]: Whereby an imitative voice sounds the melody backwards in relation to the leading voice.
;[[Retrograde inversion]]: Where the imitative voice sounds the melody backwards and upside-down at once.
;[[Augmentation (music)|Augmentation]]: When in one of the parts in imitative counterpoint the note values are extended in duration compared to the rate at which they were sounded when introduced.
;[[Diminution]]: When in one of the parts in imitative counterpoint the note values are reduced in duration compared to the rate at which they were sounded when introduced.