Partwriter play online

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 users 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.