Mastering counterpoint

[slavyanka]

Hello,
I hope there are people here who have studied counterpoint a great deal and can share advice on the following: how to master improvising 3 and 4-part strict counterpoint. I can write it down fairly quickly and without mistakes, but I can't improvise it on the spot. I wonder if it's a matter of time and I should keep practicing, or perhaps there are specific exercises to improve this skill. If you say I will learn it by doing it, then I don't see how it works, because if I sit down and start improvising, I have to stop every several notes. How long should I practice before I can expect smooth improvisation to start happening? (I have perfect pitch and have been studying music for 19 years).
Thank you in advance for any advice!

[gerryjay]

 hey slavyanka!
 perhaps you already did try that, but here is an idea that is useful to myself.

 - create or borrow a subject (start with something easy: few notes, regular rhythm and slow pace, etc);

 - play, sing your subject as many times as you need to have it absolutely ingrained. itīs interesting to play with boths hands, varying accents, rhythm, fingering, even modulating it. of course, if you want to deal heavy with counterpoint procedures, play it inverted and retrograde, with augmentation/diminution. well, do with the subject anything you must conceive. notice that sometimes this step may take days.

 - when you have your subject absolutely, completely, a 100% in your fingers/hand/mind, work on the imitation. obviously, start two-voiced. try as many starting points as you can figure out, regarding the style you want to. any possible procedure that you use with the single melody you must use again here. thatīs an endless task, since there are infinite ways to combine a melody and its variations, with the answer and its variations. to me, that was ever the most interesting and rewarding study, because thatīs what counterpoint is all about.

 - if you can control all that, nowīs the time to expand your idea into an improvisation/piece, either horizontally or vertically (adding another voices).

 of course that after some time you can go quickly through the steps, and even figure out some important details about a subject just listening to it once. well, i think thatīs what tecnique is all about.

 to be very honest, i donīt know if that works up to 4 voices or more, because my four-voiced improvisation actually sucks and i have no idea about how bach could improvise his ricercare a 6. with the score and a year of study i think i could not play it, so...   

 hope that helps a bit!

[slavyanka]

Thank you so much, gerryjay, I have been thinking about a similar approach, I am glad it turns out to actually work for you, I will try it for a few months. How long have you been studying it? I started half a year ago.

[gerryjay]

 i start with this practice as a freshman at undergraduate, about ten years ago. notice that it was discontinued over the years, because itīs not a primary goal anymore for myself, but it works, i can tell you that. good luck and good practice!