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Counterpoint written so that the voices can be swapped — the upper voice can become the lower and vice versa, and the result still sounds correct.
Invertible counterpoint doubles the usefulness of your material — a two-voice passage can appear in two different configurations. At the octave is most common; at the tenth and twelfth also occur. When writing invertible counterpoint, avoid parallel thirds and sixths (they become parallel fifths and fourths when inverted).
Bach's fugue countersubjects are written in invertible counterpoint — they work both above and below the subject, allowing endless recombination.
Invertible counterpoint is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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