first
church tunes should have been changed to dances in the hands
of the common people. Even in these dances it is interesting to
note that the same symbolic significance appears to be present,
for the earliest form of these dances was the "round song,"
or roundelay, and it was danced in a circle.

Duple time did not come into general use until the beginning of
the fourteenth century. About the same time, the organum (as it
was called) or system of harmonization of Hucbald was discarded,
and Johannes de Muris and Philippe de Vitry championed the
consonant quality of the third and sixth, both major and minor.
The fifth was retained as a consonant, but the fourth was
passed over in silence by the French school of writers, or
classed with the dissonants. Successive fifths were prohibited
as being too harshly dissonant, but successive fourths were
necessarily permitted, as it would be an impossibility to do
without them. Nevertheless, the fourth was still considered
a dissonance, and was permitted only between the upper parts
of the music. Thus the harsh consecutive passages in fifths
and fourths of the organum of Hucbald disappeared in favour
of the softer progressions of thirds and sixths.

In order to make clear how the new science of counterpoint
came into existence, I must again revert to Hucbald.[09]

Before his time, all "recognized" music was a more or less
melodious succession of tones, generally of the same length,
one syllable being sometimes used for many notes. He discovered
that a melody might be sung by several singers, each commencing
at a different pitch instead of all singing the same notes at
the same time. He also laid down rules as to how this was to
be done to produce the best effect. We remember why he chose
the fourth, fifth, and octave in preference to the third and
sixth. He called his system an "organum" or "diaphony," and
to sing according to his rules was called to "organize" or
"organate." We must remember that at that time fourths and
fifths were not always indicated in the written music; only
the melody, which was called the principal or subject. By
studying the rules prescribed for the organum, the singers
could add the proper intervals to the melody. We must keep
in mind, however, that later fourths were preferred to fifths
(being considered less harsh), and that the musical scale of
the period compelled the different voices to vary slightly,
that is to say, two voices could not si