A concise, pedagogical treatise that teaches the art of tonal counterpoint through a staged teacher‑student dialogue, presenting the method of species counterpoint from simple note‑against‑note exercises to complex five‑voice textures; it lays out strict rules for consonance and dissonance, voice leading, melodic motion and the treatment of cadences, provides numerous model exercises and cantus firmi, and shows how these practical rules underpin composition and fugue writing—an influential manual that codified counterpoint practice for generations of composers and theorists.