2.4 Self-assessment checklist
Use this checklist when reviewing your own work:
- Chord-graph fidelity. Every transition is a legal motion type (single edge, compound perturbation, window slide, or fiber inversion).
- No orbit persistence. No three or more consecutive edges within the same orbit.
- Cadential preparation. Every structural cadence is approached through a tension chord (Saddle, Slope, or related).
- Leading-interval-pair at cadences. At least one cadence employs two voices each moving by single semitone in coordinated motion.
- Voice independence. Voices have different rhythmic profiles at multiple points.
- Motivic coherence. At least one short rhythmic-pitch cell appears more than once with variation.
- Non-chord tone treatment. Every non-chord tone has a clear function (passing, neighbor, suspension, anticipation, escape, or shadow) and is treated accordingly.
- Wing-color awareness. The piece either commits to a wing or makes wing crossings deliberate.
- Cadence landing. The final note of each phrase is on a chord tone of the cadential chord.
- Voice ranges respected. No unintended voice crossing.
If all ten boxes are checked, the piece passes the basic OTH counterpoint test. The next level — fifth species and beyond — concerns expressive judgment, motivic invention, formal architecture, and the use of OTH-native devices in service of musical narrative. That level is not assessable by checklist; it is assessable by listening.