Based on principles found in fourteenth-century counterpoint treatises, thisstudy divides Machaut's balades with four voices into three groups accordingto their performance possibilities. The pieces of group 1 (Se quanqueamours, Il mest avis, De toutes flours, and Quant theseus/Ne quier) can beperformed either in all four parts or in three parts by omitting thetriplum. Group 2 (De petit po and De Fortune plus Vg's redaction of Sequanque amours) includes those pieces that can be performed in three partswith either contratenor or triplum but not with all four parts. Pieces inthis group are often found with all four parts copied together, thushighlighting the difference between the presentation of a piece in thesources and its performance options. The pieces in group 3 (En amer and Damede qui) are less clearly delimited in their performance possibilities.