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WHAT IS A MODE
Music based on major and minor scales
came into common usage in the early 1600s, and of course we have been
using them ever since. Before the 1600s, composers wrote in what were called modes.
There was a resurgence of interest in modes toward the end of the
19th century, with composers like Debussy and Vaughan Williams. If
you sit down at a piano keyboard and play a scale using only
the white notes, and starting on middle
C, what you get is the familiar C Major scale. If you do the same
thing starting on the note of A, and going up to the A above, you get
an A minor scale. These two scales have a distinct sound; we make
different associations with them, perceiving the major scale as
bright and forceful, while the minor scale is sad and reflective.
Starting on one of the other white notes will give us a different
scale each of which is a 'mode'. Each of them has a separate and
distinctive sound, and it is possible to recognise what mode a tunes
is in just as most of us can tell the difference between a tune in
the familiar major or minor.
HISTORY
As with many things in music theory, the
modes can be traced back to the Greeks. The 'in' instrument in
ancient Greece was the lyre, it had eight strings, tuned so that the
top and bottom notes sounded an octave apart. The tunings of the
intermediate strings varied, using different combinations of large
and small intervals ('tones' and 'semitones'). The most common of
these tunings or 'modes' correspond to the seven scales which you get
if you play only on the white notes of the piano. The early Christian
church adopted this Greek leading edge music technology and developed
it for their own purposes. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan was one of
the church's first music experts and in the forth century he approved
four modes for church use these were called the 'authentic' modes.
| |
| 1st | d e f g a b c d |
| 2nd | e f g a b c d e |
| 3rd | f g a b c d e f |
| 4th | g a b c d e f g |
Some three hundred years later Pope Gregory the Great added four more, which were known as 'plagal'.
| ||
| 1st | Authentic | d e f g a b c d |
| 2nd | Plagal | a b c d e f g a |
| 3rd | Authentic | e f g a b c d e |
| 4th | Plagal | b c d e f g a b |
| 5th | Authentic | f g a b c d e f |
| 6th | Plagal | c d e f g a b c |
| 7th | Authentic | g a b c d e f g |
| 8th | Plagal | d e f g a b c d |
Every one was happy with this system and
it was much used in 'Gregorian chant' and ecclesiastical music. Many
centuries went by before further changes were needed (Life had a more
leisurely pace in those days) and it was not till the 16th century
that a Swiss monk called Glareanas decided there should be twelve
modes, and assigned Greek names to them (Names which were apparently
not much connected to any system actually in use in ancient Greece.).
Some were never used, and some fell into disuse, a process
accelerated by the development of harmony, as some of them proved
very difficult to harmonise. The distinction of plagal and
authentic was also abandoned leaving us with modes as we know them
today. (The terms 'authentic' and
'plagal' are still used but now to describe the relationship between
the range of a song and the tonic (that is the keynote) of the scale.
Tunes which range roughly from the tonic up to the octave or beyond
are called 'authentic'; while those whose lowest note is half way
between keynotes are called 'plagal'.) Only seven of Glareanas's original 12 modes are commonly used,
these correspond to the seven different starting points on the
white keys of the piano. These are their names, along with the
starting note:
Mode Name |
Starting Note |
Notes Used |
Pattern |
Ionian (Major) |
C |
c d e f g a b |
1 2 3-4 5 6 7 |
Dorian |
D |
d e f g a b c |
1 2-3 4 5 6-7 |
Phrygian |
E |
e f g a b c d |
1-2 3 4 5-6 7 |
Lydian |
F |
f g a b c d e |
1 2 3 4-5 6 7 |
Mixolydian |
G |
g a b c d e f |
1 2 3-4 5 6-7 |
Aeolian (Minor) |
A |
a b c d e f g |
1 2-3 4 5-6 7 |
Locrian |
B |
b c d e f g a |
1-2 3 4-5 6 7 |
A tune could be written in each of these modes in turn and in each case, it would appear as if the tune were in C (no sharps or flats). Thus just looking at the key signature (number of sharps/flats) of a modal tune will not tell about it's mode.
Each mode can be played starting on any note, but then some black notes are needed to get the combination of tones and semitones which gives the mode its distinctive sound. In fact it was probably this requirement that first led to the development of instruments with 'black notes' - to allow modes to be played in any required pitch range. For example if we put the seven modes in each case starting with C we get a variety of keys:
Mode Name |
Notes |
Pattern |
Key signatures |
Ionian |
C D E F G A B |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
No flats or sharps |
Dorian |
C D Eb F G A Bb |
1 2-3 4 5 6-7 |
Bb Eb |
Phrygian |
C Db Eb F G Ab Bb |
1-2 3 4 5-6 7 |
Bb Eb Ab Db |
Lydian |
C D E F# G A B |
1 2 3 4-5 6 7 |
F# |
Mixolydian |
C D E F G A Bb |
1 2 3-4 5 6-7 |
Bb |
Aeolian |
C D Eb F G Ab Bb |
1 2-3 4 5-6 7 |
Bb Eb Ab |
Locrian |
C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb |
1-2 3 4-5 6 7 |
Bb Eb Ab Db Gb |
We can also look below at the modes generated for each key.
Modes For Each Key | |||||||
Key Sig |
Major |
Minor |
Mix |
Dor |
Phr |
Lyd |
Loc |
|
(Ionian) |
(Aeolian) |
| ||||
7 sharps: |
C# |
A#m |
G#Mix |
D#Dor |
E#Phr |
F#Lyd |
B#Loc |
6 sharps: |
F# |
D#m |
C#Mix |
G#Dor |
A#Phr |
BLyd |
E#Loc |
5 sharps: |
B |
G#m |
F#Mix |
C#Dor |
D#Phr |
ELyd |
A#Loc |
4 sharps: |
E |
C#m |
BMix |
F#Dor |
G#Phr |
ALyd |
D#Loc |
3 sharps: |
A |
F#m |
EMix |
BDor |
C#Phr |
DLyd |
G#Loc |
2 sharps: |
D |
Bm |
AMix |
EDor |
F#Phr |
GLyd |
C#Loc |
1 sharp: |
G |
Em |
DMix |
ADor |
BPhr |
CLyd |
F#Loc |
0 sharps: |
C |
Am |
GMix |
DDor |
EPhr |
FLyd |
BLoc |
1 flat: |
F |
Dm |
CMix |
GDor |
APhr |
BbLyd |
ELoc |
2 flats: |
Bb |
Gm |
FMix |
CDor |
DPhr |
EbLyd |
ALoc |
3 flats: |
Eb |
Cm |
BbMix |
FDor |
GPhr |
AbLyd |
DLoc |
4 flats: |
Ab |
Fm |
EbMix |
BbDor |
CPhr |
DbLyd |
GLoc |
5 flats: |
Db |
Bbm |
AbMix |
EbDor |
FPhr |
GbLyd |
CLoc |
6 flats: |
Gb |
Ebm |
DbMix |
AbDor |
BbPhr |
CbLyd |
FLoc |
7 flats: |
Cb |
Abm |
GbMix |
DbDor |
EbPhr |
FbLyd |
BbLoc |
Today only two modes (major and minor) are in
common use in mainstream music. Traditional and folk mostly
originates from people who were not 'taught' music, and so may not
have been aware of the 'rules' of classical harmony. Hence use of a
wider selection of scales and ancient modes survive in this type of
music. The most common modes, in folk and traditional music are:
Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian and Aeolian. The remaining three are known
as the rare modes, and are almost never used.