I guess I'd call the bottom 5-note group a "Lydian" group - so, the scale of the Lydian mode would consist of a 5-note Lydian group on the bottom and a 4-note major group on top
(...As Western folk music musicians I guess we don't encounter the Lydian pattern very often... In Romanian music it does occur now and then (but they wouldn't call it "Lydian")... and I think I've been told it occurs in Scandinavian music?) - Yaron On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 12:39 AM Erik Hoffman <[email protected]> wrote: > How would you classify Lydian? > > Bottom: > > DEF#G# - Whole tone > > > > Top: > > ABC#D - Major > > > > *From:* Yaron Shragai via Musicians <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, June 6, 2020 9:11 PM > *To:* Seth Seeger <[email protected]> > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [Musicians] Re: What Key is it? > > > > Hi, > Thanks for the analysis! > > Here's my spin on it, rooted partly in my background in the music of the > eastern Mediterranean and SE Europe. > > The notion of a "mode" is different than the notion of a "scale". A > "scale" tells you which notes to play. A "mode", in addition to this, also > gives you guidelines for forming melodies using those notes. Being the > technical person that I am, I think of it a bit like the mathematical > notions of a scalar vs. a vector: A "mode" also gives you a direction. > > That is the difference between the Ionian and Hypoionian modes: They have > the same scale, but one of them resolves to the 4th note instead of the 1st > note (the "tonic"). > > And really, even our friend the "major scale" is really a mode, or, we use > it as a mode: It resolves to the tonic, and uses the 5th note (the > "dominant") as a sort of frequent layover; the 1st and 5th notes together > anchor the melody. > > (There are modes in the world where that other anchor note, that layover > note, is not the 5th. I don't know enough about Western modes to know if > any of them do that.) > > Now: That other anchor - the dominant - splits the mode into 2 pieces. > Let's take a C major scale: > C D E F G a b c > The 5-note bottom component of the mode, from the tonic to the dominant, > is: > C D E F G > The 4-note top component of the mode, from the dominant to the next tonic, > is: > G a b c > > The bottom part is a major group - it comprises the beginning of a major > scale. > The top part is also a major group - it's sort of like the beginning of > its own major scale, starting on G. > So: A major scale consists of a major group on the bottom + a major group > on top. > A myxolydian scale consists of a major group on the bottom + a minor group > on top. > A Dorian scale consists of a minor group on the bottom + a minor group on > top. > As for the minor scale (I assume you mean natural) - it has a minor group > on the bottom, and a top group that has its own distinct sound - Phrygian. > > So, the four mainstream modes are composed of 3 types of groups: > * Major group: Has a sharp, happy sounding 3rd. Examples: > - D E F# G A > - G A B C > * Minor group: Has a flat, sentimental or mystical sounding 3rd. Examples: > - D E F G A > - G A Bb C > * Phrygian group: Has that distinct drooping sort of sound, with the flat > 3rd as well as flat 2nd. Examples: > - D Eb F G A > - G Ab Bb C > > So: > * Identify the two anchor notes: The tonic and the dominant. > * Identify the types of the two groups comprising the scale - the 5-note > group from the tonic to the dominant and the 4-note group from the dominant > to the next tonic. > There - you have your mode (well, technically, scale). > If you feel a compulsion to assign a name to the mode: > [ major -- major ] = major > [ major -- minor ] = Myxolydian > [ minor -- minor ] = Dorian > [ minor -- Phrygian ] = minor > > Zei gezunt, > Yaron > > >
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