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jojo25 - Posted - 01/25/2024: 09:46:59
at this point in my musical journey I only know enuf music theory to make myself dangerous...as to modes...early on for me it was simple...or so I thought then...someone would say "let's play some modal tunes" and it seemed that everyone knew what to do...from open G tuning capo at the 2nd fret...tune the 2nd string up to D...and off to the races...now when someone says "let's play in modal"...I, or someone, will ask..."what mode?" everything is in a mode...for illustration, using the piano makes it easier for me to visualize...you play a C scale on all white keys...that's Ionian...then...continuing to use only the white keys...start on a D and march up to the next D...that is a different mode...then start on an E...etc, etc, za
and I gotta second the point about key signature confusion...esp. for guitar players trying to play the right chords...they see one sharp and think it is in G...and it may not be...etc
Ira Gitlin - Posted - 01/26/2024: 06:54:20
IIRC, the great musical satirist Tom Lehrer once defined a "modal tune" as one in which a wrong note is played every now and then.
;^)
Alex Z - Posted - 01/26/2024: 14:23:52
"Everything is in a mode." True dat!
The white key analogy is good for visualizing the intervals in various modal scales. But the tonal center also has to be specified. For example, "Dorian mode in C" is not going to be all white keys. That's where confusion over the key signature comes in.
Edited by - Alex Z on 01/26/2024 14:26:54
rkdjones - Posted - 01/28/2024: 09:27:30
I mostly learn songs from other people's tablature. Sometimes they will write down the key, maybe even the chords. Sometimes I pick stuff up from sheet music. And I think most of it is in a major key, Ionian mode . In all those cases the notes I'm supposed to play are pretty clear, but the chords to accompany the melodic lead are not.
Generally, do the same norms about chords apply to music in modes other than ionian: chords are based on notes 1,4,5 of the scale?
Keith Billik - Posted - 01/30/2024: 08:26:56
quote:
Originally posted by jojo25
at this point in my musical journey I only know enuf music theory to make myself dangerous...as to modes...early on for me it was simple...or so I thought then...someone would say "let's play some modal tunes" and it seemed that everyone knew what to do...from open G tuning capo at the 2nd fret...tune the 2nd string up to D...and off to the races...now when someone says "let's play in modal"...I, or someone, will ask..."what mode?" everything is in a mode...for illustration, using the piano makes it easier for me to visualize...you play a C scale on all white keys...that's Ionian...then...continuing to use only the white keys...start on a D and march up to the next D...that is a different mode...then start on an E...etc, etc, za
and I gotta second the point about key signature confusion...esp. for guitar players trying to play the right chords...they see one sharp and think it is in G...and it may not be...etc
I have found that bluegrass co-opts and simplifies some musical terms that may have deeper meanings- for example, in my experience, "modal" has come to be used whenever there is a tune that has a flat 7 chord and is ambiguous as to major/minor tonality. Another example is our use of "baritone" and "tenor" harmonies, without any regard to the actual range of the notes.
Laurence Diehl - Posted - 01/31/2024: 12:40:54
quote:
Originally posted by rkdjones
I mostly learn songs from other people's tablature. Sometimes they will write down the key, maybe even the chords. Sometimes I pick stuff up from sheet music. And I think most of it is in a major key, Ionian mode . In all those cases the notes I'm supposed to play are pretty clear, but the chords to accompany the melodic lead are not.
Generally, do the same norms about chords apply to music in modes other than ionian: chords are based on notes 1,4,5 of the scale?
1,3,5 of the scale but yes, same rules. A lot of chord back up are stylistic choices. Each style kind of has its own signature, too many to detail here. I tend to just learn the theory that I find useful. It's not an academic exercise. Although obviously it can be.
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