Church modes
Definition
The church modes are modes which are derived from degrees of the major scale.
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Origin
"Church modes" is the conventional Western name for the seven basic theoretical medieval diatonic scales and their related derivatives, which were at the time used in European church music. This modal system was used in Medieval music, and their names are derived from Ancient Greek music theory.
In their basic form the church modes can be notated with only basic tones.
Context
The church mode system is the predecessor to the Western major-minor diatonic system. The name "church modes" still refers to their usage in Christian Gregorian chant and early polyphony, but since they are a result of a standardization process, they cannot be but a theoretically simplified (and thus highly censored) representation of what was actually sung in early Christendom, which must have had music and scales taken from a much older music, and larger collection of scales, used outside of, not exclusively before the existence of, the Christian church. The 7 surviving modes incorporated into this collection are purely diatonical, and derived from 1 basic scale, they each just start and end on a different tone.
Since the development of Jazz theory, the church modes, or shorter: "the modes", have become an integral part of teaching improvisation to jazz musicians. An extraordinary example of a very elaborate system for modal improvisation in jazz is George Russel's Lydian chromatic concept of tonal organization. Although the practical value of church modes for modal jazz (mostly with alterations) is undisputed, in fast music ("up tempo") with fast changes of harmony ("changes"), their actual use remains highly questionable from a theoretical point of view, and is of little practical use.
For pedagogical use these modes are still a wonderful beginners-tool to enhance auditive awareness and develop a sense of melody, interval and harmony, and for developing instrumental improvisation, independent of style; however, they have little practical value for improvising over fast changes.
Different modal systems exist in other traditions, such as the Arabic moqqaam-, the Turkish makam-, the North Indian (often somewhat ethnocentrically called "Hindustani") thaat-, and South Indian (also called "Carnatic") melakarta -systems.
Basic notation
The 7 basic modes are:
- Ionian - from c to c
- Dorian - from d to d
- Phrygian - from e to e
- Lydian - from f to f
- Mixolydian - from g to g
- Aeolian - from a to a
- Locrian - from b to b
The basic notation of these modes consists of basic tones and can be done without any alterations (click to play) :
Notation on c
When notating all these modes on c, there appears a different logical order, by the number of alterations needed.
Thus a partial circle of fifths is found with the help of the original tonics: F - C - G - D - A - E - B.
See also
