More About Musical Modes

The good news is that I did find that chapter by Praetorius on how to recognize modes. The bad news is that it is just a bunch of diagrams, mostly C clef showing what notes each mode contains if the scale starts on C, but also some sort of organ tablature that I have no idea how to read. Since most of my readers are probably more familiar with G clef and maybe F clef than C clef, I wasn’t sure any of this would be helpful to you. I was hoping for something more along the lines of: “To recognize the Dorian mode, listen for the lowered third and the raised sixth,” or maybe even something like: “The Dorian always sounds very old and majestic. You can distinguish it from the Aeolian (our usual “minor key”) by the unexpected raised sixth that gives it an almost medieval sound.” At least, that’s how I would explain the Dorian mode, and I was hoping Praetorius could do a better job.

As we sang our Hildegarde of Bingen chants, we had to move from mode to mode, which made the differences in them more immediate. We sang some selections from her “Ursula Antiphons,” and they all began on D. The first chant was in Aeolian, so there was a B flat. The second was in Phrygian, so there was also an E flat. The third was back to Aeolian, and the fourth was in Dorian, so starting on D there were no accidentals. All three modes have the lowered third that gives the immediately recognizable “minor key” character, and the Phrygian has a lowered second that gives it an almost Mideastern sound. Maybe the best way to get to know the modes is to sing chant, so I encourage all 5.2 of my readers to do so if you have a chance.

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