Music Theory with Light Bright

I will say this for my office mate Light Bright: she does not waste her downtime at work. When things are slow, she is studying music theory. Since she knows this is a subject I am very familiar with, she often asks me questions. For example, today we had the following exchange:

LB: I’m confused, looking at this chord chart. What’s in an A major chord?

FH: (surprised to be asked such a question by a semiprofessional banjo player) A, C# and E

LB: I know that…but on this chord chart, see, it has open string A, open string E, and then a Db. Why would there be a Db in an A chord?

FH: Because Db is the same as C#... in equal temperament. Which, as you know, is pure evil. They wouldn’t be the same in a REAL temperament.

LB: Yeah, I know how you feel about that subject.

She said she is learning the theory behind music so she can teach music. I said I had always wanted to do a series of videos with things like eight vs. twelve bar blues, or how to distinguish modes. Here is the handy list of modes I gave her:

Dorian – sounds Medieval or Celtic, sample tune “Scarborough Fair”

Phrygian – sounds Mideastern, sample tune Tallis Third Mode Melody: “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” (the Lutherans sing it to this; we Catholics sing it to the tune “Kingsfold”)

Lydian – sounds major keyish, sample tune “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore”

Mixolydian – sounds like a fiddle tune, sample tune “Old Joe Clark”

Aeolian – this is just minor key

Ionian – this is just major key

She said this was a really helpful description of the modes.  Maybe one or two of my readers will also find it helpful, although some of you probably know this stuff better than I do so feel free to embellish or correct these descriptions in the comments. 

Famous Hat