A Brief Introduction to Modes

in Early and Traditional European Music

by Patricia Vivien Yarrow

The Church Modes

It should be stressed that the system of modes used by the church was created to classify and describe music that already existed. The music came before the rules, and composing music in such a way as not to break the rules thus derived was a later convention.

The system evolved gradually, over the span of centuries. It had some roots in the ancient Greek modal classification system, which gave certain modes names that corresponded with certain regions and their people. (The names we use for the modes today derive from the Greek system.) However, the Greek terms were misunderstood and incorrectly applied.

Boethius, who died in 524, wrote a treatise called De Institutione Musica which discussed the tunings of the cithara, an open stringed instrument, and various kinds of octave species. He used the term modus to translate the Greek tonos, or key, which is the source of our word “tone.” He did not discuss melodic formulae in relation to the modi. His description listed the modi from top to bottom, as the Greeks did; however, the Greeks wrote their scales with the note lowest in pitch at the top and the note highest in pitch at the bottom. Medieval theorists who were building on Boethius’ work were not aware of this. Thus, our mode names are the reverse of those used by the ancient Greeks. (For more information on the history of the modes, see the bibliography. I have particularly drawn upon Music in the Middle Ages by Gustave Reese, Gregorian Chant by Willi Appel and The New Oxford History of Music, Volume II: Early Medieval Music up to 1300.)

The church system as it existed from about the 10^th century forward classified modes based on two factors: both the compass used, called the ambitus, and the keynote, called the finalis or final. If the ambitus extended from the final up an octave, the mode was termed authentic; if the ambitus extended a fourth below the final to a fifth above it, the mode was termed plagal. The Church system considers an authentic mode and its plagal version to be distinct but related modes. However, it made no distinction between a mode with B natural, one with B flat, one with mixed Bs, and one omitting the B entirely. Each mode had certain melodic formulae associated with it, and was associated with specific types of chant. (A table of modal distribution and discussion of the melodic formulae may be found in Gregorian Chant by Willi Appel for those who are interested.)

Authentic Mode	No.	Ambitus	Final	Tenor	B	Plagal Mode	No.	Ambitus	Final	Tenor	B
Dorian	I	D - D	D	A	B	Hypodorian	II	A - A	D	F	B
Aeolian	I	D - D	D	A	Bb	Hypoaeolian	II	A - A	D	F	Bb
Phrygian	III	E - E	E	C	B	Hypophrygian	IV	B - B	E	A	Bt
Locrian	III	E - E	E	C	Bb	Hypolocrian	IV	B - B	E	A	Bb
Lydian	V	F - F	F	C	B	Hypolydian	VI	C - C	F	A	B
Ionian	V	F - F	F	C	Bb	Hypoionian	VI	C - C	F	A	Bb
Mixolydian	VII	G - G	G	D	B	Hypomixolydian	VIII	D - D	G	C	B
Dorian*	VII	G - G	G	D	Bb	(Hypodorian)	VIII	D - D	G	C	Bb

*The G Dorian mode has one flat in the key signature. The D Dorian mode has no flats or sharps.

The tenor, or reciting note, is found in the following manner:

· In authentic modes, the tenor is a fifth above the final.

· In plagal modes, the tenor is a third below the tenor of the corresponding authentic mode.

· Whenever the tenor would fall on B, it moves to C.

Even where there is not an extended recitative passage, the tenor usually figures prominently in the chant.

Worth noting is that when the Bb is used in Mode III or IV, the result is the Locrian or Hypolocrian, which is thus much more common in chant than most of us have been told. There are also some surviving Locrian chants that use B as the final. Many of the surviving Locrian chants share certain melodic features, and appear to be from the tenth to twelfth centuries.

Chant also makes use of various hexatonic and pentatonic modes. One in particular, a hexatonic Locrian-6, seems to be heavily associated with the Credo.

In 1547, the Swiss scholar Glarean (or Glareanus) categorized the modes into fourteen possible patterns, of which he rejected two (the Locrian and the Hypolocrian) as "defective." The names he used for the C mode (Ionian, which resembles our modern major), the A mode (Aeolian, the "natural minor") and the Locrian are all modes that had been referred to by the ancient Greeks, though Apollo only knows what they meant by them. The Glarean system is the basis for the heptatonic "ethnic mode" system given next.

Note: Basic scales refer to those that would result if a mode were placed so that it used only the white notes of a modern keyboard. For hexatonic modes, there will be two basic positions; for pentatonic, three.

"Ethnic" Modes (European)

Heptatonic

Authentic	Basic Scale	Half Steps	M/m	Distinguishing Characteristic	Plagal	Scale	Cadences	Primary Chords
Dorian	D-D	2-3, 6-7	m	major 6th	Hypo-Dorian	A-A	D, A	i ii IV VII
Aeolian	A-A	2-3, 5-6	m	"natural minor"	Hypo-Aeolian	E-E	A, E	i v VII
Phrygian	E-E	1-2, 5-6	m	minor 2nd	Hypo-Phrygian	B-B	E, B	i II vii
Locrian	B-B	1-2, 4-5	m	Dim. 5th	Hypo-Locrian	F-F	B, C or F	i° II V
Lydian	F-F	4-5, 7-8	M	Aug. 4th	Hypo-Lydian	C-C	F, C	I II vii
Ionian	C-C	3-4, 7-8	M	all majors	Hypo-Ionian	G-G	C, G	I IV V
Mixolydian	G-G	3-4, 6-7	M	Minor 7th	Hypo-Mixolydian	D-D	G, D	I v VII

Least common is the Locrian, which is occasionally found in Icelandic and Greek music.

Some scholars include the Harmonic Minor, A-A with G raised, as an eighth mode. This is common in Welsh and some Semitic music. There are also modes based on this scale pattern, e.g., Phrygian with a major 3^rd, often used in Eastern European dance music.

Hexatonic

Authentic	Basic Scales	Half Step	Omitted Scale ^o/Basic note	M/m	Plagal Available?	Cadences
D/A	D-D, A-A	2-3	6^th/ B, F	m	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
A/P	A-A, E-E	5-6	2^nd/ B, F	m	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
P/Lo	E-E, B-B	1-2	5^th/ B, F	m	No	Tonic & Second
Ly/I	F-F, C-C	7-8	4^th/ B, F	M	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
I/M	C-C, G-G	3-4	7^th/ B, F	M	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
M/D	G-G, D-D	6-7	3^rd/ B, F	No	Yes	Tonic & Fifth

The first basic scale given is with the B omitted, the second with the F. The Hexatonic mode which would be ambiguous between the Locrian and Lydian is impossible due to the omission of the tonic. The Dorian/Aeolian is very common in traditional music, as is the Ionian/Mixolydian.

There are some hexatonic modes found in traditional music which follow other patterns, such as the Ionian without the sixth scale degree and the Lydian with no seventh.
There is also one common hexatonic mode based on the harmonic minor tuning pattern; it omits the sixth scale degree, and is common in African-American music.

Pentatonic

Authentic	Basic Scales	Omitted Scale ^os	M/m	Plagal Available?	Cadences
p 1 I/Mi/Ly	C-C, G-G, F-F	4th, 7th	M	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
p 2 Mi/D/I	G-G, D-D, C-C	3rd, 7th	No	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
p 3 Mi/D/A	D-D, A-A, G-G	3rd, 6th	No	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
p 4 A/P/D	A-A, E-E, D-D	2nd, 6th	m	Yes	Tonic & Fifth
p 5 P/Lo/A	E-E, B-B, A-A	2nd, 5th	m	No	Tonic & Fourth

The first basic scale given is with F & B omitted, the second with C & F, the third with B & E. There are two impossible pentatonic modes: the Lo/Ly/P, omitting the 1st and 5th; and the Ly/I/Lo, omitting the 1st and 4th. Sometimes the I/Mi/Ly is called the major pentatonic, and the A/P/D the minor pentatonic, but all five occur in traditional music. An example of a plagal, pentatonic tune is "Amazing Grace."

There are also limited-range tunes which never go beyond the first four or five notes of the scales; sometimes they include the seventh (usually as a leading tone), but not the fifth or sixth. There are also pentatonic modes that have five adjacent notes and then skip two notes but include the higher octave such as 123451 or 7123471. I've seen a number of these in French and Hebridean music; an example is the French carol "Entre le Boeuf."

It's worth noting that some modes are more in use in certain parts of the world, and that some types of sacred music are more likely to use a particular mode. Unfortunately, I lost some of my notes on this area, so I am omitting some generalizations from previous versions of this site.

According to a survey of the songs collected and printed in the English Journal of the Folk Song Society from 1899-1931, the following modal frequencies were observed:

Major	635	44%
Dorian	200	14%
Phrygian	3	0.2%
Lydian	3	0.2%
Mixolydian	145	10%
Aeolian	203	14%
Locrian	1	-
Minor	32	2%
Other*	223	15%

*Other includes pentatonic, hexatonic, and those of mixed mode or scale.

Welsh music, and some Irish and English music especially of the 15th through 18th centuries, use the Harmonic minor extensively.

Chord Qualities

Mode	Basic Scale	Omitted	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Dorian	D-D		m	m	M	M	m	dim	M
Aeolian	A-A		m	dim	M	m	m	M	M
Phrygian	E-E		m	M	M	m	dim	M	m
Locrian	B-B		dim	M	m	m	M	M	m
Lydian	F-F		M	M	m	dim	M	m	m
Ionian	C-C		M	m	m	M	M	m	dim
Mixolydian	G-G		M	m	dim	M	m	m	M
D/A	D-D, A-A	6^th	m	m3	M	P5	m	-	M
A/P	A-A, E-E	2^nd	m	-	M	m	m3	M	P5
P/Lo	E-E, B-B	5^th	m3	M	P5	m	-	M	m
Ly/I	F-F, C-C	4^th	M	P5	M	-	M	m	m3
I/M	C-C, G-G	7^th	M	m	m3	M	P5	m	-
M/D	G-G, D-D	3^rd	P5	m	-	M	m	m3	M
p 1 I/Mi/Ly	C-C, G-G, F-F	4th, 7th	M	P5	m3	-	P5	m	-
p 2 Mi/D/I	G-G, D-D, C-C	3rd, 7th	P5	m	-	M	P5	m3	-
p 3 Mi/D/A	D-D, A-A, G-G	3rd, 6th	P5	m3	-	P5	m	-	M
p 4 A/P/D	A-A, E-E, D-D	2nd, 6th	m	-	M	P5	m3	-	P5
p 5 P/Lo/A	E-E, B-B, A-A	2nd, 5th	m3	-	P5	m	-	M	P5

Note: this brief guide was created in 1997-98. It is currently undergoing revision, and a multi-volume book is in progress that will contain real examples of each mode, drawn from traditional and early music, especially of the British Isles. The book is intended primarily for folk harp players, and the arrangements will be diatonic (where appropriate) and in basic tunings (C and relative modes).

Patricia Vivien Yarrow

September 2008

Acknowledgements and thanks:

My teachers and professors, especially Therese Schroeder-Sheker, Ann Heymann, Dr. Larry Worster, Dr. Bill Morse, Dr. Hal Tamblyn, Ms. Cherise Leiter and Dr. Nancy Gunn.

Alexei Kondratiev, multi-talented Celtic scholar, and Margo Schulter, early music scholar.

My students and the members of the ensembles I've directed over the years.

J. T. Escapule and Debra "Liz" Gettings for putting up with me harping on the subject all this time.

Return to my homepage or email me at yarrowp@mscd.edu.

Note: I'm reactivating the site meter I used to have on this page back in 1997. It began tracking September 14, 2007