"Learning by ear" is a tried and true method of fiddle-tune acquisition for an old time banjo player. As long as you've got a good sense of pitch and a willingness to explore the fretboard, you can match the fiddler note-for-note on simple tunes or at least pick some skeleton melody out of notier tunes pretty quickly; add in a few chord shapes and you're really cooking; supplement with an internet's-worth of tabs and you can sound pretty great on banjo without spending any time on music theory! There's nothing wrong with this approach as long as people enjoy the banjo and don't feel like they've hit a wall in their playing.
However, I will point out that this method of learning is not usually employed when teaching other instruments; rather, students benefit from regular doses of theory in the context of their hands-on instruction. This balance between theory and practice is likely the ideal way to learn theory (kind of like sneaking vegetables into a fruit smoothie). But, if you've largely ignored theory until fairly late in the game, picking it up can be a daunting task. Today I'd like to tackle a topic that inevitably comes up when one looks into music theory but seems to mystify a lot of people: modes (specifically the diatonic modes). As an old time banjo player I'm mostly interested in how modes may be related to old time music but hopefully this post would have a little bit of use to anyone wondering about what the modes are, and most importantly, what they sound like. What are modes? The word "mode" can replace the word "scale" and the word "key" depending on the context. I'll talk about these separately below: Modes as scales: The major and minor scales that many people are already familiar with are themselves modes: the major scale is also known as the Ionian mode; similarly the natural minor scale (the most-commonly used one) is also known as the Aeolian mode (sounds fancy right?); there are 5 other modes we'll talk about a bit later, some of which are applicable to Old Time fiddle tunes. A little bit of background to where these scales come from: Two pieces of information are necessary to define a scale: 1) The root note (the first note you play) - which can be any of the 12 notes used in western music 2) the pattern of successive intervals that you play in ascending order to get you back to the root note (but an octave higher). To figure out a major scale, pick your root note of choice and then follow the pattern of intervals that make a major scale (discussed below) up from there until you get to the root note again. These patterns are typically listed as a series of half steps (moving only one fret up the neck at a time) and whole steps (moving two frets up the neck at a time). For a major scale the pattern of intervals between notes goes like this (with the numbers representing the notes of a major scale and the W's and H's representing whole and half steps, respectively): Major scale (aka Ionian mode) pattern: (1)-W-(2)-W-(3)-H-(4)-W-(5)-W-(6)-W-(7)-H-(8) Putting this all together - one way to play a G major scale on your banjo would be to start on your open G (3rd) string and move up the neck skipping frets as necessary to recreate the pattern above: G major scale: low octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo 1(G) - Open 3rd string 2(A) - 2nd fret 3(B) - 4th fret 4(C) - 5th fret 5(D) - 7th fret 6(E) - 9th fret 7(F#) - 11th fret 8(G) - 12th fret In fact, once you get to the 12th fret, you've found another G. If you happen to be playing John Hartford's 24-fret banjo, you could even keep going and do another G major scale as follows (humor me, the purpose of this will become clear in a second): G major scale: high octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo 1(G) - 12th fret 2(A) - 14th fret 3(B) - 16th fret 4(C) - 17th fret 5(D) - 19th fret 6(E) - 21st fret 7(F#) - 23rd fret 8(G) - 24th fret Both of these should sound like the "do re mi fa so la ti do" pattern you're familiar with....the second one is just a little more annoying : ) Those of us with "scooped" necks ran out of frets long before that point however. So, what about a minor scale? Same deal, pick a root and follow the correct pattern of notes that make a minor scale: Minor scale (aka Aeolian mode) pattern: (1)-W-(2)-H-(3)-W-(4)-W-(5)-H-(6)-W-(7)-W-(8) At first the major and minor scale patterns seem to be completely unrelated. However, this is not actually the case! Lets go back to our 2 octave major scale (note that I'm not repeating the 12th fret): G major scale: low octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo 1(G) - Open 3rd string 2(A) - 2nd fret 3(B) - 4th fret 4(C) - 5th fret 5(D) - 7th fret 6(E) - 9th fret 7(F#) - 11th fret 8/1'(G) - 12th fret 2'(A) - 14th fret 3'(B) - 16th fret 4'(C) - 17th fret 5'(D) - 19th fret 6'(E) - 21st fret 7'(F#) - 23rd fret 8'(G) - 24th fret If you look at the notes in bold above, you'll notice that you're moving in the "W-H-W-W-H-W-W" pattern of a minor scale. In fact, by starting at the 9th fret and going to the 21st fret above, you are specifically playing an E minor scale. So, hopefully you can see that a minor scale is basically a major scale where you start on the 6th note. In this way, all major scales have relative minor scales. In this instance we can see that the E minor scale is related to the G major scale: you could use the same batch of frets to play them. If you take the time to do the "fret math" you'll see that the A major scale is related to the F# minor scale, that the D major scale is related to the B minor scale, etc (however, don't forget that major and minor scales are also just patterns of whole and half steps that you can start on any note). Now for the "lightbulb-goes-off-above-your-head" moment: If you can get the pattern of whole and half steps for a minor scale by starting on the 6th note of a major scale, what do you get if you start scales at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th notes of a major scale? The answer is that you get the other 5 diatonic modes! So, lets look at our 2 octave G scale again: G major scale: low octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo 1(G) - Open 3rd string 2(A) - 2nd fret 3(B) - 4th fret 4(C) - 5th fret 5(D) - 7th fret 6(E) - 9th fret 7(F#) - 11th fret 8/1'(G) - 12th fret 2'(A) - 14th fret 3'(B) - 16th fret 4'(C) - 17th fret 5'(D) - 19th fret 6'(E) - 21st fret 7'(F#) - 23rd fret 8'(G) - 24th fret This time I've highlighted the mode that starts on the 5th note of a major scale; this is known as Mixolydian mode (I pick this one because it is used a lot in Old time as we shall see later). If you look at the pattern of whole and half steps (by figuring out which frets you skip above) here, you get the following: Mixolydian mode pattern: (1)-W-(2)-W-(3)-H-(4)-W-(5)-W-(6)-H-(7)-W-(8) At this point I'll point out that the G major (Ionian) scale not only has a relative minor (Aeolian) scale, but a relative Mixolydian scale as well, which we can see is D Mixolydian. However, once again, the Mixolydian pattern (above) can be moved to any tonal center; that is, you could start this pattern on "G," for example, and you would play the G Mixolydian scale. Just for fun, lets do just that and compare the low octave G mixolydian scale, with the low octave G major (Ionian) scale: G major (Ionian) scale low octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo: 1(G) - Open 3rd string 2(A) - 2nd fret 3(B) - 4th fret 4(C) - 5th fret 5(D) - 7th fret 6(E) - 9th fret 7(F#) - 11th fret 8(G) - 12th fret G Mixolydian scale low octave played entirely on the 3rd string of a banjo: 1(G) - Open 3rd string 2(A) - 2nd fret 3(B) - 4th fret 4(C) - 5th fret 5(D) - 7th fret 6(E) - 9th fret 7(F) - 10th fret 8(G) - 12th fret As you can see, the note in bold is actually the only difference between the two scales; until you get to that note, you really have no idea what you're in for (though western brains are naturally attuned to a "major or minor unless otherwise apparent" framework). This brings up two different ways of organizing modes in reference to the more-familiar major and minor scales in your head: 1) The G mixolydian scale is just a D major scale where you start on the 5th note (and play an octave) 2) The G mixolydian scale is just a G major scale with the 7th note moved down a fret In a perfect world, all modes would be equally represented in music and we would not need these simplistic comparisons to more familiar scales, but alas, I can't really live without them : ) Both above points are, in fact true, so you have to pick which one works for you. While the first point reminds you of the derivation of a particular mode, I have a lot more success thinking in line with point 2 when trying to remember each scale. At this point is probably appropriate to outline all of the 7 diatonic modes (that is, those that can be built from the Major scale): Ionian Mode (a.k.a. standard major scale): (1)-W-(2)-W-(3)-H-(4)-W-(5)-W-(6)-W-(7)-H-(8) Dorian Mode (built from the 2nd note of a major scale) I think of this as a minor scale, where the 6th note has been moved up a 1/2 step (1)-W-(2)-H-(3)-W-(4)-W-(5)-W-(6)-H-(7)-W-(8) Phrygian Mode (built from the 3rd note of a major scale) I think of this as a minor scale, where the 2nd note has been moved down a 1/2 step (1)-H-(2)-W-(3)-W-(4)-W-(5)-H-(6)-W-(7)-W-(8) Lydian Mode (built from the 4th note of a major scale) I think of this as a major scale, where the 4th note has been moved up a 1/2 step (1)-W-(2)-W-(3)-W-(4)-H-(5)-W-(6)-W-(7)-H-(8) Mixolydian Mode (built from the 5nd note of a major scale) I think of this as a major scale, where the 7th note has been moved down a 1/2 step (1)-W-(2)-W-(3)-H-(4)-W-(5)-W-(6)-H-(7)-W-(8) Aeolian Mode (a.k.a. natural minor scale; built from the 6th note of a major scale) (1)-W-(2)-H-(3)-W-(4)-W-(5)-H-(6)-W-(7)-W-(8) Locrian Mode (built from the 2nd note of a major scale) I think of this as a minor scale, where the 2nd note has been moved down a 1/2 step and the 5th note has been moved down a 1/2 step...this one definitely sounds the weirdest : ) (1)-H-(2)-W-(3)-W-(4)-H-(5)-W-(6)-W-(7)-W-(8) Modes as keys: Reminder: to make any scale, you need a root note and a pattern of intervals to move along. There are 12 different options for root notes (corresponding to the 12 notes that form the basis for western music) and we've talked about 7 different patterns of intervals known as the diatonic modes. These two pieces of information can be used to describe not only a scale, but a particular tune as well. For example, if I play a tune with a root note of G, that only uses the notes found in the G major scale, then that tune can also be described as being "in the key of G major." Similarly, if I play a tune with a root note of E that only uses notes found in the E minor scale, then that tune can also be described as being "in the key of E minor." Note that (as we have seen above) the G major and E minor scales actually use the same notes and differ in their root note. However, in my opinion, it would be incorrect to call an E minor tune a G major tune because they have different root notes. So how do you determine the root note of a song? This is easy for a scale since its the first note you play, but a tune doesn't actually have to start on the root note of the key it's in. The easiest (but slightly complicated) way is to look at the root note of the first chord of a song; typically this determines the root note of the key a tune is in. I know its unsatisfying but theres also a bit of "know it when you hear it" aspect to determining the root note of a tune too... Anyways, just as tunes can be described as major or minor (a.k.a. Ionian and Aeolian), depending on the notes they used, tunes can be derived from the other 5 modes as well. So you could have a tune thats in D dorian, A mixolydian, C# lydian, etc. In fact with 12 root notes and 7 modes available, there are 84 possible combinations (quick note: the diatonic modes are actually not the only scales out there so this is not exhaustive...but it certainly gets you pretty far). Its a little complicated to get into here, but the mode that a tune is in can suggest a chord structure as well. Okay, we've officially "eaten our vegetables" - how does all of this modal stuff possibly apply to old time fiddle tunes? Fiddle tunes are typically composed in Ionian, Aeolian, Myxolydian, and Dorian Modes Much of modern western music is composed in either major (Ionian) or minor (Aeolian) keys. There are certainly genre-specific and song-specific exceptions to this trend (fun fact: the Simpsons' theme song is in Lydian mode!), but overall the other 5 modes are not well represented in our current musical environment. However, while many old time tunes are easily classified as major or minor (a.k.a. Ionian or Aeolian), plenty of commonly-played tunes are in Mixolydian or Dorian modes as well. Interestingly, the choice of root notes is pretty consistent: most old time tunes tend to stick with root notes of A, D, G, or C regardless of which scale is built from said root. If you learn Mixolydian and Dorian scales and learn to "hear" these modes in a song, this can really help in picking out the "weird-sounding" fiddle tunes. So, what do these things sound like? In a very general way, major (a.k.a. Ionian) tunes sound "happy" and minor (a.k.a Aeolian) tunes sound "sad" to western ears. Using these as endpoints its easy to describe other modes as sounding somewhere in-between. However, the 3rd note of a scale has a large bearing on its sound because (once again, simplicity warning...) its the note that determines whether or not the root chord sounds major or minor. Since the Mixolydian scale shares most of its construction, including the 3rd note, with the major/Ionian scale, its sounds "happy-ish" to my ears; similarly, the Dorian scale shares most of its construction, including the 3rd note, with the minor scale and sounds "sad-ish" overall. Mixolydian fiddle tunes: Common A mixolydian tunes include "Sandy Boys," "Old Joe Clark," and "June Apple." Here's me playing "Sandy Boys" on a 11" Cuck Lee Dobson (from my side gig as "official banjo tester at Elderly instruments"):
Link to full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSECDcK6qcw
Note - I actually played this in "G Mixolydian" since its in open G tuning (gDGBD) because I don't like "tuning up" or using Capos in these videos.
Hear the "bluesy" sound? Any time a tune includes notes on the 3rd fret of the 1st or 4th strings in open G/A (gDGBD/aEADE) or sawmill G/A (gDGCD/aEADE) tunings, but otherwise sounds "happy," (i.e. it has a "major third") its likely a Mixolydian tune. There are plenty of D mixolydian tunes out there as well: "Snake River Reel" and "Sadie at the Back Door" come to mind. Here's me playing "Sadie at the Back Door" on a 12" Nechville Atlas"
Link to full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB8wQxkNjMU
(for reasons similar to those above) - I actually play this in "C Mixolydian" in double C tuning (gCGCD)
As above, anytime you find yourself playing an "otherwise happy sounding tune" in double C/D tuning (gCGCD/aDADE), where you hit the 3rd fret on the 3rd string, you're likely playing a C/D Mixolydian tune.
Dorian Fiddle tunes: Probably the best known Dorian Melody for most people is "Greensleeves;" maybe you've noticed that there's that one note that sounds kinda weird to your ears? Thats the very note that differentiates "Greensleeves" as a Dorian, rather than Aeolian (natural minor) tune. Some people even change that note to suite our modern musical tastes! One of my favorite Dorian tunes is "Gospel Plow" (C Dorian). Here's me playing it on an 11" Rickard Maple Ridge:
Link to full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cp3tKjtlEs
note: actually played in the correct key: C major (gCGCD tuning)
Any time you're playing a minor-sounding tune (i.e. one with a "Minor 3rd") in double C/D tuning (gCGCD/aDADE), where you find yourself hitting a note on the 2nd fret on the 3rd string ("A" or "B" depending on the tuning), you are likely playing in Dorian. I highlight the "Dorian-ness" of the melody of "Gospel Plow" by doing a big brush on an F-major chord (which includes an "A") about mid-way through the melody. If this song were in C minor rather than C dorian, I would have to play an F minor chord there.
"Cold Frosty Morning" is a common A dorian tune, pretty much universally played in aEADE. Here's me playing in on a Gold Tone Bob Carlin model BC-350:
Just as the 2nd fret on the 3rd string marks a minor sounding D tune as Dorian, the 2nd fret on the 1st and 4th string marks a minor sounding A tune as Dorian (this note would be moved down a fret if the tune were a standard minor/Aeolian tune).
Tunes that switch modes: Its pretty neat when this happens and it definitely makes for a crowdpleaser! Often this switch is between A and B parts, and oftentimes the same root note is used (though see "Flop-eared mule," which switches from G Ionian to D Ionian between parts). My favorite of these tunes is likely "Kitchen Girl," a Henry Reed tune that switches from A Mixolydian in the A part to A Aeolian in the B-part. Unfortunately, I've yet to record this one on an Elderly video (coming soon!) So, what do people mean when they say "this next one is a modal tune?" In my experience this can mean a couple different things: The most obvious (and arguably correct) definition would be that any tune outside of the normal Major or Minor keys is called a "modal" tune. This alerts everyone involved to look for something funny (weird notes/chords) if they don't know the tune. This would catch any strictly-mixolydian, strictly-dorian, or mode-switching tunes, regardless of what tuning these are played in. However, some people also the term "modal" to refer to any tune played in "modal" (aka sawmill; gDGCD/aEADE) tuning. This definition is a little problematic. First off, natural A minor (Aeolian) tunes would be played in "modal" tuning and I even play a few major/Ionian tunes in this tuning simply out of ease-of-fingering concerns. Also, mixolydian and/or dorian tunes played in double C/D (gCGCD/aDADE) are not captured under this definition of "modal." In other words, "modal" means different things to different people - I guess the best thing to do is open your ears extra wide when someone tells you a "modal tune" is coming at a jam : ) Next week I'll supplement this discussion of modes with some audio files - stay tuned!
5 Comments
5/11/2018 04:04:13 am
Now the music made by the meaningless things but the all the music of the old time was very meant full. I have songs of the old era that lyrics are amazing and very heart touchy to hear all the songs and the music of old time.
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Jimmy Robbins
6/6/2018 07:03:55 am
Thanks for posting this, its to much to take in all at once, so ill re read it later. This writing is definitely clarifying the subject,
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Joris
8/6/2018 08:55:26 am
I've been looking for an article like this for ages. Thank you so much! This got so many coins to drop that my head sounded like a game of Mario. In fact, your whole website is a treasure trove, I appreciate it a lot.
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alex
3/13/2020 01:38:01 am
This lesson is gold. I've been looking for a comprehensive lesson like this with song examples for a long time. Thanks so much! Do you have the scales in G tuning and double C tabbed out anywhere for the 4 main modes? Or know where I could find them? I'm so glad I found your blog, thanks for posting this stuff!
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Michael
8/12/2020 10:16:49 am
Great article.
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