Sie sind auf Seite 1von 9

On Modes

by Dr. Jody Nagel


It seems that the essence of the character of a specific seven-note "white-key"
diatonic mode can be demonstrated completely by simply juxtaposing (1) the
perfect fifth found between scale degrees 1 and 5 and (2) the tritone contained
within that mode. The foreground or background presence of a tonalityproducing perfect fifth provides the ear with the sensation of pitchcenteredness,1 while, in predominantly diatonic music, the specific tritone
provides the "flavor" or "color" of the modality. Put simply, the perfect fifth
between scale degrees 1 and 5 provides tonality, and the placement of the
tritone provides a specific modality. It is convenient to label the various possible
tritone relationships with respect to a given "tonic-dominant" perfect fifth based
on the name of the mode that ordinarily contains that tritone. Thus, relative to a
C-G perfect fifth, the pitch classes B and F constitute the "Ionian Tritone." Again
relative to a C-G perfect fifth, the pitch classes Eb and A constitute the "Dorian
Tritone." The named tritones are each shown in Example 1. It should be
remembered that the "Locrian Tritone" completely displaces the structurally
important and tonality-producing perfect fifth, and the Locrian mode is really,
therefore, an "atonal" mode.2
In this article, the word "tonality" is used synonomously with "pitchcenteredness" and does not in any way refer to any musical style or time
period.
2
In order to use the Locrian Mode idiosyncratically, a composer must assert the
tonic pitch often and quite strongly, as there is no perfect fifth relationship above
scale degree 1 to be had. "Tonality" by single-pitch assertion is basically a
different phenomena than tonality based on the pitches of a perfect fifth
relationship.

To demonstrate "the essence of the character of a specific seven-note whitekey diatonic mode," consider the modal melodies of Example 2. Within the first
measure of each example, using only the pitches of the tritone, as well as scale
degrees 1 and 5, a complete sense of the affect of the mode is created. The
second measure then contains a variation of the first measure where all the
pitches of the mode are "used up." The "other" pitches of the mode, of course,
are useful as connective tissue and for creating a richer set of relationships, but
they are not essential for achieving a particular modal coloration.

The white-key modes, then, can be seen as the set of single-tritone


"colorations" possible within a perfect-fifth-centered tonality. There is,
however, another set of seven-note diatonic 3 modes. Hungarian writer Lajos
Bardos4 refers to the Heptatonia Secunda modes (i.e., the second set of
seven-tone modes, as opposed to the more usual "first" set of white-key
modes.) If the white-key modes are thought of as having been derived by
taking the seven possible rotations of the interval pattern (in semitones) 2-21-2-2-2-1, then the Heptatonia Secunda modes can be thought of as being
derived by taking the seven possible rotations of the interval pattern (in
semitones) 2-1-2-2-2-2-1. Put differently, the white-key modes are made of
rotations of a [two whole step + three whole step] pattern, while the
Heptatonia Secunda modes are made of rotations of a [one whole step +
four whole step] pattern. Most of these modes are not usually given names,
though the most common of these is the "ascending melodic minor" scale
(for example: C, D, Eb, F, G, A, B, C).5 Also common is the major scale with
"borrowed" b6 and b7 (for example: C, D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, C). The major
scale with altered #4 and b7 is another of these modes and was used
sometimes by Bla Bartk; a good example can be found in the tenor solo
and stretto string parts in his Cantata Profana (mm.72-87), which is based
on the scale: D, E, F #, G#, A, B, C, D. One additional mode, which the
author employed often in his opera Fifty-Third Street, is the natural minor
scale with altered b2 and #6; as an example, the "Drinking Song" of Scene
4 is based entirely on the scale: B, C, D, E, F#, G#, A, B. The other three
rotations possible within the Heptatonia Secunda system include two modes
containing a diminished fifth above the tonic pitch (for example:
C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C and C, Db, Eb , Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, C), and one
mode which contains an augmented fifth above the tonic pitch (for example,
C, D, E, F#, G#, A , B, C). These three modes are analogous to the "Locrian
Problem" of the white-key modes; since they lack a perfect fifth above the
tonic pitch, they tend to have a strangely "atonal" quality.

Here, the word "diatonic," as applied to seven-tone modes, refers to scales


containing successive intervals of only whole steps or half steps, and,
furthermore, to those scales not containing two or more consecutive half
steps. As an interesting aside, it should be noted that the eight-tone
"octatonic" scale is also "diatonic" based on this definition.
4
Bardos, Lajos. Selected Writings on Music. Budapest: Editio Musica, 1984,
88ff. English translation by Alexander Farkas and Kata Ittzs, 1984.
5
These next few paragraphs are drawn largely from the Appendix of the
author's dissertation, Fifty-Third Street. (1992.)
It should now be pointed out that each of the Heptatonia Secunda modes
contains two tritones (a whole step apart), whereas each of the white-key
modes contains only one tritone. Assuming that the two tritones, along with
the perfect fifth separating scale degrees 1 and 5, are the basis for the
modal character of each of these modes, just as was the case for the whitekey modes with their single tritone, it becomes possible to create names for
these modes by hybridizing the names of the two white-key modes which
contain the same tritones as the given Heptatonia Secunda mode. For
example, the ascending melodic minor scale C, D, Eb, F, G, A, B, C
contains the Dorian tritone Eb-A, and the Ionian tritone F-B. This scale
would therefore receive the name "Dorionian." By systematically choosing
the lower tritone first, and the tritone a whole step higher second, the set of
names found in Example 3 is constructed. These names are highly
appropriate considering that they reveal the tritone content of the mode, and
therefore
the
"color"
of
the
mode.

There is a small curiosity that appears when the Heptatonia Secunda modes
are derived from the white-key modes in each of two different ways. In
Example 4, this difference can be seen clearly. In "Derivation Method 1," the
pitch class "E" in each of the white-key modes is first flatted, 6 and secondly
the scale is transposed down to begin on pitch class "C." In "Derivation
Method 2," the white-key modes are first transposed down to begin on pitch
class "C," and secondly the appropriate pitch class is flatted. The first method
transforms the Phrygian mode into a mode containing a Lydian tritone and an
Aeolian tritone, and is what we have called the "Lydaeolian" mode. The
second method, however, transforms the Phrygian mode into a mode
containing an Ionian tritone and a Phrygian tritone, and, thus, could be called
the "Ioniphrygian" mode. The second method of derivation would seem to be
desirable since it should allow pitch-class structures built on "C" (i.e., the
transposed white-key modes) to be transformed into other pitch-class
structures also built on C (i.e., the transposed Heptatonia Secunda modes).
In the case of transforming the transposed Phrygian mode into a Heptatonia
Secunda mode, however, it is the tonic pitch itself which must be displaced
down a semitone, and the point of reference of the whole system (i.e., "C") is
thus lost from the scale. Therefore the second method of derivation, at least
as far as creating modal names is concerned, will be rejected in favor of the
first method.

If the white-key modes are viewed from a set-theory point-of-view, then pitch
class "E" is the pitch class "5" drawn from the septachord
[0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10]
=
[B, C, D, E, F, G, A].
It is this fourth element (p.c. 5) of the prime form of the set constituting the
white-key modes which is lowered by one semitone and which then
transforms the white-key modes into the Heptatonia Secunda modes (with a
prime form of [0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10].)

Now it is time to consider further these 14 diatonic modes, starting once again
with the white-key modes, and keeping in mind the importance of scale
degrees 1 and 5, and the pitches making up the tritone(s) within the mode. Of
the Locrian mode, the tritone content completely overlaps scale degrees 1 and
5. This "degenerative" mode contains only two essential7 pitches (C-Locrian:
C, Gb). Of both the Phrygian and the Lydian modes, the tritone content shares
one pitch in common with scale degrees 1 and 5. So in C-Phrygian, the pitch
G is part of the tritone G-Db, as well as being scale degree 5. In C-Lydian, the
pitch C is part of the tritone C-F#, as well as being scale degree 1. Phrygian
and Lydian are both modes containing three essential pitches (C-Phrygian:
C, Db G; and C-Lydian: C, F#, G). Finally, Ionian, Aeolian, Dorian and
Mixolydian are yet even richer pitch systems because each contains four
essential pitches; the pitches of the tritone do not overlap the pitches of scale
degrees 1 and 5. (The essential pitches of C-Ionian are C, F, G, B. The
essential pitches of C-Aeolian are C, D, G, Ab. The essential pitches of CDorian are C, Eb, G, A. The essential pitches of C-Mixolydian are
C, E, G, Bb.)
7

essential, that is, to the unique affect of the given mode. These "essential"
pitches, as stated earlier, include scale degrees 1 and 5, and the pitches of
the tritone(s).

Of the Heptatonia Secunda modes, only Dorionian (ascending melodic minor)


and Aeomixolydian (major with "borrowed" b6 and b7) contain two pairs of
tritone pitches that do not overlap with scale degrees 1 and 5. In C-Dorionian,
scale degrees 1 and 5 are C-G, and the two tritones are Eb-A, and F-B. In CAeomixolydian, scale degrees 1 and 5 are C-G, and the two tritones are D-Ab,
and E-Bb.
Another observation about modes is that scale degree 3 seems exclusively to
provide the mode with a sense of being either "more major" or "more minor" in
character. This, of course, is because the tonic triad of the mode would actually
be either major or minor. So Dorian, Phrygian, Dorionian, and Phrygidorian,
along with Aeolian, are the "minor" modes; while Lydian, Mixolydian,
Aeomixolydian, and Mixolydilydian, along with Ionian, are the "major" modes.
Locrian, Locraeolian, and Mixolocrian cannot, of course, contain a true major or
minor tonic triad since they contain a diminished fifth above the tonic pitch, but
nevertheless, their scale degree 3, being a minor 3rd above the tonic pitch,
gives these modes a distinctly "more minor" character than major. Lydaeolian,
containing an augmented fifth above the tonic pitch, also cannot contain a true
major or minor tonic triad, but nevertheless, its scale degree 3, being a major

3rd above the tonic pitch, gives this mode a distinctly "more major" character
than minor.
8

Now, add in scale degree 3 to the general equation.


Of all 14 diatonic seven-note modes, only the Ionian
mode and the Aeolian mode (major and minor scales)
contain tritone pitches which lie completely outside
the tonic triad. In other words, in only these two
modes do the tritone pitches not overlap either scale
degrees 1, 3, or 5. The modes are pitch collections
from which music is made, and two important subsets
of the collection are the tonic triad pitches and the
tritone pitches. Though history is more interested in
discussing the development of musica ficta and
leading tones, when considering the eventual
domination over the other modes by the major and
minor scales, it seems reasonable to suppose that,
while composers were searching for satisfying ways
to bring closure and a sense of resolution to a
polyphonic composition, they would gradually begin
to choose consistently those tonic sonorities that had
every last vestige of the tritone coloration removed
from them. A Dorian or Phrygian tonic triad, for
example, contains one pitch that also partakes of the
tritone coloration, and that coloration is not entirely
absent at the moment the final tonic triad sounds. 8

In the Mixolydian and


Dorian modes, the
third could be omitted
from the final tonic
sonority; this creates a
more "hollow"
sounding tonic, but, to
this writer, one which
has more of a sense of
closure than when the
tritone-participating
scale degree 3 is
present. The choice of
omitting the third from
the final tonic triad in
the cases of the Lydian
and Phrygian modes
does not result in a
perceptible difference
in the degree of
closure since the third
does not participate as
a tritone member
within these modes.

Why is it desirable to remove the tritone coloration


from the final tonic triad? The major or minor tonic
triad represents the ultimate asymmetrical pitch
structure: the 12 semitones of the octave are divided
asymmetrically into 7+5 semitones (perfect 5th +
perfect 4th), and the larger of these intervals (the
perfect 5th) is divided asymmetrically into 3+4 or 4+3
(major 3rd and minor 3rd.) These intervals maximally
separate the individual pitches, thereby preserving
their clarity, while simultaneously the asymetricallity
assures that the ear can always "know" which of the
tones is which, and this is the very essence of the
meaning of tonality. By contrast, the tritone
represents the ultimate in symmetry, subdividing the
octave into 6+6 semitones.9 This interval represents
the exact negation of tonality; in itself, it destroys any
possible sensation of pitch-centeredness. It only has
tonal "meaning" if it exists in juxtaposition with a tonic
triad, and the maximum juxtaposition possible occurs
only when the pitches of the tritone do not overlap the
pitches of the tonic triad. Given the early tradition of
avoiding the "Diabolus in musica," it should not be
surprising that this avoidance continued in a more
abstract manner at a later time. This may never have
been a conscious thought on the part of any
composer. However, anyone with sensitive hearing
would subconsciously detect the lurking presence of
the tritone strangely prolonged into the final tonic triad
of all diatonic modes other than major and minor
scales. Those individuals that are theologically
minded surely must excite themselves with the
number-symbolism associated with "6" (tritone / Devil
/ instability) and "7" (perfect fifth / God / stability).

Consider, by way of
analogy, a perfectly
square house that has
a flat roof and four
walls each containing
a door in the center
and two windows
placed on either side
of the door. (The
house has no front
porch or back porch!)
This structure, in and
of itself, has no logical
"front" and is perfectly
symmetrical. If,
however, one were to
place this structure in
the context of a
neighborhood whereby
one of the walls of the
house suddenly "faced
the street," then, by
that context, one could
say that the "front" of
the house was the side
which faced the street.
Likewise, the
symmetrical interval of
a tritone can be used
"tonally" quite well
when placed in
structural juxtaposition
with an asymmetrical
tonic triad.

Some will point out that the Natural Minor scale is not really used in the music of
the Common Practice Era. The more commonly used Harmonic Minor scale,
however, employs an augmented second and is therefore a chromaticallyaltered scale and is not truly diatonic by our definition. (See Footnote 3.)
Consider, though, that the Harmonic Minor scale utilizes both the Ionian tritone
and the Aeolian tritone. It has a unique intensity because both of the pairs of
tritone pitches are eventually removed from the tonal fabric when closure is
obtained through the final tonic triad. In times past, the search for effective
musical closure led to the use of modes which contained tritones not
overlapping the tones of the tonic triad. Now, in our time, it is not necessarily

desirable to create such a complete sense of resolution at the end of a piece of


music. Perhaps it is more enticing to leave a bit of instability resonating within
the final chord of a composition, even a chord consisting simply of a major or
minor triad. For contemporary composers who prefer writing music that remains
tonal (i.e., pitch-centered), it seems that there is still much to be obtained from
experimenting with the different modes. Perhaps 12-tone serial music, with its
non-temporal pitch fabric always containing all possible intervals (regardless of
the actual temporal succession of intervals), has a tendency, as when mixing all
of the colors of paint, to become "brown" after awhile. (The color brown is
perfectly nice. . . sometimes!) The white-key modes, each with their "pure color"
single tritone, and the somewhat more complex Heptatonia Secunda modes,
with their "secondary colors" obtained by the "mixing" of two tritones (not to
mention their perhaps even more exotic augmented 5th / diminished 4th
pigmentation), remain an important source (along with many other pitch sets) for
compositional inspiration. Perhaps the "Diabolus in musica" still has much more
to say.
Dr. Jody Nagel
May 11 & July 22, 1996
Copyright 1996 by Jody Jay Nagel

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen