Locrian mode. Structure, features, scale

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For us, modern musicians, the constant in practice and in solfeggio is the gamma. Each of the existing ones is repelled from a specific note, has its own pitch and scale. But for the ancient Greeks, there was simply no such concept, if only because their instruments did not have a single system. They invented frets - sets of tones and semitones. Today we consider them as an alternative to scales, which are acceptable for some folk instruments. In this article, we will find out what the Locrian mode was like, how it sounded and why it lost its relevance.

Features and sound

As you know, the ancient Greeks invented seven natural modes, each of which was diatonic. Among them were major and minor: the former were characterized by a high third step, the latter by a lower one. The rest of the sounds could be raised - melodic and double melodic scales were obtained, which could be lowered, which was the reason for the formationharmonic structures. But at the same time, each scale certainly began with a tone - that is, the distance between the first and second steps was equal to the tone.

In the case of the Locrian mode, everything is completely different. It is the only one in which a semitone is in the first place. And one could say that a lowered second step is also a sign of a doubly harmonic major, but not in this case. The V step also turned out to be lowered, which, from the point of view of the modern scale, is stable. Consequently, in the Locrian mode there is neither major nor minor sounding, it is impossible to build a triad on its basis, it is very specific and unlike anything else. This was noticed not only by us, modern people, but also by the ancient Greeks themselves, who were accustomed to more "stable" musical combinations.

Building a range

The Locrian mode, as we have already found out, does not have a major or minor orientation. You can compare it with a tritone - an interval that is between consonances and dissonances. Its sound is a bit harsh, but at the same time very pitiful and painted with a gloomy tint. So, the construction of the Locrian mode for us, modern musicians, begins with the note si and ends with it in the next octave.

That is, the key small seconds is the very first combination of sounds - "si-do" and located between the IV and V steps - "mi-fa". Then we have the following structure: semitone-tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone and at the end again tone ("la-si").

Triad

This is the main moment in the structure of the Locrian mode, which literally flies out of the framework of modern solfeggio. The fact is that in order to build a major triad, the first and third steps must form a major third between them, and the third and fifth - a small one. In the case of a minor, the opposite is true - first there is a small third, then a large one.

But within the framework of this mode, we are dealing with two small thirds, because the third step is, by definition, low, as in a minor, and the fifth is lowered. It turns out a reduced triad, the sound of which is extremely unstable and even a little sharp. Some call it extremely sad and pathetic, but in general this chord is very rare in classical music, and in any other music.

Perception of modern man

Of course, a triad based on two small thirds is a dissonance of pure water for a person brought up on melodic classical pieces. However, the sound of the Locrian mode itself is not as tragic as it might seem from the description. The fact is that from the very beginning we study a scale called "C major". These are the basics of solfeggio, there are no signs in this scale, its structure and sound from the point of view of the piano is perfect.

The sound sequence, which also includes only white keys, but starts not from "to", but from "si" - that is, from a note that is literally in the previous position, can be perceived as "a slightly modified major ". Rethinking the sound of this mode will take time and practice on othermusical instruments.

Perception by the ancient Greeks

But these people were not burdened with solfeggio standards and perfect piano tuning. Therefore, they "heard for real" and proceeded from what was presented to them here and now, without comparing the sound with something else. For the ancient Greeks, the Locrian mode was extremely melancholic, gloomy, dreary and pathetic.

It was used only in tragic productions, on its basis they wrote sad, sad music that told about grief, loss and misfortune. Often this unstable mode was compared with female nature. It was believed that in plays and theatrical performances, it is precisely at those moments when a girl (and by no means a man) is grieving that a melody written in the Locrian mode would be appropriate.

Several thousand years of burial

Practically all ancient Greek modes in the Middle Ages were taken as the basis for writing chorales, masses and small pieces. They were a little confused (inaccuracy in the interpretation of Boethius' recordings), but in general the sound of the scales remained the same. In most cases, the composers of that time, working for the church, took into account such systems as Dorian, Ionian, Aeolian - they were the most melodious.

And the Lokrian cat generally fell out of the picture, and remained in oblivion for many centuries. It was only at the end of the 19th century that they remembered it and began to introduce it into new music. Locrian later began to appear in the worksProkofiev, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky.

For guitarists

This Spanish folk instrument is almost the only link between the music of ancient Greece and modern music these days. It is on the guitar that the Locrian mode, like all the others, is studied a priori, because otherwise, further understanding of the notes for this instrument and its features will, in principle, be very vague. There is a certain sequence of building seven frets on the fretboard, and in it the Locrian takes the last place. In order to play it, it is enough to lower the fifth degree in the Phrygian mode.