The mode of folk music and its types

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

If all music really was built on two main scales - major and minor, then, probably, it would be the most boring and monotonous kind of art. Today, even the official theory shows us that on the basis of these two scales, numerous scales are built, which have an excellent sound, which gives each piece its own, inimitable shade. These seven-step modes of folk music can become the basis for chords and accompaniment, with the help of their non-standard sound, unique transitions and modulations are created.

History of the emergence of scales

Almost every one of us has ever heard such definitions: Lydian mode, Dorian, Ionian and so on. All of these terms are relevant to this topic, but some things need to be clarified. Many, based on the name, believe that each mode of folk music was inherent in one of the ancient peoples. In fact, these scales received such a “coding” already in those days when the theory of music became more or less stable, and when"artificial" tones. Nevertheless, each of these modes was borrowed from some folk works, but not only ancient ones, which is antiquity. They were sought out in Indian ragas and Russian ditties, in Arabic maqams and Spanish chaleos.

The main two folk modes

It so happened that some folk modes in music are exact analogues of the usual for all parallel keys - major and minor. In their structure and sound, they are completely identical, so we will consider them briefly. The first is Ionian, that is, major. Its scale is built as follows: tone, tone, semitone, plus three tones and a semitone. This, as we can see, is the standard structure of each major scale from any note. The Aeolian mode of folk music is always a parallel to the Ionian, therefore, its structure is completely identical to the natural minor. This scale includes the following intervals: tone, semitone, two tones, semitone and two tones.

The most common modes in Russian folk songs

If you carefully track every ditty, epic or other composition written by our peasant ancestors, then, based on modern knowledge, we can say that most of the works are built precisely on the Dorian scale. This mode of folk music is minor, since the third step is lowered in it. When we hear the Dorian scale, a feeling of some greatness, courage is created, but at the same time there is a certain gloomy shade in this. This effect is created due to the fact that the sixth step is increased. The Phrygian mode is also a frequent guest in various folk motifs. It is based on the same minor scale, but this time the second step has been changed - here it is lowered.

What underlies Jewish motifs?

Have you ever thought that the melodies that are characteristic of the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean are neither sad nor cheerful, or rather, they do not have a pronounced major or minor structure? This is because they are based on the modes of folk music. Examples of this are numerous songs, melodies and even prayers. If we talk specifically about the scale on which all these compositions are built, then it is worth noting the Lydian one. It is built on the basis of the natural major, however, due to the fact that the fourth step of the scale is raised, another tone is created in the usual sequence for us, which forms such a non-standard sound. Thus, the structure of the Lydian scale is as follows: three tones, a semitone, two tones, a semitone. Based on this, you can both improvise and create characteristic melodies by recording them.

Gamma with the most interesting chord

Mixolydian way of folk music - that's really very beautiful and interesting. Its structure is simple, and is based on the standard major scale. The difference lies in the fact that the seventh degree of the scale is lowered, due to which its sound becomes a little mysterious and gloomy. However, the whole beauty of the fret is not in the selection of notes.the scale itself, but in what chord can be built in it. Due to the fact that the seventh step is lowered, it is she who is added to the usual major tonic triad. As a result, we get a seventh chord of extraordinary beauty, the extreme notes of which form a small seventh. It is often used in jazz and blues compositions.

The rarest natural fret

The term "Locrian", alas, is often not found even in textbooks on music theory. He, like all the others, is the name of another natural scale, which is extremely rare even in folk motifs. It is considered minor, but in fact the sound is such that it is simply impossible to put it in one of these two groups (major-minor). The structure of the scale is as follows: semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone. Particularly beautiful here is the seventh chord, which the musicians call the half-reduced. It consists of two minor thirds and one major.

What other modes of folk music are there?

Pentatonic, diatonic, hemiolic - all these terms are probably familiar to every musician. What is it and how does it sound? It is believed that, unlike all the natural modes described above, it was these sets of sounds that developed in ancient times among the ancient peoples. Later, they became the basis for various works, as well as for scales, which in our time are considered the most important in the theory and practice of music. Well, let's take a closer look at each of these scales then.

Music of our ancestors

Pentatonic, or "Chinese scale" is a set of notes in which semitones are completely absent. Today, major and minor pentatonic scales are distinguished, which are identified by the height of the third step. In the major, the fourth and seventh steps are missing, and in the minor, the second and sixth. Diatonic, in turn, is not a scale at all. These are "musical circles", or reversals of intervals, which are built on pure fifths and fourths. Well, hemiolika is, of course, a standard chromatic scale, in which there are only small seconds, that is, semitones. It is noteworthy that she alone has not changed at all for many years.