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=               Scales and Modes in Scottish Traditional Music              =
=                                  Jack Campin                              =
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History of Mode Concepts: from the Renaissance to Ancient Sumeria
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The modal system best known to folk musicians was described by Glarean
(or Glareanus) in the Renaissance, adapted by the English folksong scholar
Lucy Broadwood late in the 19th century.  It's one of hundreds of modal
systems intended to describe dozens of different kinds of music and with
several fundamentally different purposes.

Glarean's system was built on the Gregorian modal system, which was first
defined in the 9th century.  There were rival forms of Christian chant
that it didn't apply to - the Ambrosian chant of the early Western church
that still continued in use (it was a chaotic mixture of older liturgical
and folk music that defied any theoretical explanation), the Mozarabic
chant of Spain, the Byzantine system (with its own theory that mixed
Greek, Hebrew and Arabic ideas) and the chants of Armenia, the Syriac
church and Ethiopia.

The modal system even oversimplified Gregorian chant to some extent, and
was continually revised and adapted to local practices all over Europe
for centuries.  Perhaps music theory was seen as something you could argue
about without the risk of being condemned as a heretic, so it turned into
an intellectual boxing ring for 1000 years.

The Gregorian system recognized only four authentic and four plagal modes.
Its main target was classifying only a part of the chant repertoire, the
"psalm tones", melodies used for singing psalms to.  In Cistercian
monasteries there were only nine psalm tones, one for each of the modes
and one extra.  (Other orders could use as many as 13).  The modal system
described more than the scale and final note, with each mode having

 - a RANGE or AMBITUS, which varied according to the theorist; it was
   usually a ninth like the bagpipes, but could be just an octave or as
   much as an octave and a fifth,
 - an INTONATION (opening cadence)
 - a RECITING TONE (a repeated monotone in the middle)
 - an ENDING
 - and (for some psalms) a FLEX or SECOND INTONATION (a linking note or
   cadence between two phrases sung on the reciting tone).

The reciting tone is sometimes called the "dominant" or "modal dominant";
it doesn't have an associated chord like the "dominant" of later music,
and isn't always a fifth away from the tonal centre.  It was chosen to
be near the middle of the range, so the authentic and plagal forms of
a mode had different reciting tones.  For some modes it changed over
the centuries.  Ambrosian chant had too wide a variety of reciting tones
to classify.

Here are the modes with their ranges and reciting tones, as described in
the ninth century.  First a "vertical" presentation of the system used
in the anonymous treatise "Alia Musica":

X:0
T:Plagal modes
N:The upper number is the octave species, the lower number the mode
N:the top and bottom notes are the limits of the range
N:the middle note is the mediant final
M:none
L:1/1
K:C
"^1" "_II"   [A,DA]\
"^2" "_IV"   [B,EB]\
"^3" "_VI"   [CFc]\
"^4" "_VIII" [DGd]||

X:0
T:Authentic modes
N:The upper number is octave species, the lower number is the mode
N:the top and bottom notes are the limits of the range
N:the middle note is the mediant reciting tone
N:the bottom note is the final
M:none
L:1/1
K:C
"^4" "_I"   [DAd]\
"^5" "_III" [EBe]\
"^6" "_V"   [Fcf]\
"^7" "_VII" [Gdg]||

And here is a horizontal presentation of the system of Odo of Cluny,
which was less formally sophisticated but described a wider range
of tunes.  I've split the authentic ones into rising and falling forms
and the plagal ones into notes below the tonal centre and those above.
The reciting tones are stated at the beginning and in the middle.

X:0
T:Mode I, Dorian
M:none
L:1/4
K:DDor
A8|D2 C D E F G A B c d4|A8|d2 c B A G F E D C D4|]

X:0
T:Mode II, Hypodorian
M:none
L:1/4
K:DDor
F8|D2 C D E F G A B c d4|F8|d2 c B A G F E D C D4|]

X:0
T:Mode III, Phrygian
M:none
L:1/4
K:EPhr
c8|E2 D E F G A B c d e4|c8|e2 d c B A G F E D E4|]

X:0
T:Mode IV, Hypophrygian
M:none
L:1/4
K:EPhr
A8|E2 D C B, A, B, C D E4|A8|E2 F G A B c B A G F E4|]

X:0
T:Mode V, Lydian
M:none
L:1/4
K:FLyd
c8|F2 E F G A B c d e f4|c8|f2 e d c B A G F E F4|]

X:0
T:Mode VI, Hypolydian
M:none
L:1/4
K:FLyd
A8|F2 E D C D E F4|A8|F2 G A B c d c B A G F4|]

X:0
T:Mode VII, Mixolydian
M:none
L:1/4
K:GMix
d8|G2 F G A B c d e f g a g4|d8|g2 a g f e d c B A G F G4|]

X:0
T:Mode VIII, Hypomixolydian
M:none
L:1/4
K:GMix
c8|G2 F E D C D E F G4|c8|G2 A B c d e d c B A G4|]

One psalm tone, used only for psalm 113, "In exitu Israel",
didn't fit the system.  It had two parts with different
reciting tones.  It was not given any mode, and was named
the "tonus peregrinus" (pilgrim's tune).  It may have come
from Byzantine chant or some other Middle Eastern tradition
older than Gregorian chant.  A very similar tune is used
for the same psalm in Yemenite Jewish liturgy, and the fall
of a tone between the two reciting tones is still current
in the music of the Syrian Orthodox Church.  And there are
several variants of the Gregorian Tonus Peregrinus from
different parts of Europe.  Its sequence of pitches is D minor
authentic.  A variant of it (with a rising ending) is the
chant of the Teutonic Knights in Prokofiev's music for
Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky" - this has now found an
even wider audience on soundtracks for computer games.

X:0
T:Tonus Peregrinus
S:Oxford History of Music
M:none
L:1/4
Q:1/4=120
K:DMin
ABAAAAAGBAGFAAAAAAADFFED||
A4 AGA4GBAGFFG4G4DFFED|]

X:0
T:Tonus peregrinus
S:Commemoratio brevis, via New Grove Encyclopaedia
M:none
L:1/4
Q:1/4=120
K:DDor
A(BA)A AAA AAG AG||AAA AGG GG GGF DFF(ED)||

Glarean added four more modes, the authentic and plagal
forms of the minor and major modes.

X:0
T:Mode IX, Aeolian
M:none
L:1/4
K:AMin
e8|A2 G A B c d e f g a4|e8|a2 g f e d c B A G A4|]

X:0
T:Mode X, Hypoaeolian
M:none
L:1/4
K:AMin
c8|A2 G F E D E F G A4|A8|A2 B c d e d c B A4|]

X:0
T:Mode XI, Ionian
M:none
L:1/4
K:C
g8|c2 B c d e f g a b c'4|g8|c'2 b a g f e d c B c4|]

X:0
T:Mode XII, Hypoionian
M:none
L:1/4
K:C
e8|c2 B A G F G A B c4|e8|c2 d e f g f e d c4|]

Glarean idealized the modes to one-octave ranges and paired
modes that had a range in common:

A, to A: aeolian & hypodorian
B, to B: hypophrygian
C  to c: ionian & hypolydian
D  to d: dorian & hypomixolydian
E  to e: phrygian & hypoaeolian
F  to f: lydian
G  to g: mixolydian & hypoionian

This is much like what you have to do when fitting modes to the
bagpipe.

The Gregorian system's main antecedent was the version of Greek
music theory due to Boethius in the fourth century.  Boethius's
idea of mode contained no concept of tonal centre or melodic
structure - it was simply a way of fitting the seven different
octave species (sequences of tones and semitones) into a single
octave, the "characteristic octave" selected from the two octaves
of the usefully describable music of his time.  This two-octave
scale was modified by accidentals.  There was no implication that
E was the final.  The system was a calculational aid to help you
transpose melodies to fit your instrument while retaining their
relative intervals, it wasn't intended to say anything about the
internal structure of the melodies.

He used the ancient Greek names for the modes.  None of them have
the same meanings as in mediaeval or Renaissance theory, and I'll
leave it as an exercise to work out which is which.

X:0
T:Boethius's system
N:Double octave with changing key sig, shifted around a static
N:characteristic octave E-e
M:none
L:1/1
K:EMin
P:Hypodorian
E,F,G,A,B,CD|EFGABcde| ||
K:EMix
P:Hypophrygian
F,G,A,B,CD|EFGABcde|f||
K:ELyd
P:Hypolydian
G,A,B,CD|EFGABcde|fg||
K:EPhr
P:Dorian
A,B,CD|EFGABcde|fga||
K:EDor
P:Phrygian
B,CD|EFGABcde|fgab||
K:E
P:Lydian
CD|EFGABcde|fgabc'||
K:ELoc
P:Mixolydian
D|EFGABcde|fgabc'd'|]

The Greek system ultimately derived from the modes of ancient
Mesopotamia.  These are described on Akkadian cuneiform tablets
which give tuning procedures for the lyre, up and down from
string to string in fourths and fifths.  The names of the modes
derive from the names of intervals between pairs of strings on
the lyre.

Akkadian name    Translation              Greek name     Modern name

isartu           normal                   dorian         phrygian
kitmu            closed                   hypodorian     minor
embubu           reed pipe                phrygian       dorian
putu             open                     hypophrygian   mixolydian
nid qabli        fall of the middle       lydian         major
nis gabari       rise of the duplicate    hypolydian     lydian

The name of the third mode suggests that, even 3000 years ago on the
banks of the Euphrates, pipers had their own scale and the string
players had to consciously emulate it to nick their tunes.

There are a few examples of Scottish tunes that to some extent
fit the more elaborated Gregorian modal system with its fixed
cadences and reciting tones, but it's not clear whether they're
any more than flukes.  This song does recite on a single note
for a long time, but it's the tonal centre:

X:0
T:Maggie Lauder
S:Scots Musical Museum 98
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
K:A
E|AA  Ac AA  Ac|B>c BA {A}G2B>d  |cA AA A>B Ac|e>f ed {d}c2e>c|
  d>e df c>d ce|B>c BA    G2BF/G/|AA Ac B>c Bd|ce  B>c   A2A2|]

And this very old song recites on the tonal centre in its first half
and inverts the form of the Tonus Peregrinus by reciting a tone higher
in the second half, before wandering up to finish indefinitely on the
fifth above in a way no chant ever did:

X:0
T:Clout the Cauldron
S:Orpheus Caledonius 1733
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/2=80
K:C
cccc ccce|dcBA B2AG|Gccc ccce|dcBA B2AG |
ddde agec|ddde a2ge|edde agec|edde a2g2|]

The first half (the verse) of this Northumbrian song is more like
the chant model, in the aeolian authentic mode reciting on e:

X:0
T:Bonny at Morn
M:3/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=120
K:AMin
B2|e3  f ed|e2 A2 Bc|d3  c BA|G2A2
B2|e3  f ed|e2 A2 Bc|d2 B2 G2|A4:|
z2|A2 a2 a2|A4    Bc|B2 g2 g2|G4
B2|AG AB cd|e2 a2 g2|e2 g2 B2|A4:|

This pipe reel in A mixolydian/dorian hexatonic reiterates the fifth
as determinedly as any psalm singer:

X:0
T:Lexie McAskill
C:Dr John McAskill
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:1/2=108
K:Hp
e>a|e2e2   d>ee>d|e2d>B  G>BB>d|e2e2   d>ee>d|e>gf>d e2:|
e>f|g2f2   e2d>B |A2d>B  G>BB>e|g2f2   e2d>B |e>gf>d e2:|
e>a|e2e2   e2d>B |A>AA>B G>AB<d|e2e2   e2d>B |e>gf>d e2:|
g2 |a>ee>a e<ed>B|A2d>B  G>BB>e|a>ee>a e<ed>B|e>gf>d e2:|

but it's a 20th century tune written by someone who probably knew
Gregorian chant firsthand, rather than any kind of folk survival
of similar music.

Folk music and chant are more different than lumping them both
together as "modal" would suggest.  The theorist Grocheio had
already considered using the church mode system to describe folk
music in the 13th century and decided it wouldn't work.  In the
form he knew it, he was right.


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==  (c) Jack Campin         http://www.campin.me.uk/         October 2012  ==
==        11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland     ==
==                                                                         ==
==              these pages: http://tinyurl.com/scottishmodes              ==
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