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=               Scales and Modes in Scottish Traditional Music              =
=                                  Jack Campin                              =
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Relative Mode Shifts
====================

A common trick in classical music is to shift between major and minor keys
using the same number of sharps or flats, like between C major and A minor;
this involves shifting the tonal centre.  There are a few tunes in a
traditional style that do this:

X:0
T:Thunderhead
G:jig
C:Gray Larsen
N:as played around Edinburgh, drastically mutated from how Gray wrote it
N:I believe Old Blind Dogs are responsible for this version
N:lots of people believe this is a traditional Breton tune; it isn't
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=120
K:BMin
B>BB f>BB|e>BB d>BA|B>BB f>gf|e>cB A>Bc |
B>BB f>BB|e>BB d>ef|g>fe f>ed|e>cB A>Bc:|
K:D
a>fd d>cd|A>dd c3  |B>dd A>dd|d>cB c2A  |
a>fd d>cd|A>dd c3  |B>dd A>dd|gec  d3  :|

This pipe arrangement of a tune already given here moves between
mixolydian/dorian hexatonic in A and dorian in E:

X:0
T:The Ewie wi the Crookit Horn
G:jig
C:arr. John A MacLellan
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=120
K:AMix
   AAA A2B|G2A BGG|AAA A2B|d2B cAA|
   d2c B2A|G2A BGG|A2B cAA|BGG A3:|
   Bee e2f|d2e dBB|cee e2f|gee f2d|
[1 Bee e2f|d2e dBB|cee efg|fdd e3:|
[2 g2e fed|e2d cAA|Bee efg|fdd e3|]

This is a natural way of getting tonal variety on a bagpipe, since
changing the key signature is impossible.  It can be useful on other
instruments.  Here's an example of a set I constructed to play with
a friend who uses a lever harp.  It never changes the absolute pitch
set, so she never needs to flip a lever.  And for the hell of it,
there is no change in rhythmic pattern either, until the very last
tune.  Instead the variety comes from a continual change in tonal
centre.  It also alternates familiar and rarely-played tunes.

X:0
T:Two-Sharp Reel Set
G:set of reels
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:1/2=104
K:AMix
P:Kate Dalrymple
% A major/mixolydian hexatonic
A2Ac B2Bc|A2Ac B2Bc|A2a2 fedc|B2e2 c2A2:|
e2ef edcd|e2a2 e2c2|e2a2 e2a2|e2a2 e2c2 |
dddf ccce|BBBc edcB|A2a2 fedc|B2e2 c2A2|]
P:Prince Charlie
% E dorian 
E2EF B2Bc|d2AG FDDF|E2EF B2Bc|dBAF GEEF |
E2EF B2Bc|d2AG FDDF|EFGA B2Bg|fdBd e2eB||
eBef geBg|fbag fddf|eBef geBg|bgaf e2eB |
eBef geBg|fdAG FEDe|geBg AfGe|FdAF E4  |]
P:Fairy dance
% D major
f2fd f2fd|f2fd cde2|f2fd gfed|cABc [1 d4  :|\
                                   [2 defg||
a2af b2ba|gfge a2ag|f2fd gfed|cABc [1 defg:|\
                                   [2 d4  |]
P:Hunter's Bog
% B minor
B2Bc d2ef|gfeg f2ed|c2BA e2dc|a3f  ecAc |
B2Bc d2ef|gabg f2af|e3g  fece|d2B2 B2c2 |
% D major
dAFA defd|gfed ceAc|d2ba gfed|ceBc A2dc |
B2gf edcB|Acdf a2gf|gbeg fadf|ceAc d2f2|]
P:Tail Todle
% D major/A mixolydian double tonic
d2fd g2fe|d2fd e2cA|d2fd g2fe|fgaf e2cA:|
g2dB B2dB|g2dB e2cA|g2dB B2dB|A2af e2cA:|
P:Short Coated Mary
% E mixolydian/dorian hexatonic
E2B2 BABc|d2AF DEFD|E2B2 BABc|d2AF E2E2:|
d2dB e2e2|d2d2 FFFD|d2dB e2e2|d2AF E2E2 |
d2dB e2e2|d2d2 FFFD|E2B2 BABc|d2AF E2E2|]

Some of the oldest tunes in the repertoire make systematic alternations
in mode between two tonal centres one step apart; most commonly between
the dorian mode and the relative major below it, or the mixolydian mode
and the relative minor below it.  This technique is usually called a
DOUBLE TONIC.  It seems to be particularly common in 9/8 tunes, like these
two jigs where each half starts in the dorian and ends on the major a step
below.  Almost all 9/8 tunes are circular dance melodies; the bars in the
major are intended to lead back to a repeat.  (The first is also known in
England and Ireland under a variety of names; the second is one of the
oldest of a family of tunes which includes the recent Irish slip jig "The
Butterfly").  This kind of tune probably originated in northern England
late in the 17th century as a variant of the older 3/2 hornpipe.

X:0
T:Brose and Butter
G:jig
S:Bremner via Murdoch Henderson
M:9/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=120
K:ADor
cde AcA AcA|cde AcA B2G|cde AcA ABc|B2G Gge dBG:|
cde ege ege|cde ege dBG|cde ege efg|f2d dge dBG:|

X:0
T:I Have a Wife of My Ain
G:jig
M:9/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=120
K:EDor
EFE GGA B3|E2E G2A BGE |\
E2E GGA B3|D2D dcB AFD||
gag fgf e3|E2E G2A BGE |\
g2g fgf e3|D2D dcB AFD|]

Double tonic tunes may take a more emphatic form where the shift is not
between two relative modes, but between two keys with different signatures.
This tune hints at that.  It's mostly in E dorian, but each part ends
in D, the same tonal shift as the previous two tunes.  The E tonality is
reinforced by a sharpened leading note:

X:0
T:Mrs McDonalds Reel
S:M. Murray's MS for piano, 1817 (in my possession)
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:1/2=104
K:EDor
F|E2EF  BEEF|E2EF dFDF|E2EF EFGA|B/c/d AG FDD:|
F|Eee^d eEEF|Eeec dDDF|Eeed Bcdc|Bbfe     dDD:|

This tune by Niel Gow is the full monty, alternating between D major and
C major:

X:0
T:Lady Charlotte Murray's Favorite
C:Niel Gow
G:jig
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=120
K:D
A/G/|F2D DFD|dFD AFD |E/=F/GE =CEG|dGE =CEG|
     F2D DFD|dFD AFD |G=cG     EFG|AFD  D2:|
g   |f2d dfd|afd de=f|e2=c     cec|gec  efg|
     f2d dfd|afd efg |fdf      ece|dAF  D2g|
     f2d dfd|afd de=f|e2=c     cec|gec  efg|
     afa geg|fdf edc |Adc      cBc|dAF  D2|]

The country dance "Staten Island" (originally a Scottish tune from the late
eighteenth century called "Burns' Hornpipe") almost sounds like a parody of
that favourite compositional trick of Niel Gow's:

X:0
T:Staten Island
G:reel, country dance
M:C|
L:1/8
Q:1/2=108
K:D
AG|FDFG A2A2|dfed dcBA|B2GB  A2FA |G2E2  E2AG |
   FDFG A2A2|dfed dcBA|d2d2  efge |f2d2  d2  :|
fg|a2fa g2eg|f2df ecA2|=c2c2 e=fge|=c2c2 e=fge|
   a2fa g2eg|f2df ecA2|d2d2  efge |f2d2  d2  :|

That tune may have been around for a while, but it still sounds more like a
joke that caught on than an organic outgrowth of the older Scottish idiom.
The earliest versions I've seen of it are in D major throughout.

The next piece may have started out as a double tonic tune, but has ended
up alternating between G mixolydian and almost every imaginable tonality
with the same key signature.  It's heptatonic, perhaps a transcription of
a Lowland pipe tune, but whereas almost all pipe tunes set a definite tonal
centre in the odd-numbered bars, this one does it in the even-numbered ones.
(The title means "the well-filled codpiece").

X:0
T:The Well Buked Ballap
S:James Thomson's MS for the treble recorder, 1702
B:David Johnson, 21 Scots Tunes for the Treble Recorder
N:ornamentation omitted, see Johnson's edition
M:C
L:1/16
Q:1/4=120
K:GMix
de|f3g  f2c2 A4   c2ef|g3a  g3d B4 d2
de|f2f2 Afed e2e2 cdec|d2de d3G B4 d2:|
fe|defg f3c  A4   c2ef|efga g3d B4 d2
de|defg f2ed cdef e2dc|Bcde d3G B4 d2:|

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==  (c) Jack Campin         http://www.campin.me.uk/          August 2009  ==
==        11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland     ==
==                                                                         ==
==              these pages: http://tinyurl.com/scottishmodes              ==
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