============================================================================= = Scales and Modes in Scottish Traditional Music = = Jack Campin = ============================================================================= Tetrachords and Pentachords =========================== For music theorists back as far as the ancient Greeks and as recently as present-day ethnomusicologists, it has often been useful to think of modes as constructed from smaller pieces; two chunks each spanning a fourth or a fifth. This reduces the number of modes you need to think about, since the pieces can be put together in different orders. Curt Sachs, in his book "The Rise of Music in the Ancient World", theorizes that melodies gradually expanded in range from the earliest times, starting with tunes using very few notes, called "oligotonic" by some theorists. At some point there was a divergence: one type of narrow-range melody spans a fourth, with the tonal centre at the top, and the other spans a fifth, with the tonal centre at the bottom. Within these spans, a variety of inner notes were added. The chant used for the Hindu Sama Veda seems to be a relic of the fourth-span melody type from ancient times: its melodies usually descend from the fourth, and may have tightly clumped microtonal intervals at the bottom of the range. It may derive from a period when only the extreme pitches of a tune were consistent, and those within the tetrachord could be varied at will. The ancient Greek ENHARMONIC and INTENSE CHROMATIC tetrachords were similar to those of the Sama Veda, but the Greeks didn't write down any melodic examples of them or pass any on in tradition. At some later stage tetrachords and pentachords were combined into scales of a full octave, in one of two ways: putting the pentachord at the bottom and the tetrachord at the top gave an authentic mode (with the tonal centre at both ends) and the opposite procedure (historically older) gave a plagal mode. Sometimes other things could happen: the SABA tetrachord of Middle Eastern music was (and still is) usually extended upwards to a scale with no pure octave, the 8th step of the scale is about a semitone flat. This construction was done in hardware in some kinds of ancient music - double flutes or oboes had a tetrachord in one hand and a pentachord on the other, and you could create composite modes by selecting two appropriate instruments. (The fingering was like a Highland pipe: at any moment, one or other hand was always fully closed, and since the overall length of both pipes was the same, each pipe acted as a drone for the other). The triple pipe of Sardinia, the launeddas, is a surviving instrument of this type (its third pipe is a lower drone without fingerholes). An instrument like the launeddas is depicted on a Pictish stone, so the idea may have been used in Scotland before either the Gaels or the Saxons got here, though there isn't much trace of it now. This list of tetrachords and pentachords is set up for constructing modes with tonal centre A, using Sachs's approach. So the tetrachords have A at the top and the pentachords have A at the bottom. The names correspond to the heptatonic modes you can make from them - in Scottish music the lydian and phrygian pentachords only match with one possible tetrachord, whereas the other pentachords and all three tetrachords have two possible partners. It's like an addition table: TTS TST STT TTTS lyd - - TTST maj mix - TSTT - dor min STTT - - phr X:0 T:The Lydian/Major Tetrachord, TTS M:6/4 L:1/4 K:A "_do"E2 "_re"F "_mi"G "_fa"A2 |\ "_fa"A2 "_mi"G "_re"F "_do"E2|] X:0 T:The Mixolydian/Dorian Tetrachord, TST M:6/4 L:1/4 K:ADor "_re"E2 "_mi"F "_fa"G "_so"A2 |\ "_so"A2 "_fa"G "_mi"F "_re"E2|] X:0 T:The Minor/Phrygian Tetrachord, STT M:6/4 L:1/4 K:AMin "_mi"E2 "_fa"F "_so"G "_la"A2 |\ "_la"A2 "_so"G "_fa"F "_mi"E2|] X:0 T:The Lydian Pentachord, TTTS M:7/4 L:1/4 K:ALyd "_fa"A2 "_so"B "_la"c "_ti"d "_do"e2 |\ "_do"e2 "_ti"d "_la"c "_so"B "_fa"A2|] X:0 T:The Major/Mixolydian Pentachord, TTST M:7/4 L:1/4 K:A "_do"A2 "_re"B "_mi"c "_fa"d "_so"e2 |\ "_so"e2 "_fa"d "_mi"c "_re"B "_do"A2|] X:0 T:The Dorian/Minor Pentachord, TSTT M:7/4 L:1/4 K:AMin "_re"A2 "_mi"B "_fa"c "_so"d "_la"e2 |\ "_la"e2 "_so"d "_fa"c "_mi"B "_re"A2|] X:0 T:The Phrygian Pentachord, STTT M:7/4 L:1/4 K:APhr "_mi"A2 "_fa"B "_so"c "_la"d "_ti"e2 |\ "_ti"e2 "_la"d "_so"c "_fa"B "_mi"A2|] These can be gapped in the same way as modes spanning a full octave Narrow range is typical of children's songs all over the world, so it makes sense to look for tetrachordal or pentachordal structures in Scottish children's songs too. This song from 1950s Edinburgh is TTS-tetrachordal with an added (unimportant) note above the tonal centre: X:0 T:One Two Three A-Leerie G:children's game song B:James Ritchie: The Golden City M:C| L:1/8 Q:1/2=84 K:C G2G2 GccB|A2A2 AddB | G2G2 GccB|AdAB c2c2|] while this one is gapped pentachordal, TTm: X:0 T:How Many Miles to Babylon? G:children's game song B:James Ritchie: The Golden City M:C| L:1/8 Q:1/2=76 K:F AA/A/ AA GFF2|A2AA G3 A|cccc AFF2|GFGA F4 | AA/A/ AA GFF2|AAAA GFF2|ccc2 AFF2|GF/F/ GA GFF2|] This one is basically TTST-pentachordal with an unimportant sixth: X:0 T:Katie Bairdie G:children's game song M:2/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=90 K:F c>d c>B|A>B c2|B>c B>A|G>A B2 | c>d c>B|A>B c2|F2 AA AB|A G3 | c>c cc |c F2 F|G>A BA|A G3|] showing that even pentachordal tunes don't need to end on the tonal centre. This Turkish children's song is TSTT-pentachordal. Minor tetrachordal and pentachordal tunes seem to be rare in Scotland. X:0 T:Tren Gelir T:The Train Comes S:Eftal Dodur, Meshur Oyun Havalari, book 2 M:2/4 L:1/16 Q:1/4=100 K:CDor F2F2 C2C2|F2F2 C4|E4 FGFG|EFDE C4:| E2ED C2C2|E2EF D4|EFEF D2E2|D2C2 C4:| F2F2 C2C2|F2F2 C4|E4 FGFG|EFDE C4:| This dorian/minor hexatonic tune has a six-note range, with the gap at the top: X:0 T:Alasdair of the Dun T:Hulla mucka doo D:Andrew Rankine Z:Nigel Gatherer M:2/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=100 K:GMin GG B2 |BA/G/ A2 |cc/c/ FF |c/c/c/c/ FF | GG B2 |BA/G/ AB/c/|dB cA |G2 G2:| dc GA/c/|dc G2 |cA FA/B/|cA F2 | dc GA/c/|dc GA/c/|dB cA |G2 G2:| "Katie Bairdie" was extended to a popular dance tune (the title is from a 19th century bawdy song) with an octave-range second part, but preserving the pentachordal original in the first half: X:0 T:Kafoozalum M:C L:1/8 K:D a2 a>g f>ga2|e>fg>f e>fg2|a2 a>g f>ga>f|d>ef>d e2d2:| f>dA>d f>df2|g>ec>e g>eg2|f>dA>d f>df2 |d>ef>d e2d2:| There are many tunes where the first part is basically tetrachordal or pentachordal, but with some outlying notes added by octave shifts that make no real difference to the structure: X:0 T:Glenburnie Rant T:Sma Coals for Nailers G:reel M:C L:1/8 Q:1/2=112 K:EMin % dorian/minor hexatonic, sharp D leading notes e2|E2EF E2EF|DEFG AFDF|E2EF E2B2|efe^d e2:| B2|e2ef g2fe|defg afdf|e2ef g2fe|efe^d e2 B2|e2ef g2fe|defg afdf|g2ag f2gf|efe^d e2|] The verse of this song is TTST-pentachordal with just one outlying note, the low E. Like "Katie Bairdie", the second part has been extended in range: X:0 T:Killiecrankie S:my memory of the singing of Bobby Eaglesham 20 years ago M:C| L:1/8 Q:1/2=60 K:G GA|B2 B2 B2 AG|c4 c2 BA|B2 B2 cB AG|B2 A2 A2 GA|B2 B2 cB AG|c4 c2 BA|Bc dB A3 G|E2 G2 G2|| Bc|d2 D2 D2 EF|G2 C2 C2 c2|B2 B2 cB AG|B2 A2 A2 Bc|d2 D2 D2 EF|G2 C2 C2 c2|Bc dB A3 G|E2 G2 G2|] Indian and Middle Eastern music consciously retain the idea of ragas or makams being composed of stacked tetrachords - it's common for improvisations in these traditions to start in the lower tetrachord and stay there for some time before adding notes from the upper tetrachord. Some old Scottish tunes, like "Killiecrankie", have a similar form. In the first half of this tune there is a melodic core that stays within the lower tetrachord, with the upper tetrachord used in a more stereotyped way, as a descending scale, only after the basic idea of the tune is established. Some of the higher notes sound as if they've been jumped up an octave as a trick dramatic effect, which stuck as part of the tune. X:0 T:The White Cockade M:C L:1/8 K:D DE|F2 F2 F2 ED|F2 F2 F2 d2|A2 F2 F2 ED|F2 E2 E2 DE|F2 F2 GF ED|F2 A2 d2 de|fe dc ed cB|A2 F2 F2|| FG|A2 F2 d2 F2|A2 A2 A2 B2|A2 F2 d2 cd|e2 E2 E2 DE|F2 F2 GF ED|F2 A2 d2 de|fe dc ed cB|A2 F2 F2|] In this tune the chorus is the lower tetrachordal part. Again the upper tetrachord is mainly used for descending patterns. X:0 T:There's Nae Luck Aboot the Hoose G:song M:2/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=90 K:D B |d>B AF |G>G GB |d>B AF |E3 [1 B |d>B AF |G>G G>B|A>G F>E|D3:| [2 B |d>B AF |G>A B>d|A>G F>E|D3|| D/E/|F2 F>D|G>G GE |F2 F>D|E3 D/E/|F2 F>D|G>A B>d|A>G F>E|D3|] Middle Eastern music (Turkish art music in particular) exploits the idea of tetrachordal/pentachordal construction to modulate between different modes - typically one tetrachord of the mode will change at a time, and the tune will stay within the new tetrachord for long enough for the listener to register the change before it expands in range again. This resembles the way Scottish music tends to shift mode in small steps, though there's no historical connection and the effect can be very different. ============================================================================= == (c) Jack Campin http://www.campin.me.uk/ June 2010 == == 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland == == == == these pages: http://tinyurl.com/scottishmodes == =============================================================================