Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode. (The Hypomixolydian mode of medieval music, by contrast, has no modern counterpart.)
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' {
\clef treble \time 7/4
c4^\markup { Modern C Mixolydian scale } d e f g a bes c2
} }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/s/j/sjbifo4dqsa0aozgvdr38c2z8qq3f9k/sjbifo4d.png)
The modern diatonic mode is the scale forming the basis of both the rising and falling forms of Harikambhoji in Carnatic music, the classical music form of southern India.
Greek Mixolydian[]
The idea of a Mixolydian mode comes from the music theory of ancient Greece. The invention of the ancient Greek Mixolydian mode was attributed to Sappho, the 7th-century-B.C. poet and musician.[1] However, what the ancient Greeks thought of as Mixolydian was very different from the modern interpretation of the mode.
In Greek theory, the Mixolydian tonos (the term "mode" is a later Latin term) employs a scale (or "octave species") corresponding to the Greek Hypolydian mode inverted. In its diatonic genus, this is a scale descending from paramese to hypate hypaton. In the diatonic genus, a whole tone (paramese to mese) followed by two conjunct inverted Lydian tetrachords (each being two whole tones followed by a semitone descending). This diatonic genus of the scale is roughly the equivalent of playing all the white notes of a piano from B to B, which is also known as modern Locrian mode.
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' {
\clef treble \time 7/4
e4^\markup { Greek Mixolydian tonos (diatonic genus) on E } f g a bes c d e2
} }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/o/y/oyf14sezfzg87eodha559eq0ikc94vc/oyf14sez.png)
In the chromatic and enharmonic genera, each tetrachord consists of a minor third plus two semitones, and a major third plus two quarter tones, respectively.[2]
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' {
\clef treble \time 7/4
e4^\markup { Greek Mixolydian tonos (chromatic genus) on E } f ges a bes ces d e2
} }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/h/m/hmzdxnuvqwicdtdf9z7j1k437q031yf/hmzdxnuv.png)
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' {
\clef treble \time 7/4
e4^\markup { Greek Mixolydian tonos (enharmonic genus) on E } feh geses a beseh ceses d e2
} }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/1/l/1ltpp4895i0kyjuyvaxso4mtijpfmoo/1ltpp489.png)
Medieval Mixolydian and Hypomixolydian[]
The term Mixolydian was originally used to designate one of the traditional harmoniai of Greek theory. It was appropriated later (along with six other names) by 2nd-century theorist Ptolemy to designate his seven tonoi or transposition keys. Four centuries later, Boethius interpreted Ptolemy in Latin, still with the meaning of transposition keys, not scales.
When chant theory was first being formulated in the 9th century, these seven names plus an eighth, Hypermixolydian (later changed to Hypomixolydian), were again re-appropriated in the anonymous treatise Alia Musica. A commentary on that treatise, called the Nova expositio, first gave it a new sense as one of a set of eight diatonic species of the octave, or scales.[3] The name Mixolydian came to be applied to one of the eight modes of medieval church music: the seventh mode. This mode does not run from B to B on white notes, as the Greek mode, but was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from G up one octave to the G above, or as a mode whose final was G and whose ambitus runs from the F below the final to the G above, with possible extensions "by licence" up to A above and even down to E below, and in which the note D (the tenor of the corresponding seventh psalm tone) had an important melodic function.[4] This medieval theoretical construction led to the modern use of the term for the natural scale from G to G.
The seventh mode of western church music is an authentic mode based on and encompassing the natural scale from G to G, with the perfect fifth (the D in a G to G scale) as the dominant, reciting note or tenor.
The plagal eighth mode was termed Hypomixolydian (or "lower Mixolydian") and, like the Mixolydian, was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from D to the D an octave higher, divided at the mode final, G (thus D–E–F–G + G–A–B–C–D); or as a mode with a final of G and an ambitus from C below the final to E above it, in which the note C (the tenor of the corresponding eighth psalm tone) had an important melodic function.[5]
Modern Mixolydian[]
The modern Mixolydian scale is the fifth mode of the major scale (Ionian mode). That is, it can be constructed by starting on the fifth scale degree (the dominant) of the major scale. Because of this, the Mixolydian mode is sometimes called the dominant scale.[6]
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c'' {
\clef treble \time 7/4
g4^\markup { Modern G Mixolydian scale } a b c d e f g2
} }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/2/n/2nhephlxn4bxa3qzifeewyhe8o9fmuj/2nhephlx.png)
This scale has the same series of tones and semitones as the major scale, but with a minor seventh. As a result, the seventh scale degree is a subtonic, rather than a leading-tone.[7] The flattened seventh of the scale is a tritone away from the mediant (major-third degree) of the key. The order of whole tones and semitones in a Mixolydian scale is
- whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole
In the Mixolydian mode, the tonic, subdominant, and subtonic triads are all major, the mediant is diminished, and the remaining triads are minor.
The Mixolydian mode is common in non-classical harmony, such as folk, jazz, funk, blues, and rock music.
Klezmer musicians refer to the Mixolydian scale as the Adonai malakh mode. In Klezmer, it is usually transposed to C, where the main chords used are C, F, and G7 (sometimes Gm).[8]
Notable music in Mixolydian mode[]
Traditional[]
- "Old Joe Clark"[9][10]
- "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore" – A traditional Irish folk song.[11][12]
- "She Moved Through the Fair" – A traditional Irish folk song.[13]
Classical[]
- "Fughetta super: Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot" in G major from Clavier-Übung III, BWV 679 by Johann Sebastian Bach[14]
- Piano Concerto in A minor, third movement, by Edvard Grieg[14]
- Concerto in modo misolidio, P 145 (1925) by Ottorino Respighi[15]
- Et resurrexit from Beethoven's Missa solemnis
Popular[]
![]() | This section contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (June 2021) |
- "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969), by the Beatles
- "Clocks" by Coldplay[16]
- "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour[17]
- "Dark Star" by the Grateful Dead, modal in A Mixolydian[18]
- "Express Yourself" by Madonna[19]
- "Gloria" by Them[19]
- "Green Light" by Lorde[20]
- "Hey Jude" by the Beatles ("outro" section only)[21]
- "I Think We're Alone Now" by The Shondells[22]
- "Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan[23]
- "Let It Loose" by The Rolling Stones[24]
- "The Long Black Rifle" (1959) by the Kingston Trio
- "Marquee Moon" by Television[25][26]
- "Morning Mr. Magpie" by Radiohead[27]
- "Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles (with some verses in Dorian mode)[10][28][29]
- "On Broadway" (1963) by the Drifters
- "Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band (with blues flavoring)[29]
- "Rocky Top" (1967) by the Osborne Brothers
- "Royals" by Lorde[30]
- Theme From Star Trek[31]
- "Sweet Child o' Mine" (solo is in E♭ natural minor with a few bars of harmonic minor) by Guns N' Roses (The solo was played on a guitar that had been down-tuned [a semitone] away from E standard tuning, so in fact the solo was originally played as though it were in E minor.) [32]
- "This Is a Low" by Blur[33]
- "You and I" by Lady Gaga[34][failed verification]
- "All Blues" by Miles Davis[35]
- "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield[36]
- "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd[37]
- "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano" (1940) by the Ink Spots
- "Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters[38]
- "Juke Joint Jezebel" by KMFDM in the chorus
See also[]
- Harikambhoji, the equivalent scale in Carnatic music.
- Khamaj, the equivalent scale in Hindustani music.
- V–IV–I turnaround, a common modal chord progression when spelled as I–♭VII–IV[citation needed]
- Backdoor cadence
References[]
- ^ Anne Carson (ed.), If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho (New York: Vintage Books, 2002), p. ix. ISBN 978-0-375-72451-0. Carson cites Pseudo-Plutarch, On Music 16.113c, who in turn names Aristoxenus as his authority.
- ^ Thomas J. Mathiesen, "Greece", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 10:339. ISBN 1-56159-239-0 OCLC 44391762.
- ^ Harold S. Powers, "Dorian", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
- ^ Harold S. Powers and Frans Wiering, "Mixolydian", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, 16:766–767 (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 767. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ Harold S. Powers and Frans Wiering, "Hypomixolydian", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, 12:38 (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001) ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ Dan Haerle, Scales for Jazz Improvisation (Hialeah: Columbia Pictures Publications; Lebanon, Indiana: Studio P/R; Miami: Warner Bros, 1983), p. 15. ISBN 978-0-89898-705-8.
- ^ Arnie Berle, "The Mixolydian Mode/Dominant Seventh Scale", in Mel Bay's Encyclopedia of Scales, Modes and Melodic Patterns: A Unique Approach to Developing Ear, Mind and Finger Coordination (Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications, 1997): p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7866-1791-3 OCLC 48534968
- ^ Dick Weissman and Dan Fox, A Guide to Non-Jazz Improvisation: Guitar Edition (Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications, 2009): p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7866-0751-8.
- ^ Wendy Anthony, "Building a Traditional Tune Repertoire: Old Joe Clark (Key of A-Mixolydian) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine", Mandolin Sessions webzine (February 2007) |(Accessed 2 February 2010).
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ted Eschliman, "Something Old. Something New Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine", Mandolin Sessions webzine (November 2009) (Accessed 2 February 2010).
- ^ https://thesession.org/tunes/5936
- ^ https://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/69169.html
- ^ Allen, Patrick (1999). Developing Singing Matters. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. p. 22. ISBN 0-435-81018-9. OCLC 42040205.[dead link]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Walter Piston. Harmony (New York: W. W. Norton, 1941): pp. 29–30.
- ^ "Concerto in Modo Misolidio for Piano and Orchestra – Three Preludes on Gregorian Themes" by Adriano, English adaptation by David Nelson, Naxos Records cat. 8.220176 (1986)
- ^ "Mixolydian scale and "Clocks" by Coldplay — HCC Learning Web". learning.hccs.edu. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ "Vernon Reid on Twitter". Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ "Grateful Dead master class with Dave Frank". Retrieved 29 April 2012.[time needed]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Albin Zak III (22 December 2000). The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary. (New York: Schirmer Books; London: Prentice Hall International, 2010). p. 333. ISBN 9780825672422.
- ^ "Here's the Music Theory Behind Why Lorde's Songwriting Is Objectively Kickass". Noisey. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ Comp, Nate (2009). "The Fretlight Guitar Blog". The Moods of the Modes. Fretlight. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ Toft 2010, p. 61.
- ^ Toft, Robert (2010). Hits and Misses. Bloomsbury. p. 58. ISBN 9781441116857.
- ^ Jack Morer, Rolling Stones: "Exile on Main Street" (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1995): p. 100. ISBN 0-7935-4094-1 OCLC 49627026
- ^ "Marquee Moon tab", Joe Hartley's generic homepage.
- ^ Rikky Rooksby, Inside Classic Rock Tracks (2001): p. 86. ISBN 978-0-87930-654-0.
- ^ "King of Off-Beat Samba Limbs". Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ Kenneth Womack and Todd F. Davis, Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006): p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7914-6715-2 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-7914-6716-9 (pbk).
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ken Stephenson, What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002), p.39. ISBN 978-0-300-09239-4.
- ^ "Mixolydian Mode in "Royals" by Lorde". Pop Music Theory. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ Ed Friedlander, "The Ancient Musical Modes: What Were They?" (Accessed 6 October 2011).
- ^ Dan Bennett, "The Mixolydian Mode", in The Total Rock Bassist (Van Nuys and Los Angeles: Alfred Publishing, 2008): p. 90. ISBN 978-0-7390-5269-3 OCLC 230193269
- ^ Blur (1994). Parkilfe Album (booklet). p. 16.
- ^ Germanotta, Stefani (2011). "Digital Sheet Music – Lady Gaga – You and I". musicnotes.com.
- ^ The Real Book Sixth Edition. Hal Leonard Corporation. 2004. p. 18. ISBN 0-634-06038-4.
- ^ Wayne, Rodrigues; Danielle, Brisebois; Natasha, Bedingfield; Natasha, Bedingfield (13 March 2008). "Unwritten". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
- ^ "In What Key Is "Sweet Home Alabama"? – Guitar Music Theory by Desi Serna". Retrieved 12 July 2020.
- ^ "Unusual Markers: Mixolydian Mode & Asymmetrical Simple Meter in the Foo-Fighters' "Times Like These"". Rebel Music teacher. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
Further reading[]
- Hewitt, Michael. Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree. 2013. ISBN 978-0957547001.
External links[]
Media related to Mixolydian mode at Wikimedia Commons
- Mixolydian scale on guitar
- Modes (music)