Dorian mode
Dorian mode is a strictly diatonic scale corresponding to the white keys of the piano from "D" to "D", thus the name D Dorian, or any transposition of its interval pattern, which has the ascending pattern of:
- Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step
or more simply:
- w-h-w-w-w-h-w.
It can also be thought of as:
- Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone - Tone
- T-S-T-T-T-S-T.
or simply as a scale with a minor 3rd and 7th, a major 2nd and 6th, and a perfect 4th and 5th.
It may be considered an "excerpt" of a major scale played from the pitch a whole tone above the major scale's tonic (in the key of C Major it would be D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D), i.e., a major scale played from its second scale degree up to its second degree again. The resulting scale is, however, minor (or has a minor "feel" or character) because as the "D" becomes the new tonal centre the minor third between the D and the F make us "hear minor". If we build a chord on the tonic, third and fifth, it is a minor chord.
Examples of the Dorian mode include:
- The D Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the C major scale starting on D.
- The G Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the F major scale starting on G.
- The A♭ Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the G♭ major scale starting on A♭.
The Dorian mode is symmetric, meaning that the pattern of tones and semitones (T-s-T-T-T-s-T) is the same ascending or descending.
Dorian mode is equivalent to the natural minor scale (or the Aeolian mode) but with the sixth degree raised a semi-tone. Confusingly, the modern Dorian mode is the same as the Greek Phrygian mode.
The only difference between the Dorian and Aeolian scales is whether or not the 6th is major (in the Aeolian it is minor, in the Dorian it is major). The I, IV, and V triads of the Dorian mode are minor, major, and minor, respectively (i-IV-v), instead of all minor (i-iv-v) as in Aeolian. In both the Dorian and Aeolian, strictly applied, the dominant triad is minor, in contrast to the modern minor key, where it is normally major (see harmonic minor). It is also worth noting that the sixth scale degree is often raised in minor music, just as it is often lowered in the Dorian mode (see melodic minor).
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An acoustic guitar playing the basic Dorian mode pattern up and down. The recording is in the key of A.
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Notable compositions in Dorian mode
Traditional
Classical
- The "Et incarnatus est" in the Credo movement of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.[2]
Jazz
- "Maiden Voyage" by Herbie Hancock[3]
- "Milestones" by Miles Davis[3] — The composition takes the form aabba with the a sections in G Dorian and the b sections in A Aeolian.[4]
- "Oye Como Va" by Tito Puente, popularized by Santana[5]
- "So What" by Miles Davis[3] Written in D dorian and E♭ dorian.[6]
Popular
- "Along Comes Mary" by The Association[7]
- "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson[3]
- "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles[8]
- "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple[5]
- "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé[9]
- "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ger Tillekens, "Marks of the Dorian Family" Soundscapes, no. 5 (November 2002) (Accessed 30 June 2009).
- ↑ Michael Steinberg, "Notes on the Quartets", in The Beethoven Quartet Companion, edited by Robert Winter and Robert Martin, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994): 270. ISBN 978-0-520-20420-1; OCLC 27034831.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ronald Herder, 1000 Keyboard Ideas, (Katonah, NY: Ekay Music, 1990): 75. ISBN 978-0-943748-48-1.
- ↑ Barry Dean Kernfeld, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2002): 785. ISBN 1-56159-284-6 OCLC 46956628.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wayne Chase, "How Keys and Modes REALLY Work". (Vancouver, BC: Roedy Black Publishing, Inc.). http://howmusicreallyworks.com/Pages_Chapter_5/5_2.html. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ↑ Richard Lawn and Jeffrey L. Hellmer, Jazz: Theory and Practice (Los Angeles: Alfred Publishing, 1996): 190. ISBN 0-88284-722-8.
- ↑ Leonard Bernstein. "Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts: What is a Mode?". The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/ypc_script_what_is_a_mode.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
- ↑ Alan W. Pollack. "Notes on "Eleanor Rigby"". http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/er.shtml. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ "Lady Gaga Teaches Music Theory". TELEPHONE: Modes. Blogspot. http://gagatheory.blogspot.com/2010/05/telephone-modes.html. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ↑ "Traditional & Folk Music - Encyclopedic Dictionary". http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/traditional-music/ency/m3.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
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