I understand the "church modes" well enough. Your last paragraph might help me make sense of Klezimer modes which is the one I mentioned not understanding. I did already think that Middle Eastern music often sounds Phrygian to me. I'll look at what you wrote.
As an old-time banjo player Ionian, Mixolydian and Dorian with a modal variation…
I understand the "church modes" well enough. Your last paragraph might help me make sense of Klezimer modes which is the one I mentioned not understanding. I did already think that Middle Eastern music often sounds Phrygian to me. I'll look at what you wrote.
As an old-time banjo player Ionian, Mixolydian and Dorian with a modal variation are the modes most familiar to me. I am not formally educated in music, and I was recently wondering why Am is notated with one sharp as if it were G Major instead of C Major (no sharps), Same for songs in Em commonly notated with two sharps. I puzzled out the answer in the notes tab of this SS. Dorian minor, rather than Aeolian relative minor (C/Am, G/Em), etc. If I was a music major, I wouldn't have to puzzle out such things for myself.
I create spreadsheets like this to do my thinking about such things. I changed my mind about what I was doing with what started as a quick hack and I left a bunch of useless artifacts of that. I wouldn't leave it like that if I was on the job. The circle of 5ths became a comparison of scales and chords on a number of banjo tunings. Don't judge the slop too harshly please. You should be able to use the pull downs at cells S1 & S2 in the circle tab. You probably don't care about banjos. Banjo tunings are all about sympathetic ringing of open strings, thus the sus4 sawmill tuning for modal tunes. We've got a new (to us) banjo player who tunes to Double D for fiddle tunes in D (capoing for A) while I normally stay in Open G, so our chords are different inversions which is a good thing. He mostly finger picks while I down pick (clawhammer). We don't step all over each other that way. You can see that on the SS.
The African ancestor tunings are probably lost in time. Banjos are spiked lutes that commonly have a short drone string. Gut string fretless gourd banjos evolved to the thing that became a uniquely American instrument. I think that black Americans abandoned the instrument because of the racism associated with the minstrels, but I see a movement to bring it back to black Americans which I see as a good thing. Opps, I got started on banjos ;0)
Thanks for the link again. Atonal music is not something I've gotten into. Key changes up a 5th, like D to A are easier to accommodate in my mind since only one note sounds accidental if you don't realize what happened. The Chord changes are a tip-off.
It's my candy too. Apologies for everyone else.
I just added the Modes tab from another SS. You might like it while ignoring banjos.
Dorian minor is commonly used in old-time music and is the one I'm mostly familiar with. They taught natural (relative) minor in elementary school music class back in the day. I don't know if the even teach it there any more.
I understand the "church modes" well enough. Your last paragraph might help me make sense of Klezimer modes which is the one I mentioned not understanding. I did already think that Middle Eastern music often sounds Phrygian to me. I'll look at what you wrote.
As an old-time banjo player Ionian, Mixolydian and Dorian with a modal variation are the modes most familiar to me. I am not formally educated in music, and I was recently wondering why Am is notated with one sharp as if it were G Major instead of C Major (no sharps), Same for songs in Em commonly notated with two sharps. I puzzled out the answer in the notes tab of this SS. Dorian minor, rather than Aeolian relative minor (C/Am, G/Em), etc. If I was a music major, I wouldn't have to puzzle out such things for myself.
I create spreadsheets like this to do my thinking about such things. I changed my mind about what I was doing with what started as a quick hack and I left a bunch of useless artifacts of that. I wouldn't leave it like that if I was on the job. The circle of 5ths became a comparison of scales and chords on a number of banjo tunings. Don't judge the slop too harshly please. You should be able to use the pull downs at cells S1 & S2 in the circle tab. You probably don't care about banjos. Banjo tunings are all about sympathetic ringing of open strings, thus the sus4 sawmill tuning for modal tunes. We've got a new (to us) banjo player who tunes to Double D for fiddle tunes in D (capoing for A) while I normally stay in Open G, so our chords are different inversions which is a good thing. He mostly finger picks while I down pick (clawhammer). We don't step all over each other that way. You can see that on the SS.
The African ancestor tunings are probably lost in time. Banjos are spiked lutes that commonly have a short drone string. Gut string fretless gourd banjos evolved to the thing that became a uniquely American instrument. I think that black Americans abandoned the instrument because of the racism associated with the minstrels, but I see a movement to bring it back to black Americans which I see as a good thing. Opps, I got started on banjos ;0)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1llUFDa0Qb_JQgpHw4uc9KCgKFbuwwVxUz6XDtTaEjKw/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks for the link again. Atonal music is not something I've gotten into. Key changes up a 5th, like D to A are easier to accommodate in my mind since only one note sounds accidental if you don't realize what happened. The Chord changes are a tip-off.
It's my candy too. Apologies for everyone else.
I just added the Modes tab from another SS. You might like it while ignoring banjos.
There are three minor scales:
1) pure minor, A to A on the white keys; boring. The Godfather theme uses it.
2) harmonic minor, very often used in Baroque music; raised 7th but normal 6th. This is more used for chords than melodies: Am, Dm, E7 (with G♯)
3) melodic minor: raised 6th and 7th ascending, ordinary 6th and 7th descending. Also Baroque.
A B C D E F♯ G♯ A G♮ F♮ E D C B A
Dorian minor is commonly used in old-time music and is the one I'm mostly familiar with. They taught natural (relative) minor in elementary school music class back in the day. I don't know if the even teach it there any more.
I do hope you know about Bela Fleck
My intro to Fleck:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Acoustic-Music-Various-Artists/dp/B000008IW0/ref=sr_1_1
A great collection of original music
I do. His ability is orders of magnitude beyond anything I have hope of attaining.
This trip to Africa documentary is worth your time if you've never watched it. https://youtu.be/sJt6jn0xT8A
I really like his collaborations with his clawhammer banjo playing wife Abigail Washburn. They make it work well. https://www.belafleck.com/collaborations/bela-fleck-abigail-washburn