I believe "Royal Oak" by Lisa Grayson, #94 in her collection THE NEW MILLENNIUM HARP, is harmonized in Mixolydian mode. Lots of fun to sing!
Chris Noren
Bxfd, MA
Wade
--- On Mon, 10/5/09, dadadharma @dslextreme.com <dadad...@dslextreme.com> wrote:
As written, the tune goes like this (S1 marks the start of Mixolydian scale
starting on Sol: Sol La Mi Fa Sol La Fa Sol):
S1 S1 L2 S1 F4 M3
S1 S1 L2 S1 S5 F4
S1 S1 S8 L6 F4 M3 L2
F7 F7 L6 F4 S5 F4
Contrast that to a hypothetically "rescued" Mixolydian version:
S1 S1 L2 S1 F4 M3
S1 S1 L2 S1 S5 F4
S1 S1 S8 L6 F4 L2 S1
F4 F4 L2 S1 L2 S1
I know, I know. I should keep my day job.
Chris Noren
Boxford, MA
As far as I am aware, the writers of Rudiments in our tradition
recognized major and minor as the only possibilities. Since
Mixolydian tunes are not minor (they have a major third), they must
be major.
John
--
john garst ga...@chem.uga.edu
In the middle ages, melodic modes were invented so that
songleaders could appropriately connect psalm tones (melodic
formulas for reciting prose text) with antiphons (melodies
that preceded and followed the psalms). The essential
criterion for determining the mode was the *final note* of
the melody, D for modes 1 and 2, E for 3 and 4, F for 5 and
6, and G for 7 and 8. Note that modes 1 and 6 especially may
have either B natural or B flat, so they're not the same as
the modes recognized by modern scholars for jazz and folk
music. Wade's question seems based on the medieval monk's
obsession with the final note of the melody.
True, a melody like BOUND FOR CANAAN, ending on Sol,
*could* be considered as Mixolydian, *or* Dorian, since
the third degree is absent--it's a hexatonic melody. Bertrand
Bronson, in his "modal star" concept, deals with modes for 5-
and 6-note modes (instead of assuming what the missing ones
might be), but the Greek names are totally useless here.
But all of this pertains to single-line melodies. Sacred
Harp songs are not single-line melodies, but settings, regardless
of the final note or the number of notes in the melody. The rule
in Sacred Harp singing, as John well knows, is that the Key Note
is the last note of the bass part, not the tenor. If that note
is Faw, the piece is in the Sharp Key (nowadays called the Major
Mode); if it's Law, the piece is in the Flat Key (Minor Mode).
In other words, HEAVENLY ARMOR is in C major, not Mixolydian;
and HEBREW CHILDREN is in D Minor, not Phrygian.
--
Warren Steel mu...@olemiss.edu
Department of Music University of Mississippi
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/
Good tune! Which appears as ADORATION in Wyeth's Repository,
part second. Same melody, only the last phrase rises so that it
ends on the first degree, not the fifth. Go figure....
Perhaps I am obsessed, but not with the note at the end of the melody. Instead, I'm fascinated by what I hear as a distinctive sound shared by several of the SH songs that end (and often begin) on Sol. And, from the responses that I've received both on and off-list, there are at least a few singers that share this fascination. Also, I want to emphasize that I don't disagree with your persuasive argument that these songs as they appear in the Sacred Harp are Major, not Mixolydian; I never intended to suggest otherwise, as I pointed out in my response to John. In hindsight, it probably would have been better for me to have left the word Mixolydian out of my original post, instead focusing on why some songs in which the tenor line ends on Sol seem to have a distinctive sound. With that in mind, I would really like to know if you, and any other people on the list, hear anything distinctive about the sound of at least some of these songs. If you do, would you
care to venture a explanation? Are those of us who are fascinated by what we perceive as a difference in sound really just grasping at straws?
Wade
--- On Mon, 10/5/09, Warren Steel <mu...@olemiss.edu> wrote: