How
has music changed over time and where does the Western music we know today have
its roots? We’re walking through Medieval music history this month on Clef
Notes and are glad to have you along! Today’s post is all about church modes.
Have
you ever heard someone refer to music as being in the Dorain mode? Or perhaps
Phyrgian, Lydian, or Mixolydian? Then you have heard a reference to a church mode.
There are eight of these modes and their names were adapted from Greek scale
names during the 9th century. But what are they?
Think
of church modes like you would a scale – only not quite! In a mode, pitch is
relative, not absolute. Each mode is determined based on intervallic relationships
rather than on a certain pitch. Make sense? Good! Let’s continue…
The
intervallic relationships revolve around a significant note in the mode called
the “final.” This note is typically the last melody note. There’s also a second
significant note in each mode known as the “reciting tone.” This note is
normally the most prominent note, occurring most often in a chant. There are
four total finals – two modes per final, resulting in eight total church modes.
If two modes have the same final, their range will differ. Modes known as
“authentic” have a range extending from one step below the final to an octave
above, while modes known as “plagal” extend from a fourth or fifth below the
final to a fifth or sixth above.
 |
| Church Modes Courtesy of A History of Western Music, 8th Edition, Burkholder, Grout, and Palisca, pg. 42 |
I
know this is getting a bit technical but it’s key to the development of music!
Each chant in Medieval times was assigned a mode in order to help people learn
them. The system was fully developed by the 10th century.
Now
that we have a grasp on what exactly chant is along with notation and modes,
next week we’ll start to look at how it was used in both sacred and secular
settings.
