Five More Modes Of Technique

Besides the Mixolydian mode, there are six other "modern modes." We'll get into five of them in this section, and we'll take up the seventh one, the Locrian, later.

(Maybe in this section, instead of having actual tuning sound bites, there should be a scale played in the mode to illustrate it? It might also be good to create a "go to" button that takes the player to the universal keyboard sound generator-- and let them work tuning out, as long as the notes labeled on the keyboard model match the musical notations for upper and lower cases..)

THE IONIAN MODE-- TRADITIONAL FOLK TUNING

Using D as our keytone, the lonian mode's tuning reads like this:

D
g
d
d

(short cut to tone generator?)

Everything is the same as for the Mixolydian tuning, but to get the "g" note, fret the bass string on the third fret and tune to that note.

The first note of the scale begins on the third fret of the unisons, where the mode's most major-sounding tonality is found. The lonian mode originally began at the note C on the third fret. Its scheme is:

      1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1- 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1/2

Scale	Example

Many folk songs use the lonian tuning because it is the standard major scale. The mode contains eight "perfect to the ear" intervals, and a natural seventh tone replaces the Mixolydian's minor seventh. From the scheme of the lonian and its eight perfect tones, the chromatic major scales took it's form.

Over the course of many years, each of the modal fixed schemes underwent half-tone alterations to make it conform to the relative tonalities of the lonian mode. The minor seventh of the Mixolydian was replaced with an F-sharp, thereby creating the G-major scale out of the G-mode.

You can play most major-sounding songs in the lonian mode, and in many cases they will be the same ones you play in the Mixolydian. From our stand point, the lonian's only drawback is the loss of the open strum, but since you gain the natural seventh tone, things balance out.

Because the Ionian mode is the traditional dulcimer major tuning, many players like to tune to it's original (historical) keytone of "C". However, since we are teaching for dulcimers predominantly using "D" as their keytone, tuning down to a Traditional Ionian will produce a "watery" sound because of the looser string tension. But hey! Exploring is what it is all about. Why not?

So, changing to "C" as our keytone for the bass string, this tuning looks like this:

C
g
g
g

(short cut to tone generator?)

To get here, the easiest way is to start by tuning the same as if for the Mixolydian except your bass string will now need to be a "C" note. To get it from your dulcimer, (which we suppose is currently tuned to "D"), push your bass string down on the 3rd fret. This is a "G". Tune your unison strings DOWN to this note. (Tuning your .010 unisons UP to "G" may break them. So, if you are going to use this traditional tuning a great deal, you'd best get thicker strings which won't sound so "watery". Refer to the string tolerance and tuning guide in the back of the book.)

(should we put in a way to get to this page, or not? It really isn't necessary at this point, I think.)

Next, tune the middle string to match the unisons.

Now play the unisons on the third fret-- that's your "c"-- but since you want your bass string to be an octave lower than that, a "C", you have to train your ear to hear it vibrating harmoniously an octave lower. Go for it!

Like any Ionian, the first note of your scale starts at the third fret.

Some people tune the lonian mode with all the strings the same, and the effect is quite pleasing for Scottish, English, or Irish ballads that require a strong bagpipe-like drone behind the melody line. This tuning looks like this: d-d-d-D (or, c-c-c-C).

If you start while tuned into the Mixolydian mode with D as your keytone for the unisons, you will automatically be in the key of G when you lower your middle string one note to tune into the lonian. This is handy when you are playing with other musicians who like the key of G. Because of the ease of tuning this way, that is our preferred way of tuning to Ionian.

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of Irish, Scottish, English, French, German, Scandinavian and certainly American folk songs that you can play in the Ionian mode.

AEOLIAN-- THE "MAJOR" MINOR

The Aeolian mode is the old A-minor mode-- "old" because the "A" note is it's historical keytone; "minor': because of the nature of it's scale, which follows the scheme:
      1 - 1/2 - 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1 - 1

Scale	Example

If you read the Aeolian's fixed scheme backward, you'll see it is the reverse of the Mixolydian. The tuning is the same as for the Mixolydian except that the unison strings are tuned to the bass string fretted on the 6th fret. The first note of the Aeolian's scale begins on the first fret, and the tuning is like this:

D
a
c
c

(short cut to tone generator?)

The Aeolian is the most forceful of all the minor modes. It is called a minor because the third note in it's scale forms a minor third with the keytone. The Aeolian also has a minor sixth, and you will find it's melancholy tone lends itself to creative, Iyrical phrasing.

It's drawbacks stem from the nature of its minor tonality. Open strumming produces a disquieting, "when-is-the-second-shoe-going-to-drop?" feeling that demands resolution. Many of the notes in the scale have this same effect. Playing notes on the middle and bass strings becomes strange, since you no longer have major tone drones behind the unisons. To play on the middle or bass string, you must be careful to play each string by itself, because they do not blend with the unisons.

-- a 25 years later note-- These days I find when I am "jamming' with chromatic-oriented musicians, I use the Aeolian quite a bit-- specifically, just the bass string(s). By not "voicing" the other strings I can play in the major keys of D, G and C really easily. I also have a very strong E-minor available and a weaker A-minor. Not only does the bass punch through the mix louder and with greater available dynamics, but it also allows me to modulate (transpose on the fly) keytone centers as well.