THE DORIAN MODE

Originally tuned to D, the Dorian has a slightly major-sounding tonality but is considered a minor mode. The Dorian is used in traditional folk music more often than the Aeolian because it is very easy to tune from the major lonian to the minor Dorian.

The first note of the Dorian's scale falls on the fourth fret and follows the scheme:
      1 - 1/2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1

Scale	Example

It's tuning is:

D
g
c
c

(short cut to tone generator?)

Starting with your "D" from the Mixolydian, tune the middle string to the bass string fretted on the 3rd fret. Next, tune the unisons to the bass string fretted on the 6th fret. get acquainted with the Range and ass string fretted on the 6th fret.

Playing on the middle and bass strings works well in the Dorian, especially on the bass string, with the sixth fret as a keytone. At times you may hit notes reminiscent of a merry-go-round slightly out of whack, but when we get into chording, remember the Dorian.

You generally can play the same songs in the Dorian mode as in the Aeolian, but of course you start at a different place. The Dorian has an altogether different "feel," and is excellent when the music doesn't demand a strong minor like the Aeolian. As you begin to transpose songs from one mode to another you will find delicious differences which tantalize the ear with possibilities.

THE PHRYGIAN MODE

You may find it difficult to tune into this mode when your unisons are pitched around D because your bass string may break. You might want to tune all the strings down a step or so to somewhere around C. If you are in doubt as to whether your strings can handle tuning into Phrygian without lowering everything, check in the back section and use the Range and Tuning Guide.

The fixed scheme of this mode is:
      1/2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1 - 1

Scale	Example

The original keytone of Phrygian was E, and our tuning notation is:

E
a
c
c

(short cut to tone generator?)

Once again, using our original "D" Mixolydian as our starting place (or "C' if you have lowered your strings), lower the unisons to the bass fretted at the 6th fret. Next, retune the bass to an octave below the middle string's 4th fret.

Sounds tricky, eh? Don't worry. If you've gotten this far it's no problem.

The scale begins at the fifth fret and produces a very haunting, minor mode. At least one traditional folk murder ballad can be played in the Phrygian ("Pretty Polly;") as well songs from the somewhat and sometimes less lugubrious Blues genre.

Historically, being a Spanish Flamenco scale as well, Phrygian is the one mode which exists unchanged in both the East and West traditions of the Moorish culture and Western European modal music.

THE LYDIAN MODE

Originally the F-mode, the Lydian was very popular in Renaissance times with wandering troubadours. The Lydian begins on the sixth fret and its scheme is:
      1 - 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1 - 1 - 1/2

Scale	Example

The tuning notation is:

D
a
e
e

(short cut to tone generator?)

Starting from our "D" Mixolydian, leave the bass and middle as they are and tune the unisons to the bass string fretted on the 8th fret. Once again, to avoid breaking strings, you can lower the pitch of the dulcimer one or two notes to a "C" or a "B".

When you think it through, you'll find the Lydian's bass string is only one note below where it would be in an lonian tuning. To check the bass, fret the unisons on the first fret and the bass on the second-- you should get the same note an octave apart.

Except for a very strange, minor fourth tone of the octave, the Lydian could be another lonian. The development of these two modes and the addition of a B-flat note was part of the rapid advance of harmony that occurred in music in the early sixteenth century.

Any tunes you can play in the lonian that don't require the fourth tone of the scale will adapt to Lydian tuning. Some basic songs are "Cripple Creek,'' "Little Liza Jane," and "Shortnin' Bread."

So here are five more modes. Each one has it's own very special mood, so take time to listen to each of them. What feelings does each of them evoke within you?