Very briefly, I have no background in music theory, and what I have read on the subject is pretty much Greek to me.
I’ve been playing the tin whistle for a couple of years [it’s the only instrument I’ve ever played], and I know that if the tune I’m looking at has one sharp in the signature, the key is G; and if there are two sharps the key is D [speaking in terms of ITM and the whistle]. That approach seems to have served me fairly well up until now.
Recently I found a tune that had one sharp in the signature and I thought it was in G, but a notation at the bottom of the score said it was in E minor. I know from what I’ve subsequently read that E is the relative minor of G major [but to be honest that doesn’t mean anything to me, other than they both have an F# in their scale].
I guess my questions are: Can the tin whistle play the E minor [or any minor] scale?
And: Having only a tin whistle, how can one tell if the printed score is in a major key or a minor key?
Can the tin whistle play the E minor [or any minor] scale?
When naming the key of a whistle the “Mode” is assumed to be “Major”
A “D” whistle also would play in B Minor (there’s 7 “Modes”)
The base note for “D Major” is “D”
The base note for “E Minor” is “E”
Both scales share all of the same notes…it just depends on where you start. (What’s called the “Tonic”)
Having only a tin whistle, how can one tell if the printed score is in a major key or a minor key?
Until I started messing with ITM, I never heard of a mode called “minor”.
Only minor scales…natural/harmonic/melodic. I’ve even been told a song’s key was “D modal”. What the heck is that?? Which mode in D? (likely Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian).
The tonic major scale, 1:1, is the “Ionian” mode.
Aeolian mode is between the Mixolydian and Locrian modes.
Go to your local bookstore or to Amazon.com and get “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory” by Michael Miller. No kidding, it is a very clear, plain-english reference on music theory.
On a D whistle you can play in E minor by starting on the E (second note) as the base note (tonic) and playing a scale incuding a C natural instead of a C sharp (OXXOOO or something like that fingering instead of OOOOOO).
If you play a scale starting on E but use the C sharp you are playing in the mode of E Dorian, which is a common mode in ITM.
You can also play in B minor using the natural D scale (with C#) and starting on tonic B (sixth note).
If you feel more adventurous and can use some half-holing, you could play in D minor using a F natural (fifth hole half closed), a Bb (half closing the second hole) and a C natural.
And you could play in A minor starting on A using C natural and F natural.
Generally have a look on what note the tune is ending, or on what note the tune likes to come to a natural end. This usually gives you the base (tonic) note. Then check against the list of modes associated with signature keys:
(2 sharps and 1 sharp are best for a D whistle)
Modes for some key signatures
Key sig: Major Minor Mixolydian Dorian Phrygian sharp or flat notes in scale:
4 sharps E C#m BMix F#Dor G#Phr F# C# G# D#
3 sharps A F#m EMix BDor C#Phr F# C# G#
2 sharps D Bm AMix EDor F#Phr F# C#
1 sharp G Em DMix ADor BPhr F#
0 sharps C Am GMix DDor EPhr -
1 flat F Dm CMix GDor APhr Bb
2 flats Bb Gm FMix CDor DPhr Bb Eb
3 flats Eb Cm BbMix FDor GPhr Bb Eb Ab
For instance: if a tune appears to have a tonic of A (ends on a A), and the key signature is two sharps, then the tune is in A Mixolydian.
The Dorian as well as the Phrygian mode could be regarded as minor in character (important for harmonic accompaniment), even though both are different in their interval structure than the natural minor mode (or Aeolian mode).
On the other hand the Mixolydian mode could be regarded as major in character (using major harmonic chords on its tonic for accompaniment).
I left out the Lydian and Locrian modes, as they have no significance for ITM.
The natural minor scale is the same as the Aeolian mode> , but music in the minor scale in the common practice period of Western music usually uses a leading tone a semitone below the tonic: the chord built on the dominant (fifth scale degree) is almost always a major triad, at least at cadence points; consequently the seventh degree of the scale must be raised with an accidental. > Hence music using the “natural” seventh degree, called the subtonic, sounds ancient, folkloric or modal to Western ears.
(my highlights)
In folkmusic circles “minor mode” means “natural minor mode” i think.
I guess D modal referred to D minor (Aeolian) mode, or it could have meant D Dorian, which also uses a “natural” seventh.
Thanks, everyone. A special thanks to hans for his detailed, well written in layman’s terms explanation.
On a D whistle you can play in E minor by starting on the E (second note) as the base note (tonic) and playing a scale incuding a C natural instead of a C sharp (OXXOOO or something like that fingering instead of OOOOOO).
If you play a scale starting on E but use the C sharp you are playing in the mode of E Dorian, which is a common mode in ITM.
This is a check to see if I truly understand (so please bear with me): If there is one sharp in the score’s signature, then it would be played on the whistle like a GMajor tune, only the base note would be an e (with no flats in the scale). Essentially the Eminor scale is the same as a GMajor scale except that it begins and ends on E rather than G and has no extra accidentals. Is that right, or am I still fuzzy on something?
What is still puzzling me is that I always thought (perhaps wrongly) that tunes written and played in a minor key (such as Eminor) should have a distinctly different sound from those written and played in a major key (such as GMajor). It seems that we are still playing the same “major” notes in the score; it’s just that the base note is further down the scale (and that doesn’t really change the sound or the tone). That’s why I’m thinking that I still may not understand all of this correctly. Or is it possible that “minor” has two or more different meanings in music and we’re both talking about different things?
Thanks again for all of your patience! I know it can be frustrating when someone is asking about things that seem self-explanatory to people who already have an understanding of the subject. I’m certainly going to look for the “Dummies” edition of the music theory book, but even then there are some things that one needs to discuss one to one to clarify things, otherwise there would be no need for teachers as everything could be fully learned by reading a textbook.
Hans, I read and re-read the link you gave on musical modes. While I can normally understand or figure things out on my own, I’m having a real mental block here. It says, “If you sit down at a piano keyboard and play a scale using only the white notes, and starting on middle C, what you get is the familiar C Major scale. If you do the same thing starting on the note of A, and going up to the A above, you get an A minor scale. These two scales have a distinct sound; we make different associations with them, perceiving the major scale as bright and forceful, while the minor scale is sad and reflective.”
What eludes me is that if CMajor is: C D E F G A B C and Aminor is ABCDEFGA where they both contain the same natural notes, why is one perceived to sound “bright and forceful” and the other “sad and reflective?”
Yes. But there is F# in the scale.
Em = E F# G A B C D E’
G = G A B C D E F# G’
Same notes, different base (tonic) note, different mode
The minor mode is starting on the sixth note of the major scale.
The relative modes (relative minor, relative dorian, relative mixolydian etc) to a major scale us ethe same notes, but have each a different base (tonic) note:
tonic first note: Major
tonic note 2: Dorian
tonic note 3: Phrygian
tonic note 4: Lydian
tonic note 5: Mixolydian
tonic note 6: Minor
tonic note 7: Locrian
Try playing scales on each tonic, play up from the tonic note to its octave, and down again, to get a feel of the mode. Each mode has its own distinct character, even though it uses the same notes. The character is produced by the particular sequence of intervals of the modal scale you are playing, i.e sequence of whole tone and semi tone steps.
In the following 2 is a whole tone step (two semitones) 1 a semitone step, going up the modal scale from its tonic (base) note:
In folkmusic circles “minor mode” means “natural minor mode” i think.
Natural minor ‘key’ maybe. Any mode of a scale can be described in a key signature. A ‘mode’ is a shift in the starting and ending note of a scale. For some fun, play a C natural minor scale (lowered 3rd, 6th, and 7th) on a piano keyboard, and work through the modes. Aeolian mode, will be the 6th degree of the C scale, a natural minor, starting on A. But in this case, start on C (minor scale) and figure out what Aeolian mode of what major scale you are in. Then try a diminished scale. Your mind should be oatmeal after you do that a few minutes.
I respectfully disagree. For me the word “key” regards to musical theory has two main meanings:
In modern western staff notation it is the symbol at the beginning of the staff, and indicates the association of staff lines to notes; i.e violin key, bass key, viola key.
More often when we use the word “key” we mean “key signature”, as in the number of sharp or flat symbols following the staff key. I take it you mean this too.
But I don’t see that a key signature describes a mode of a scale, since it does not tell you which note the tonic (base note of the mode) is. In order to determine which mode a tune is written in, you need to assess which is the tonic note of the tune, by looking or listening through the tune and figuring out commonly its natural ending note.
The abc musical notation often used for folk music overcomes this by allowing expressions like Amix or EDor for the K (key) field. This indicates both the mode and tonic used, and in any conversion to staff notation the key signature is calculated automatically from this.
Also: for me a musical mode is much more than a shift of the starting and ending note of a scale. It could be derived at from a major scale by depicting a different starting note, but it really is defined by the progression of the intervals in its scale. “Scale” does not need to be only a major scale; I see nothing wrong in talking about an E Dorian or B minor scale for instance, with both having the same notes, but different starting notes.
And both are different from general Dorian and Minor modes, as they indicate not only the mode but also specific tonics (and thereby a specific scale).
Finally: musical modes are not limited to scales based on twelve equally spaced semitones in an octave. This is just a preference of Western (modern) music. Irish and Scottish Gaelic singing shows clearly that the tradition goes way beyond those confines. Not to mention Indian rags and Middle Eastern maqams.
