Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.
Greek Mixolydian
The idea of a Mixolydian mode comes from the music theory of ancient Greece. The ancient Greek Mixolydian mode was invented by Sappho, the 7th century B.C. poet and musician.[1] However, what the ancient Greeks thought of as Mixolydian was very different from the modern interpretation of the mode. In Greek theory, the Mixolydian mode (or tonos) employs a scale (or 'octave species') corresponding to the Greek Hypolydian mode inverted: in its diatonic genus, this is a scale descending from paramese to hypate hypaton: in the diatonic genus, a whole tone (paramese to mese) followed by two conjunct inverted Lydian tetrachords (each being two whole tones followed by a semitone descending). This is the equivalent of playing all the 'white notes' of a piano from B to B, or B | A G F E | (E) D C B, which is also known as a modern locrian mode. (In the chromatic and enharmonic genera, each tetrachord consists of a minor third plus two semitones, and a major third plus two quarter-tones, respectively).[2] Medieval Mixolydian and Hypomixolydian
Medieval European music scholars understood the Greek system of modes through the Latin works of Boethius. However, his work was misinterpreted,[vague] and the name Mixolydian came to be applied to one of the eight modes of medieval church music: the seventh mode. This mode does not run from B to B on white notes, as the Greek mode, but was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from G up one octave to the G above, or as a mode whose final was G and whose ambitus runs from the F below the final to the G above, with possible extensions "by licence" up to A above and even down to E below, and in which the note D (the tenor of the corresponding seventh psalm tone) had an important melodic function.[3] This misinterpretation led to the current use of the term for the natural scale from G to G. The seventh mode of western church music is an authentic mode based on and encompassing the natural scale from G to G, with the perfect fifth (the D in a G to G scale) as the dominant, reciting note or tenor. The plagal eighth mode was termed Hypomixolydian (or "lower Mixolydian") and, like the Mixolydian, was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from D to the D an octave higher, divided at the mode final, G (thus D–E–F–G + G–A–B–C–D); or as a mode with a final of G and an ambitus from C below the final to E above it, in which the note C (the tenor of the corresponding eighth psalm tone) had an important melodic function.[4] Modern Mixolydian
This modern scale has the same series of tones and semitones as the major scale, except the seventh degree is a semitone lower.[5] The order of tones and semitones in a Mixolydian scale is TTSTTST (T = tone; S = semitone), while the major scale is TTSTTTS. The key signature varies accordingly (it will be the same as that of the major key a fifth below).[5] Some examples:
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The G Mixolydian mode (Related to the key of C major - on a piano it is all the white keys from one G to the next. GABCDEFG)[5]
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The C Mixolydian mode (Related to the key of F major. CDEFGAB♭C)[5]
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The D Mixolydian mode (Related to the key of G major. DEF♯GABCD)[5]
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The E Mixolydian mode (Related to the key of A major. EF♯G♯ABC♯DE)[5]
Notable songs in Mixolydian mode
References
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^ Anne Carson, ed (2002). If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. Vintage. p. ix. ISBN 978-0375724510. Editor Carson cites Pseudo-Plutarch, On Music 16.113c, who in turn names Aristoxenus as his authority.
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^ Thomas J. Mathiesen, "Greece", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, 10:[page needed] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 10:339. ISBN 1-56159-239-0 OCLC 44391762.
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^ Harold S. Powers and Frans Wiering, "Mixolydian", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell, 16:766–67 (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), 767. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
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^ Harold S. Powers and Frans Wiering, "Hypomixolydian", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell, 12:38 (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001) ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
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^ a b c d e f g Berle, Arnie (1997). "The Mixolydian Mode/Dominant Seventh Scale". Mel Bay's Encyclopedia of Scales, Modes and Melodic Patterns: A Unique Approach to Developing Ear, Mind and Finger Coordination. Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7866-1791-3. OCLC 48534968. http://books.google.com/books?id=5YpeM9mTRIAC&pg=PA33.
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^ Anthony, Wendy (February 2007). "Building a Traditional Tune Repertoire: Old Joe Clark". Mandolin Sessions (Mel Bay Publications). http://archive.mandolinsessions.com/feb07/Anthony.html. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
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^ a b c Eschliman, Ted (November 2009). "Something Old. Something New.". Mandolin Sessions (Mel Bay Publications). http://www.mandolinsessions.com/?p=460. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
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^ Pollack, Alan W. (1997). "Notes on 'Dear Prudence'". Archived from the original on 23 September 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060923185210/http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/dp.shtml. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
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^ Allen, Patrick (1999). Developing Singing Matters. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers. p. 22. ISBN 0-435-81018-9. OCLC 42040205.
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^ Morer, Jack; Rolling Stones (1995). Exile on Main Street. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 100. ISBN 0-7935-4094-1. OCLC 49627026.
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^ Bennett, Dan (2008). "The Mixolydian Mode". The Total Rock Bassist. Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California: Alfred Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-7390-5269-3. OCLC 230193269. http://books.google.com/books?id=vRgI4W_dN5IC&pg=PA90.
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^ http://zappa.brainiac.com/tab/marquee.tab.txt
External links
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