Introduction to Modes for Hammered Dulcimer

by Marcy Prochaska

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Background, or Where Modes Come From

Once upon a time there were only seven notes in Western music -- just C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, with no sharps or flats. These notes, in this order, spell out the C major scale. But it would be boring if all music was in C major. By changing the key note from C to one of the other six, you can get a scale with a different flavor. These scales are called modes. There are seven modes, one for each possible key note; however, only the four in bold type are common in the kinds of music dulcimer folks usually play.

Ionian: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
Dorian: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
Phrygian: E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E
Lydian: F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F
Mixolydian: G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Aeolian: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A
Locrian: B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B

Exercise 1: Try playing each modal scale; listen for the differences.

Since all seven modes use exactly the same notes, why do they sound different? Well, the notes may be the same, but the distances between notes are not all equal. Some notes are separated by half steps, and others by whole steps (two half steps).

On the piano, a half step is the distance between adjacent keys. For example, the distance from C to C# or from E to Eb is a half step. The distance from C to D or from E to D is a whole step. Ever wonder why there's no black key between E and F or between B and C? It's because the distance between those notes is already a half step. On the dulcimer, all adjacent notes are a whole step apart with one exception: the distance between a marked course and the course below is always a half step.

Exercise 2: Play back and forth between C# and D. Then play back and forth between C and D. Listen for the difference between the half step and the whole step. Try this exercise with other half and whole step pairs.

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