The first chart shows the five key signatures that are most playable on 15/14 and larger dulcimers. You can play all four modes with the key note A. For other key notes, not all scales will be playable in their typical patterns, and some may not be playable at all.
Technically, any mode can use any of the chords available to its relative major. However, the second chart shows the chord patterns that are most typical of each mode. The chart lists generic chords (Roman numerals) and their specific equivalents in the key signature that has one sharp.
How to tell what mode a tune is in:
From written music: look at the key signature*, the primary chords, and the key note (it often ends the tune, along with the I or i chord).
*Be aware that sometimes the given key signature reflects the scale pattern (like the key signatures in the first chart above) and sometimes it reflects the key note (it will be the same as the key note’s major or minor signature). In the latter case the modal notes are marked flat or sharp within the music.
By ear: figure out the notes the tune uses, determine which one is the key note, and work out the scale pattern or key signature that fits.
Identification issues:
Some tunes may use both natural and sharp versions of a note. Often one will be more prominent, making the tune sound more like one mode than another.
Examples: Banish Misfortune (C natural and C sharp), Ash Grove (one C sharp), Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman (one G# in B part), Staten Island (one C natural in B part)
Some tunes have gapped scales; that is, they use five or six notes instead of seven. The chords may indicate which mode fits best, or the tune may fit either of two modes.
Examples: Julia Delany (D Aeolian or Dorian), Frosty Morning (A Aeolian or Dorian), Angelina Baker (D), Spootiskerry (G)
Some tunes switch modes between the A and B parts.
Examples: Puncheon Floor, G to D; Flop-Eared Mule, D to A; Drowsy Maggie, Edor to D; Bonaparte Crossing the Rockies Dor/Aeol to Mix; Over the Waterfall, Mix to Ion; Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman, Aeolian to Mix
