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Modus (medieval music)
Encyclopedia
In medieval music theory, the Latin term modus (meaning "a measure", "standard of measurement", "quantity", "size", "length", or, rendered in English, mode) can be used in a variety of distinct senses. The most commonly used meaning today relates to the organisation of pitch in scale
s. Other meanings refer to the notation of rhythm
s.
of early music, the term "mode" (or "tone") refers to any of eight sets of pitch intervals that may form a musical scale, representing the tonality of a piece and associated with characteristic melodic shapes (psalm tones) in Gregorian chant
. Medieval modes (also called Gregorian mode
or church modes) were numbered, either from 1 to 8, or from 1 to 4 (protus, deuterus, tertius, and tetrardus) in authentic
/plagal
pairs, and sometimes named after the ancient Greek tonoi (with which, however, they are not identical).
in poetry. Rhythmic modes were described by the medieval theorists according to a classification numbered from 1 to 6 (of which only 1 to 3 were of practical importance.)
Rhythmic modes were the basis for the notation technique of modal notation, the first system in European music to notate musical rhythms and thereby make the notation of complex polyphonic
music possible, which was devised around 1200 AD and later superseded by the more complex mensural notation
. Modal notation indicated modes by grouping notes together in ligatures.
(after c.1300), the term modus was used to describe a part of the overall metric organisation of a piece, comparable to a modern time signature
. It referred to the division of the longa note into either three (modus perfectus) or two (modus imperfectus) breves. Similar divisions on subsequently lower levels were described by the terms tempus (referring to the division of breves into two or three semibreves) and prolatio (the division of semibreves into two or three minims).
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
s. Other meanings refer to the notation of rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
s.
Modal scales
In describing the tonalityTonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
of early music, the term "mode" (or "tone") refers to any of eight sets of pitch intervals that may form a musical scale, representing the tonality of a piece and associated with characteristic melodic shapes (psalm tones) in Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. Medieval modes (also called Gregorian mode
Gregorian mode
A Gregorian mode is one of the eight systems of pitch organization used to describe Gregorian chant.The name of Pope Gregory I was attached to the variety of chant that was to become the dominant variety in medieval western and central Europe by the Frankish cantors reworking Roman ecclesiastical...
or church modes) were numbered, either from 1 to 8, or from 1 to 4 (protus, deuterus, tertius, and tetrardus) in authentic
Authentic mode
An authentic mode is one of four Gregorian modes whose final is the lowest note of the scale...
/plagal
Plagal mode
A Plagal mode may mean different church chanting modes, depending on the context.-In Western Practice:A plagal mode is a musical mode, which is one of four Gregorian modes whose range includes the octave from the fourth below the tonic, or final, to the fifth above...
pairs, and sometimes named after the ancient Greek tonoi (with which, however, they are not identical).
| Authentic modes | Plagal modes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | Dorian Dorian mode Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :... |
II. | Hypodorian Hypodorian mode The Hypodorian mode, a musical term literally meaning 'below dorian', derives its name from a tonos or octave species of ancient Greece which, in its diatonic genus, is built from a tetrachord consisting of a semitone followed by two whole tones. The rising scale for the octave is a single tone... |
| III. | Phrygian Phrygian mode The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter... |
IV. | Hypophrygian Hypophrygian mode The Hypophrygian mode, literally meaning 'below Phrygian', is a musical mode or diatonic scale in medieval chant theory, the fourth mode of church music. This mode is the plagal counterpart of the authentic third mode, which was called Phrygian... |
| V. | Lydian Lydian mode The Lydian musical scale is a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the fifth of the eight Gregorian modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in... |
VI. | Hypolydian Hypolydian mode The Hypolydian mode, literally meaning "below Lydian", is the common name for the sixth of the eight medieval church modes . The name is taken from Ptolemy of Alexandria's term for one of his seven tonoi, or transposition keys... |
| VII. | Mixolydian Mixolydian mode 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... |
VIII. | Hypomixolydian |
Modus (modal notation)
In the medieval theory of rhythmic organisation, a mode was understood to be a stereotypical sequence of long and short notes, comparable to a footFoot (prosody)
The foot is the basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse in most Western traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The unit is composed of syllables, the number of which is limited, with a few...
in poetry. Rhythmic modes were described by the medieval theorists according to a classification numbered from 1 to 6 (of which only 1 to 3 were of practical importance.)
- Long-short (trocheeTrocheeA trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
) - Short-long (iamb)
- Long-short-short (dactylDactyl (poetry)A dactyl is a foot in meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight...
) - Short-short-long (anapest)
- Long-long (spondeeSpondeeIn poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables, as determined by stress in modern meters...
) - Short-short (pyrrhicPyrrhicA pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.Tennyson used pyrrhics and spondees quite frequently, for example, in In Memoriam: "When the blood creeps and the nerves prick." "When the" and "and the" in the second...
)
Rhythmic modes were the basis for the notation technique of modal notation, the first system in European music to notate musical rhythms and thereby make the notation of complex polyphonic
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
music possible, which was devised around 1200 AD and later superseded by the more complex mensural notation
Mensural notation
Mensural notation is the musical notation system which was used in European music from the later part of the 13th century until about 1600."Mensural" refers to the ability of this system to notate complex rhythms with great exactness and flexibility...
. Modal notation indicated modes by grouping notes together in ligatures.
Modus (mensural notation)
In the notation system of mensural notationMensural notation
Mensural notation is the musical notation system which was used in European music from the later part of the 13th century until about 1600."Mensural" refers to the ability of this system to notate complex rhythms with great exactness and flexibility...
(after c.1300), the term modus was used to describe a part of the overall metric organisation of a piece, comparable to a modern time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. It referred to the division of the longa note into either three (modus perfectus) or two (modus imperfectus) breves. Similar divisions on subsequently lower levels were described by the terms tempus (referring to the division of breves into two or three semibreves) and prolatio (the division of semibreves into two or three minims).