Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.Nonheptatonicmodes 151
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574.NonheptatonicmodesIfmodescontainingsevendifferentscaledegreesareheptatonic,eightnotemodes are octatonic, sixnote modes hexatonic, thosewithfivepentatonic,whilefourandthreenotemodesaretetratonicandtritonic.Now,eventhoughthemostpopularpentatonicmodesaresometimescalledgappedbecausetheycontaintwoscalestepslargerthanthoseofthechurchmodesofChapter3dohrmisollaandladohrmisol,forexampletheyarenomoreincompleteoremptythantheoctatonicstarttoexample70canbeconsideredclutteredorcrowded.1
Ex.70.Vigneault/Rochon(1973):Jechantepour(octatonicopeningphrase)
Thepointisthatthemostwidespreadconventionfornumberingscaledegrees(inEurope,theArabworld,India,Java,China,etc.)is,asweveseen,heptatonic.So,whenexpressionslikethirdlesshexatonicoccurinthischapteritdoesnotimplythatthemodeisinanysensedeficient:itsjustamatterofusingaquasiglobalconventiontodesignateaparticulartraitofthemode.
TritonicandtetratonicTritonic and tetratonic tunes are common inmany parts of theworld,not least in traditionalmusic fromMicronesia andPolynesia,aswellasamongtheMori,theInuit,theSaamiandNativeAmericansofthegreatplains.2TetratonicmodesarealsofoundinChristianpsalmandresponsechanting(ex.71),whilethesoundofchildrenchantingtritonictauntscanstillbeheardinplaygroundsinmanypartsoftheworld(ex.72).
1. InDthatonebar( )contains .SeeRochon(1992)foranaccountofhowthatoctatonicsinglebarcameabout.
2. NativeAmericanmusic,seeMerriam(2011:325)andNettletal.(2001:2(ii));MoriandPolynesian:McLean(1996:296,ff.and1976:144148);Samimusic:Eerola(2000);Inuitmusic:Johnston(1976).
152 Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.NonheptatonicmodesEx.71.Psalmtone2(quasitetratonic:c d [e] f g)3
Ex.72.Childrenstritonictauntingchant( )4
Anditsnotasiftritonicandtetratonictunesareexclusivetochildrenortopreindustrialtimesandplaces.Forexample,theleadvocalsofbothSweetHomeAlabama(ex.73)andDaDooRonRon(ex.74)areentirelytritonic.Ex.73.LynyrdSkynyrd:SweetHomeAlabama(1974);
Ex.74.TheCrystals:DaDooRonRon(1963);
Nevertheless, the fact that themelodic lines of these two tunesdrawonathreenotevocabularydoesnotmeantheactualpiecesare ina tritonicmode.Performedwith instrumentsandbackingvocals,bothtunesareheptatonic.SweetHomeAlabamaismixolydian( )inD(d e f# g a b [email protected])withitsthreechordmixolydian loop {D-C-G} (I-$VII-IV) and Da Doo Ron Ronunequivocallyionian( )inE ( )withitsionianchordloop{E$-A$-B$-E$}(I-IV-V-I).Eachtunehasacleartoniclettingusidentify and asscaledegreesinthetritonicvocalline.Itisontheotherhandimpossibletotalkabouttonicsinexamples71and72becausetheirperformanceismonophonicandhasnoobvioustonic(whywoulditneedone?)fromwhichotherscaledegreescanbeunambiguouslyderived.
3. Thenoteeisaloneinbeingunaccentedandoccurringonlyonce.4. Threeverbalvariantsofthisfamiliaraaiaataunt( )inEnglish
are:[1]Imthekingofthecastleandyourethedirtyrascal.[2]Cry,babyBunting;daddysgoneahunting.[3]Cowardy,cowardy,custard;youdonteatyourmustard.Tryalso[4]Die,greedybanker!Youreastupidwanker.
Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.Nonheptatonicmodes 153Pentatonic
Fig.22.Anhemitonic5pentatonicmodefrequencyratios
Themostwidely usedmodes outside the euroclassical spheremustsurelybepentatonic.Onereasonfortheubiquityofanhemitonicpentatonicismmaybe,assuggestedinFigure22,thatallfivenotesareacousticallylinkedbysimplepitchratios.IndohpentatonicC,forexample,thefrequencyratiobetween and (afifth)is2:3,thatbetween and (afourth)4:3,between and 2:3,and4:3between and .RearrangedinascendingorderofpitchinthesecondrowofFigure22,thewhitekeyversionsinFigure23(p.154)showthatthosesamefivenotesconstitutemodeslikethedohormajorpentatonic( no.1inFigure23)andthelaorminorpentatonicmode( no.5).
Modes15inFigure23(p.154)areanhemitonicbecausetheycontainno semitones.Their scalar steps comprise threewhole tones(onebetweendohandr,randmi,solandla),andtwostepsofoneandahalf(1betweenmiandsol,laanddoh).TheJapanesemodeHirajoshiatthebottomofFigure23,however,ishemitonicbecauseit contains semitones ( and ).Like any other hemitonicmode, itcannotbeplayedusingonlytheblacknotesonapianokeyboardwhereasallfiveanhemitonicmodescan.Theaccountthatfollowsdealswiththethreemostcommonlyheardofthefiveanhemitonicmodes,atleastintheurbanWest,twoofwhicharealsoconceptuallyfamiliar.ThosetwoaretheDOHmodeormajorpentatonic(Fig.23,n1)andtheLAmodeorminorpentatonic(Fig.23,no.6).Thethird,theRPENTATONICmode(Fig.23,n2),despiteitspresence in traditionalmusics in theBritish Isles andNorthAmerica,appearstobealessfamiliarentity.
5. Anhemitonic=withoutsemitonesteps.N.B.somenaturalinstrumentshavemorenotestotheoctaveinhigherandfewerinloweroctaves(Hirtn.d.,p.13).
154 Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.NonheptatonicmodesAnhemitonicpentatonicFig.23.Fiveanhemitonicpentatonicmodes(plusonehemitonic)
DohpentatonicEx.75.Sloane(Irishtrad.),b.18(DOHpentatonicinE )
Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.Nonheptatonicmodes 155Ex.76.TheEastIsRed(Chinesetrad.),b.14(DOHpentatonicinE)
Fig.24.Dohpentatonicmodesforexamples75(E )and76(E)
InE (ex.75)thedohpentatonicnotesare [ ]and,inE(Fig.76), [ ].InadditiontocountlesswellknowntuneslikeAuldLangSyne,SwingLow,SweetChariot andSukiyaki, twoother popular dohpentatonicmelodies are cited here: The SkyeBoatSong(ex.77)andAmazingGrace(ex.78).Ex.77.SkyeBoatSong(Scot.trad.,cit.mem.);dohpentatonicinG (blackkeys)
Ex.78.AmazingGrace(1835;mel.cit.mem.);dohpentatonicinF
BothdohandlapentatonicmelodiesarecommoninmusicfromsuchfarflungpartsoftheworldasWestAfrica,theAndes,EastAsia (includingChina, Japan and Indonesia),Hungary and theBritishIsles.6
LapentatonicLAPENTATONICmelody iscommon in traditionalmusic from theBritish Isles and theAppalachians (ex. 80), aswell as in bluesbasedpopularstyles(ex.79,81).
6. DohpentatonicisalsocommonamongNativeAmericansandtheSami.Sukiyakiisananglocentricnonsensenameforthesong=IlookupasIwalk(Sakomoto,1961).
156 Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.NonheptatonicmodesMinor pentatonic scales show up everywhere in rockmusic[S]ongsbyPinkFloyd,RollingStones,LedZeppelin,AC/DC,Aerosmith,VanHalen,Nirvanafeature[them]againandagain.7
Ex.79.JohnnyCash:Hurt(2009;LApentatonicA).
Ex.80.TheCooCooBird(UStrad.,viaAshley,1929;LApentatonicG)8
Ex.81.BoomBoom(Animals,1964b,coveringHooker,1963;lapentatonicE)
Fig.25.LapentatonicmodesinGandE
Examples7981areallLAPENTATONIC.Section5 inFigure23 (p.154)showsthatthefivenotesofthelapentatonicmodeladohrmisol[la],spacedat intervalsof1,1,1,1and1tonesrespectivelyareequivalenttoheptatonicscaledegrees .InA(ex.79),thatpatternproducesthenotes .InG(ex.80)itproduces ( )andin (ex. 81) ( )(Fig.25).RpentatonicSection2inTable23(p.154)showsthatthefivenotesoftheRPENTATONICmodermi sol la doh are equivalent to heptatonicscaledegrees .InDthatrpentatonicpatternof1+1+
7. ThequoteisfromJoeWalker(2013)ontheDeftDigitsGuitarLessonssite.Awebsearchforminorpentatonic(20131231)produced685,000hits,mostofwhichweretutorialsforrockguitaristsbeingsoldlapentatonicimprovisationlessons.Seep.161,ff.forthelapentatonicbluesmode.
8. SeetranscriptionbyDKGarner sites.duke.edu/banjology/transcriptions/coo-coo-a-study/the-coo-coo-bird-by-clarence-ashley/ [140322].
http://sites.duke.edu/banjology/transcriptions/coo-coo-a-study/the-coo-coo-bird-by-clarence-ashley/http://sites.duke.edu/banjology/transcriptions/coo-coo-a-study/the-coo-coo-bird-by-clarence-ashley/
Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.Nonheptatonicmodes 1571+1+1stepsproducesthenotes .InA(ex.8283)thatsamescaledegreepattern resultsin ,whileinC (ex.84)itgives and,inC(ex.85), .Ex.82.ShadyGrove(UStrad.viaClarenceAshley,rpentatonicA)
Ex.83.TheBraesofLochiel(Scot.trad.,bars15;rpentatonicA)
Ex.84.LowlandsOfHolland(UK.trad./SteeleyeSpan,1970;rpentatonicC#)
Ex.85.FemaleDrummer(Eng.trad.viaSteeleyeSpan,1971;rpentatonicC)
Rpentatonictunesseemmoreunfamiliarthandohandlamodestomostofmystudents,manyofwhomhear,forexample,TheFemaleDrummer(ex.85)inaminormode(usuallydorian)despitetherebeingnothingminor(ormajor)aboutitbecauseitcontainsnothirdatall,neitherminor( )normajor( ).Noristhemodeinanywayunresolvedorincomplete,eventhoughmanymusiciansinsistonreferringtoitassuspended.9
Diligent readerswillhaveobserved thatexamples8283areentirelyrpentatonicbutthat,strictlyspeaking,examples84and85arenot.Thatsbecausetheresan ( in )inbar9ofexample84
9. Forexample:[1]Suspendedpentatonictutorial IAR7P0rVWMA;[2]EgyptiansuspendedinWikipediaarticlePentatonicscales;[3]AdvicefromTheJazzTheoryBook(Levine,1995)thatthesuspendedpentatonicisgoodforplayingover c apassion4jazz.net/jazz-chords-scales.html.[Allvisits140214].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAR7P0rVWMAhttp://www.apassion4jazz.net/jazz-chords-scales.html
158 Tagg:EverydayTonalityII4.Nonheptatonicmodesandan ( in )inbars35and1113ofexample85.So,ifneithernor arepartoftherpentatonicmode,whyareexamples84
and85solabelled?Itsbecausethoseextranotesmarkatemporarycounterpoise10 toanoverriding rpentatonic tonality.Since thatinterpretationsoundsabitspurious,Ihadbetterexplain.
Thesingle inbar9ofTheLowlandsOfHolland(ex.84)marksamomentary change fromC rpentatonic to eitherC lapentatonicorEdohpentatonic.Itoccursnearthestartofthethirdoffour4bar periods, a typical halfway point for going tonally elsewherebefore returninghome: its the B ina standardAABAstrophicpatternwhosethreeAperiodsstayconsistentlyinC rpentatonic. InTheFemaleDrummer (ex.85) thehighlightingofatonalelsewhereworksdifferently.Herethe (K inC)servestounderlinetheimportanceofthetunescounterpoiseon ( ).Itcouldbearguedthatthe sfunctionisthatofamomentaryleadingnotetothe .11Thatinterpretationdoesnotworkontheextractsshownasexamples95102,allofwhichareunequivocallyrhexatonicanddis
