minstrel: Re: minstrel-digest V1 #465

[Corrie Bergeron]

>From: yarrowp at mscd.edu
>Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 14:51:19 -0600 (MDT)
>Subject: minstrel:  modes
>
>Greetings, Gentlefolk!
>
>I have (been) volunteered to teach a class at Known World Arts and Sciences 
>this coming Saturday, on short notice due to a cancellation.  I have 
>offered to do a presentation on the musical modes, and would like to know 
>what sorts of questions SCA bards have about this subject.  Thank you in 
>advance for helping me tailor the presentation to the audience.
>
>Yours in service,
>
>(Mistress) Vivien o Caer Blaiddiau
>

Typical questions are:

What are they?
How do they sound?
How do they relate to the modern major and minor scales?
The inevitable:  What guitar chords go with them?  (Related - If I just play
suspended 4th chords , doesn't that make it period?)  Be kind.
Were different modes used for different purposes?
Were certain modes in disfavor, either popularly or from the pulpit?
What's a good mnemonic for remembering those odd names?

If you have a musically educated audience, you might get into theoretical
esoterica - how to relate the modes to the circle of fifths, solfeggio and
its predecessor gam-ut, the "medieval music theory hand chart" (I've forgot
the real name of that thing - you know what I'm talking about?) and so on.  

If at all possible, play each of the modes themselves AND a short
selelection written in that mode.  That'll give the audience a better feel
for what the modes mean as music, rather than as just theory.

Break a leg!

Brendan O Corraidhe
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Corrie Bergeron			 		corrie at tro.com				
Senior PLATO Courseware Designer (TRO Learning)	www.tro.com 
President, Intra-Active Designs			www.itasca.net/~corrie/iad.htm
All-around neat guy	corrie at itasca.net	www.itasca.net/~corrie 

"Some days yer gets chickens, some days yer gets feathers." - Grandpa Fox


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