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Question: Music theory!.!.!. how do i work out if a mode is major/minor eg F aeolian or D ionian 10 points to right answer!?
i've been given a bar of music and asked to name the mode, it has 1 flat so it has to be in the key of F maj or D min when i write down a bar of F maj I find the piece i've been given starts on the 6th position so it could be F aeolian!.!.!.!. or if I write a bar on D min the bar i've been given starts on the 1st position so it could be a D Ionian!.
Am I supposed to ignore minors and just answer in terms of major scales/keys as this is just 1 example it keeps happening and the answer could be either!.
PLEASE HELP i'm so confused!!


if it helps the bar i've been given is in treble clef, starts and ends on D and B is the note with the flat!.

D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D

has 1 flat so in key of Fmaj!.!.!.
!.!.!.!. F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F
so as it's the 6th position it could be aeolian

or 1 b in D minor!.!.!.!.
!.!.!.D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D
and as is 1st position could be D Ionian!.


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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I'm not sure if this is exactly how they're going to teach you to do this, but this is how I do it!.

The circle of fifths is the key!.!.!. it looks like this (in part)

!.!.!. F C G D A E B !.!.!.

Right is fifth-wise, and means you add a sharp to the key sig!.
Left is fourth-wise, and means you add a flat to the key sig!.
C is natural, ie, no sharps or flats!.

The assumption is that we're talking major keys here only!.

Example - to get to the key of F we start with C (no sharps) and move on note "fourth-wise", and add one flat!. How do we know which flat to add!?

Progression of flats - (ie, c05 fourth-wise) - B E A D G C F
Progression of sharps - (ie, co5 fifth-wise) - F C G D A E B

The first sharp will always be F-> F#!. The second will always be C -> C#!. Likewise, the first flat will always be B -> Bb, etc!.

So three flats is!.!.!.!? Bb, Eb, and Ab!.
Four sharps!.!.!.!? F#, C#, G#, D#!.

Pretty simple, once you memorize it!.

As far as modes go, here's another trick using the circle of fifths that I use to help keep track of the modes!. Just like you shift the key by adding a flat or a sharp, you do so with the modes as well!. Let me give you an example!.

In the key of C, Lydian is F to F!. How about in the key of G!? We add a sharp to go from C to G, so we add a sharp to "F" to go from F to C!. In the key of G, C to C is therefore the lydian mode!. Perhaps it would help if I listed the circle of fifths again!.

!.!.!. F C G D A E B !.!.!.

F corresponds to Lydian, C to Ionian, G to Mixolydian, D to Dorian, A to Aeolian, E to Phrygian, and B to Locrian!.

So what's the Mixolydian mode of A!? Mixolydian mode of C natural is G to G, so we add have to add three sharps to get from C to A!. This takes G to E, so the mixolydian mode of the key of A is E to E!.

I hope some of this made sense!. I like looking at it this way, if you notice the modes are arranged from most "major" (Lydian) to most "minor" (Locrian, well, technically diminished, but whatever)!. This helps me when I think of how I want to write, and helps me draw from modes that will help me get those feelings I want to evoke!.

Feel free to email me if this doesn't make sense!. I tried to portray it as well as I could, within a text-only format!.

Oh yeah, and while I haven't heard "position" used to describe which mode of a scale is being used, I have heard "third mode", "fourth mode", etc!. Usually I think of positions as where you put your hand on the guitar!. I also didn't really cover minors, but you normally don't think of modes from a minor scale perspective!. If you'll note that the minor scale = aeolian mode, sometimes its easier to think of the minor scale as simply a different mode of the major scale (unless you start talking melodic minor, harmonic minor, etc, different story there)!.


Good luck!

PS I have tried *extremely* hard to not mess up my explanation, but you should know that I normally think of the circle of fifths as the circle of fourths first - B E A D G C F - since as a guitarist I am normally playing darker, minor music and in my head I'm usually adding flats anyways!. I apologize if I got the flats/sharps wrong above, blame my self-education and my intense love of minor scales, odd time signatures, and the band Tool!.


EDIT: I bloody knew I did it!. I've gone back and made some corrections!. I need to learn not to get too technical in my answers at 6 am on a monday morning!.!.!. what was I thinking! The email offer is still open, but I will simply not be answering it before at least 10 in the morning!. =)


SaulWww@QuestionHome@Com

Hi Vik

Here is the basic structure!.!.!.!. Let's use the Key of C

C ionian
D dorian
E phrygian
F lydian
G mixolydian
A aeolian
B locrian

Just relate them to major except for locrian which is a diminished scale!.
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Modes are something I have very little knowledge of, but hopefully this site can help:
http://randscullard!.com/CircleOfFifths/
It's an interactive circle of 5ths!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Now everyone is confused!. This actually is partnered in the question!.
If you are studying aeloian the then the answer is the whiz kid
answer it must be respect to the compositionist or composer!.
So in this sequence you need know that the composer is
stradivarus conductor isamov or dvorgnea of canticler fame and is
neither, it is a canticle!. So that is now another diversion, if you
are studying structures or valid meter!. The textbook answer is
D due to it is a major scale, f is a minor scale seventh!.Www@QuestionHome@Com