scales & modes

Scales and Modes

Main articles: Musical scale and Musical mode

Notes can be arranged into different scales and modes. Western music theory generally divides the octave into a series of 12 notes that might be included in a piece of music. This series of twelve notes is called a chromatic scale. In the chromatic scale, each note is called a half-step or semitone. Patterns of half and whole steps (2 half steps, or a tone) can make up a scale in that octave. The scales most commonly encountered are the seven toned major, the harmonic minor, the melodic minor, and the natural minor. Other examples of scales are the octatonic scale, and the pentatonic or five-toned scale, which is common in but not limited to folk musics. There are scales that do not follow the chromatic 12-note pattern, for example in classical Persian, Indian and Arabic music. Arabic and Persian classical traditions often make use of quarter-tones, half the size of a semitone, as the name suggests. Contrary to popular belief, however, this is not true of Indian music, which uses seven notes and five variant notes that correspond to the twelve tones of the European chromatic scale, but are used very differently. Theoretically the twelve tones of Indian music map onto a 22 division of the octave according to the thirteenth-century Sanskrit treatise, the Sangitaratnakara.

In music written using the system of major-minor tonality, the key of a piece determines the scale used. (One way of showing how various keys relate to one another may be seen in the circle of fifths.) Transposing a piece from C major to D major will make all the notes two semitones (or one full step) higher. Even in modern equal temperament, changing the key can change the feel of a piece of music, because it changes the relationship of the composition's pitches to the pitch range of the instruments that play the piece. This often affects the music's timbre, as well as having technical implications for the performers. However, performing a piece in one key rather than another may go unrecognized by the casual listener, since changing the key does not change the relationship of the individual pitches to each other. A key change, or modulation, may occur during a piece, which is more easily heard as a difference of intervals in sound.

Articulation
Articulation is the manner in which the performer applies their technique to execute the sounds or notes—for example, staccato or legato. Articulation is often described rather than quantified, therefore there is room to interpret how to execute precisely each articulation. For example, Staccato is often referred to as "short" or "detached" rather than having a defined, or numbered amount by which the shortness or detachment is to take place. Often the manner in which a performer decides to execute a given articulation is done so by the context of the piece or phrase. Also, the type or style of articulation will depend on the instrument, but there is a generally recognized set of articulations that most all instruments, (and voices) have in common. They are, in order of long to short: legato ("smooth, connected"); tenuto ("pressed", "lengthened but detached"); marcato (heavily accented and detached); staccato ("short", "detached"). Any of these may be combined to create certain "in-between" articulations. For example, portato is the combination of tenuto and staccato. Some instruments have unique methods by which to produce sounds such spicatto for strings, where the bow bounces off the string.

MODES : IONIAN , DORIAN, PHRYGIAN, LYDIAN, MIXOLYDIAN, AEOLIAN, LOCRIAN