The Zampogna and Ciaramella in Venice

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Drones and Modal Music

The mention of the Appalachian Dulcimer in Newsletter 18, and the way in which the drones are used against different modal tunings prompts me to write about my wanderings in this musical minefield. At least two of the modal scales should be familiar already to bagpipers, the Ionian and the Myxolydian, but the Aeolian and Dorian also deserve examination. Both are commonly used in British and other European folk music traditions.

I have read numerous articles about the modal scales and most of them are very technical and confuse rather than clarify. To put it as simply as I can for the four modes I want to describe I suggest that the reader picks up a whistle and tries them. any pitch will do. First the Ionian or Doh mode. This is the common or garden major scale. Just play straight up the scale from the all fingers down position from Doh to Doh. Next there is the Myxolidian or Soh mode, the scale which is found on many sorts of bagpipe, e.g. Scottish Piob Mhor. To play it on the whistle start from the two top holes covered and play straight up from Soh to Soh crossing over the octave Doh on the way. You will notice that it is exactly like the Ionian mode until the final two intervals. Three fingers down gives the familiar whole tone leading note below the Soh you started on.

The next two modes are sometimes described as minor because they do resemble the minor scale used in Western Europe “serious” music. It is my feeling that whereas they are moody, to call them minor suggests that they are essentially said in character. Under certain circumstances tunes in these modes show many shifts of mood as the tune progresses.

The Dorian or Ray mode can be played on a whistle by starting from five holes covered and playing straight up to the corresponding five holes covered in the second octave. Here is a tune which will be within the compass of most chanters:

[Musical notation]

The Aeolian or Lah mode can be played by starting with one hole covered and playing straight up into the second octave until the same note is reached.

Another popular way of illustrating the modes is to use the white notes of a piano, the key of C, and playing straight up using no sharps or flats. The Ionian mode (Doh) is C to c Dorian (Ray) is D to d, Myxolidian (Soh) is G to g, and Aeolian (Lah) is A to a.

A good way to investigate them on whistle or chanter which has the option of either a flattened or sharpened interval just before the octave is as follows. Ionian from Doh to Doh with the seventh or leading note sharpened, Myxolidian from Doh to Doh with the seventh flattened, Dorian Ray to Ray with sharpened seventh, Aeolian Ray to Ray with flattened seventh note.

I don’t want to worry about the other modes but for people who want to delve into them the Phrygian goes from Mi to Mi, the Lydian from Fah to Fah, and the Locrian from Ti to Ti. They don’t occur too often in our part of the world.

Without doubt the Appalachian Dulcimer or related instruments, Epinette des Vosges, Hummel etc, are excellent for finding the haunting qualities of the Dorian and Myxolidian. The system they use is to have two drone strings tuned a fifth apart and to shift the paired unison strings accordingly. For example, keeping the drones the same, you can have:

Ionian or Doh
Myxolidian or Soh
Dorian or Ray
Aeolian or Lah

AA - A - D
DD - A - D
GG - A - D
CC - A - D

The arrangement of the frets makes it possible to play each of the seven common modes merely by starting on the appropriate fret. There are many variations in tuning but the thing that should interest the piper is that the starting note of each mode is an octave above the bass drone. The relationship with the other drone remains at a fourth below the melody starting note and a fifth above the bass drone.

Clearly most sorts of bagpipes can cope with the Ionian and Myxolidian. In fact the Myxolidian scale is the feature which attracts so many of us, and to be fair, is what some other musicians find strange. The problems start to arise when attempting to play a tune in the Dorian or Aeolian. In a conversation with a Chabrette player a long time ago I formed the impression that he was able to cope with other modes by swapping chanters and keeping the drones the same. However, my French was not up to deep technical musical discussions and my notions of the modes were pretty hazy at the time. Perhaps a Chabrette player could take up this point and enlighten me. Some how for most of us the “home” note of the mode has to be brought in tune with the drones. The range of the chanter may be capable of playing the scale but unless you have the sort of drone arrangement found on the Northumbrian pipes you are unlikely to be able to try out these modes against the drones.

One way to try the effect is to find a friend who has an instrument with drones in D and play along on a whistle in C using the scales described above,

i.e. starting on D and using either the B# for Dorian or B♭ for Aeolian. A quick rule of thumb for finding out whether a tune is in the Dorian or Aeolian, or any other mode, is to look at the last note of the tune. Nearly always they finish on the home note of the mode. Examination of the last two notes of the scale will determine whether or not it is Dorian or Aeolian.

Now the rationale for the pipes I make and play should be clear. I was faced with a repertoire which was difficult to exploit against the drones. The answer was to conceive an instrument which could overcome the difficulty by having drones which could be raised by a tone, as on the Northumbrian Pipes. This brought almost the entire range of Manks tunes within reach. It also in another way avoided the necessity of adjusting the repertoire to fit the instrument.

Finally, here is a tune in the Aeolian mode which most chanters will be able to play. If, as well, you can get an E out of the drones you will get the full effect.

Colin Jerry

The Bagpipe Society

The Zampogna and Ciaramella in Venice