source file: mills2.txt Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 19:13:57 +0200 Subject: Re: modes and tuning From: Daniel Wolf Let me try to answer both of your questions at once. Medieval music theory for the motion of melodic voices is based upon the assumption that the scale is pythagorean. Therefore the dorian is going to have a 3/2 fifth at the interval d - a. A combination of this tuning and the standard rules for melodic motion leads logically to something like a raga with a distinct identity for each mode, albeit obligatory ornamentation (like gamakas) must remain a matter of conjecture. There is simply too little evidence one way or another, and the difference over time and in different places must have been enormous (as is true for South Indian music, for example.) Later polyphonic music may or may not require just thirds and comma shifts to accomodate these, or the whole matter may be rendered moot by a temperament (i.e. equal on fretted strings, meantone on keyboards). In any case, a 40/27 on the dorian tonic would only be the consequence of a justhexachord on c (assuming that just hexachords ever were current), but could be corrected to 3/2 by RE on the hexachord on G. Ancient greek music is another matter altogether. There is no theoreticalevidence one way or another of rules regarding tritone leaps - or of any rules about melodic motion except for the labeling of certain common motions. If I recall correctly, however, some of the preserved fragments do have augmented fourth or diminished fifth leaps. Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:46 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA18036; Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:46:11 +0200 Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:46:11 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA18886 Received: (qmail 794 invoked from network); 4 Jun 1997 13:45:30 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 4 Jun 1997 13:45:30 -0000 Message-Id: <33290029@vixen.Dartmouth.EDU> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu