Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Guitarists Guild of Gaia

Back to Guilds

The Original Guitar and Bass Guild 

Tags: Guitar, Bass, Guitars, Strings, Guitarist 

Reply Theory/Songwriting (Post about anything pertaining to music theory and/or songwriting here!)
Medieval Musical Scales

Quick Reply

Enter both words below, separated by a space:

Can't read the text? Click here

Submit

l_Shamrock_l

PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:22 pm


I've been looking for the music scales used in medieval music as we know it today, however I cannot find any. I understand why medeival music is difficult to come by in the modern day, and that's a different subject all together, so I'm not going to touch that...

So does anybody out there know of any Medieval Musical scales? Or is simply the Major, Minor, Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian etc. scales that we use now days, used in a way differently from the modern uses. I've already created two melodies of my own, one with the Major scale and one with chords and arpeggios, so I'm thinking that it's nothing more than the very basic scales most people learn first-thing, used in a particular way different than we use today, however I'm not entirely sure due to the fact their music, other than the fact it's composed upon different instruments, such as the Lute or Mandolin, sounds very different, melodically, from our own and it appeals to me.

Any help, please?
PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2008 7:42 pm


From what I can tell, it's just a matter of note choice but using the church modes (the basic Ionian dorian phrygian lydian mixolydian aeolian locrian).

You may want to learn some renaissance type music to get a feel for it though.

hylianhero27
Crew


joe-dude667

PostPosted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:34 pm


In my opinion the best way to get a real renaissance-y sounding song is to use the melodic minor, or even the harmonic minor maybe.

Melodic minor is the exact same as the minor with a raised 6th and 7th (as if playing the major scale for those two notes) ascending and then just the standard minor scale while descending. Sounds complex but it's not when you're used to it. Listen to Bach's Bourrée in E minor (you'll recognise it from Led Zep live/Tenacious D).

Harmonic minor is basically the same except only the 7th is raised and its the same both ascending and descending. =)
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:11 pm


PHOENIX DOWN!

Anyways... For medeivel music, you're best bet is probably the Dorian and Mixolydian modes. Harmonic minor is for a more Baroque sound. And, to me, melodic minor sounds Russian to me xD

_Twisted Pole_
Crew


l_Shamrock_l

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:39 pm


lol thanks. I've got the technique down for the most part now, though. I appreciate it though...

I actually listened to Nightwish's song "Last of the Wilds" to get it down. I've made quite a few songs with what I learned...

Here's an easy one I made up using D Chord. I don't mind sharing it, it's not like I'm gonna' get famous for it, lol...

e|-0--3-2-0--------0--3-2-3--5--3-2-0--3--0--3-2-3---5--3-2-0-3--0-
B|-0-----------3-5-------------2----------2--0-----------2---------2--0-
G|-0----------------------------3----------3--0-----------3---------3--0-
D|-0----------------------------0----------0--0-----------0---------0--0-
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------

e|-3-2-3--------3-2-3-----3-2-0-3--5--0--3-2-3--5-3-2-0--3--0---
B|---------3-5----------3--5------2--2--0----------2---------2--0---
G|---------------------------------3--3--0----------3----------3--0---
D|---------------------------------0--0--0----------0----------0--0---
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope it doesn't get too messed up when I post it...

Edit: It did... too lazy to fix it... sorry for that lol

The thing I didn't realize at the time I made the original post was that the scales haven't changed in the least bit since they were originally created. The only difference is the applications
PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:39 pm


l_Shamrock_l
lol thanks. I've got the technique down for the most part now, though. I appreciate it though...

I actually listened to Nightwish's song "Last of the Wilds" to get it down. I've made quite a few songs with what I learned...

Here's an easy one I made up using D Chord. I don't mind sharing it, it's not like I'm gonna' get famous for it, lol...

e|-0--3-2-0--------0--3-2-3--5--3-2-0--3--0--3-2-3---5--3-2-0-3--0-
B|-0-----------3-5-------------2----------2--0-----------2---------2--0-
G|-0----------------------------3----------3--0-----------3---------3--0-
D|-0----------------------------0----------0--0-----------0---------0--0-
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------

e|-3-2-3--------3-2-3-----3-2-0-3--5--0--3-2-3--5-3-2-0--3--0---
B|---------3-5----------3--5------2--2--0----------2---------2--0---
G|---------------------------------3--3--0----------3----------3--0---
D|---------------------------------0--0--0----------0----------0--0---
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope it doesn't get too messed up when I post it...

Edit: It did... too lazy to fix it... sorry for that lol

The thing I didn't realize at the time I made the original post was that the scales haven't changed in the least bit since they were originally created. The only difference is the applications.

Thinking like this will get you far. Cause this is all Western music is: playing around with the major scale and it's modes (though, not near as frequently as just the Major/Minor (Ionian/Aeolian modes) scales).

But, to make tabs more easy to read, put them in the CODE tag. It lines up everything evenly.

_Twisted Pole_
Crew

Reply
Theory/Songwriting (Post about anything pertaining to music theory and/or songwriting here!)

 
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum