If all music really was based on two main frets - major and minor, then probably it would be the most boring and monotonous form of art. Today, even the official theory shows us that on the basis of these two scales numerous scales are built that have an excellent sound, which gives each piece its own, inimitable hue. These seven-step frets of folk music can become the basis for chords and accompaniment, with the help of their non-standard sound unique transitions and modulations are created.
The history of scale
Almost every one of us has ever heard such definitions: Lydian, Dorian, Ionian, and so on. All of these terms are relevant to this topic, but there are some things to clarify. Many, proceeding from the name, believe that each mode of folk music was inherent in one of the ancient peoples. In fact, these scales were given a similar “coding” in those days when the theory of music became more or less stable, and when “artificial” keys were already created in Europe. Nevertheless, each of these modes was borrowed from some folk works, but not only ancient ones, such as antiquity. They were sought out in Indian ragas and Russian ditties, in Arabian poppies and Spanish Haleos.
The main two folk frets
It so happened that some folk tunes in music are exact analogs of the common for all parallel keys - major and minor. In their structure and sound, they are completely identical, so we will consider them briefly. The first is Ionian, i.e. major. His scale is constructed as follows: tone, tone, semitone, plus three tones and semitone. This, as we see, is the standard structure of each major scale from any note. The Aeolian folk music is always parallel to the Ionian, therefore, its structure is completely identical to the natural minor. The composition of this gamut includes the following intervals: tone, halftone, two tones, halftone and two tones.
The most common frets in Russian folk songs
If you carefully track every ditty, epic or other composition written by our peasant ancestors, then, based on modern knowledge, we can say that most of the works are built specifically on the Dorian scale. This way of folk music is minor, as the third step in it is lowered. When we hear the Dorian scale, a feeling of some greatness, courage is created, but at the same time there is a certain gloomy shade in it. This effect is created due to the fact that the sixth step is increased. The Phrygian freak is also a frequent guest in various folk motifs. It is based all on the same minor scale, but this time the second stage has undergone changes - here it is lowered.
What is the basis of Jewish motives?
Have you ever thought that the tunes that are peculiar to the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean are neither sad, nor cheerful, or rather, have a pronounced neither major structure, nor minor? This is because they are based on the frets of folk music. Examples of this are numerous songs, melodies and even prayers. Speaking specifically about the scale on which all these compositions are built, it is worth noting Lydian. It is built on the basis of natural major, but due to the fact that the fourth step of the scale is increased, in the usual sequence for us, another tone is created, which forms such a non-standard sound. Thus, the structure of the Lydian scale is as follows: three tones, semitone, two tones, semitone. Based on this, you can both improvise and create characteristic melodies by recording them.
Gamma with the most interesting chord
The mixolidian way of folk music is what is really very beautiful and interesting. Its structure is simple, and is based on standard major scale. The difference is that the seventh step of the gamma is lowered, due to which its sound becomes a little mysterious and gloomy. However, the whole beauty of the fret is not in sorting out the notes of the scale itself, but in what chord can be built in it. Due to the fact that the seventh step is lowered, it is she who is added to the usual major tonic triad. As a result, we get an extraordinarily beautiful seventh chord, the extreme notes of which form a small septima. It is often used in jazz and blues compositions.
The rarest natural fret
The term "Lokri", alas, is often not found even in textbooks on the theory of music. He, like everyone else, is the name of another natural range, which is extremely rare even in folk motifs. He is considered minor, but in fact the sound is such that it is simply impossible to rank him in one of these two groups (major-minor). The structure of the gamut is as follows: semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone. Especially beautiful here is the seventh chord, which the musicians call semi-chord. It consists of two small thirds and one large.
What other ways are folk music?
Pentatonic, diatonic, hemiolic - all these terms are surely familiar to every musician. What is it and how does it sound? It is believed that, unlike all the natural modes described above, it was these sets of sounds that developed in ancient times among ancient peoples. Later they became the basis for various works, as well as for scales, which in our time are considered the most important in the theory and practice of music. Well, then let's take a closer look at each of these scales.
Music of our ancestors
Pentatonic, or "Chinese gamut" is a set of notes in which halftones are completely absent. Major and minor pentatonics are distinguished today, which are identified by the height of the third stage. In the major, the fourth and seventh steps are missing, and in the minor - the second and sixth. Diatonic, in turn, is not a gamut at all. These are “musical circles,” or intervals that are based on pure fifths and fourths. Well, hemiolica is, of course, the standard chromatic range, in which only small seconds are present, that is, half-tones. It is noteworthy that she alone for many years did not change at all.