[sdiy] Music

[David G. Dixon]

> >I'd call it "The Phrygian Winds" because the wind blows
> >in a phrygian mode through the piece.
> 
> Phrygian?  heh, I wouldn't have known if you didn't tell me.  I just did
> what sounded right to me...  heh - Phrygian...

Just run all the white keys from E to E, and voila!  The E phrygian mode.
At least I thought that's what I heard.

In fact, running all the white keys from every key generates a different
mode with a different greek name (the so-called "church modes"):

C-C = ionian
D-D = dorian
E-E = phrygian
F-F = lydian
G-G = mixolydian
A-A = aeolian
B-B = locrian

Of course, these modes exist in all the other keys as well (meaning, the
ones with one ore more black keys involved).  Dorian is the basis of nearly
all "modal blues" from the late 50s and early 60s.  Phrygian is the basis of
most "Spanish" music.

If you want to get really freaky, then run the scale from C to C, but with
E-flat instead of E (just the one black).  Now, if you run up the keys with
that one black key in every mode, you'll get the following:

C-C = melodic minor
D-D = sus b9
Eb-Eb = lydian augmented
F-F = lydian dominant
G-G = aeolian major
A-A = aeolian diminished
B-B = altered

The "lydian dominant" and "altered" modes are at the heart of modern jazz.
The latter is so called because, in addition to the notes required to
construct a dominant "shell" (i.e., 1-3-b7), it also includes every possible
altered note relative to the major scale (b9, #9, b5 (or #11) and #5 (or
b13).  This is the scale most post-bop jazzers blow over when they're
sounding particularly "jazzy".