Church mode

What it means

Church mode designates one of the modal scales by which the music of the Middle Ages and the early modern period is ordered. All the modes draw on the same diatonic pool of notes; what distinguishes them is the note on which they close, and thereby the position of the semitone steps within the scale.

Musical use

The modes are most simply represented on the natural notes: from D Dorian, from E Phrygian, from F Lydian, from G Mixolydian, from A Aeolian, from C Ionian. The mode from B, Locrian, is not in use in early practice, because no perfect fifth lies above its finalis; it appears only in later theoretical lists.

Every mode has its own character, and this rests solely on the position of the semitones: the low second degree in Phrygian, the high fourth in Lydian, the low seventh in Mixolydian, the high sixth in Dorian. Whoever knows these marks recognizes the modes by ear.

Beyond early music the modes have remained alive — in folk music, in folk, in modal jazz, in film and pop music. There they are mostly used as scales over a root, without the liturgical context and without the distinction of authentic and plagal.

Other names

Kirchenton is the shorter, synonymous designation; it is often used for the individual mode (“the first church tone”), while Kirchentonart rather means the system. In medieval theory the tones are numbered through: authentic and plagal forms alternate, so that the first tone is Dorian, the second Hypodorian.

Performance practice

Practise the modes one after another on the same root, not on different natural notes: only in this way does it stand out which note makes the difference. Sing every scale and impress the characteristic note on yourself. And do not phrase modal music like tonal music — without a leading tone there is no cadential gradient to play toward.