Dorian Mode
DescriptionThe Dorian Mode is said to have a soulful, jazzy and sophisticated quality and is commonly used in blues, fusion jazz, and rock music. This mode is also called:
Then Dorian Mode is the second mode of the first authentic scale of ancient Greece and was named after the subgroup of people called the Dorians that lived in the northwestern part of the Greek mainland before 1150 B.C. Toward the end of the 1100's, the Dorians overran most of the Peloponnesus (the southern peninsula of Greece). The invasion helped end the Mycenaean civilization, which flourished there. The best-known Greeks of Dorian decent were the Spartans. In addition to Sparta, Dorian cities included Argos, Corinth, Megara, and Rhodes. Dorians also settled in Crete, Sicily, southern Italy, the Sporades Islands, and southwestern Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Greece was the philosophical hotbed of the ancient world. Geographically, most of Greece is made up of many small islands. In ancient times, travelers could not easily travel from island to island. Each island formed a local government having its own set of laws and unique culture. Since one ruler could not exact power over all the islands the society on each island evolved independently (called a Polis). Philosophers, artists, and poets thrived within the polis system since each could practice their trade, teach students, and practice philosophy actively without fear of reprisal by a central ruler. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (350 B.C.) wrote about the Dorian mode in his philosophical work titled Politics: "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those that hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm" The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427 - 348 B.C.) felt that playing music in a particular mode would incline one toward specific behavior associated with that mode. He suggested that soldiers should listen to music in Dorian or Phrygian modes to help make them stronger, but avoid music in Lydian, Mixed Lydian or Ionian modes, for fear of being softened. Plato believed that a change in the musical modes of the state would cause a wide-scale social revolution. He also believed that by changing the mode of the national anthem of Greece a widespread social revolt would start.
Songs That Use This Scale |