Leonard, The mode you are talking about is not one of the standard western modes, so you won't find one particular name for it. You may find a name for it in non-western sources, but there it would depend on which tradition you are playing in. If you had to call it something in western nomenclature you might call it Mixolydian with a minor sixth, which is an accurate description, but not really a name.
Regarding your other question, the place to start is looking at where your cadences resolve to. Unless you are shifting keys in a musical piece, start by looking at the last note of the piece (especially) and at the ending notes of phrases. In most cases those will represent either your tonic or your dominant and those would be the most likely notes for your drones. Sometimes that won't work, but as an 80% rule, that should be pretty good. For the remaining pieces, try singing the tune or playing it without drones and see where the tune naturally resolves. It'll usually be pretty obvious. More often, however, you are going to be trying to find the tonic so you can transpose to match your drones. The same process (looking at cadence endings and the ending of the piece) applies, but after you identify the tonic and dominant, you'll either find you're lucky and the drones match something you have at hand, you're going to need to figure out how to transpose from what you see to something you can play in. Hope that helps. -Arle On Mar 21, 2010, at 9:04 PM, Leonard Williams wrote: > I've never been real clever at music theory, so I'm wondering if > anyone knows of a good resource, or can provide information (lessons?) to > the list on this topic as it pertains to the hurdy-gurdy. > For example: How can you tell what pitch drone to use, besides just > trial and error? I understand a little bit about modes as opposed to our > modern key signatures, but it would be nice to have a method to analyse a > tune, find the mode, and pick a drone with some confidence. > > Also: what would this mode be called: d e f# g a b-flat c d. Sounds great > with a D drone. > > Thanks and regards, > Leonard Williams -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to hurdygurdy+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
