This isn't about playing bass, but it is about music. Since a number of people have expressed an interest in the church modes, this article on their history seems appropriate. Variants of the article have appeared on the Compuserve Music/Arts forum and in several private e-mail postings. Apologies to those who have seen it before.

A good place to start is with the modes used in ancient Greece. There are earlier writings, but the most important ones come from about 350BC. The philosophy writings of both Plato and Aristotle include large sections that describe the effect of different musical modes (scales) on mood and even on character formation. For example, this quote from Aristotle's "Politics":

 "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those
who 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 enthusiasim."  

The mode names match geographic or ethnic regions. One problem is that, whereas many writings specify how the ancient Greeks *thought* about scales, and even *constructed* parts of their scales, nothing exists about which modes were called Mixolydian, Dorian, Phrygian, etc. My reading on this is dated, but as of about 1985, not *one* Greek mode had been completely deciphered, let alone associated with a particular name. We simply don't know the specific scales to which Plato and Aristotle were referring.

400 years later, the new Christian church was worshiping in song. Their modes (scales) came mostly from Jewish temple songs and from other common modes in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. Different modes were used at different times and for different parts of the early Christian services. Each mode started (actually, ended) on a different note and had a unique set of intervals. The details of those modes are far beyond the scope of this already long article. The modes were simply numbered mode 1, mode 2, and so on. No Greek names yet.

That numbering system lasted until about 510AD. About then, Manlius Boethius was convicted of treason and sentenced to death in his Italian province. He spent his *lengthy* time on death row translating Aristotle's works on logic ... some of the first translations into Italian. He also wrote his own "Consolidation of Philosophy" on how man experiences God and reconciles good and evil in the world. Part of that philosophy included opinions about which of the modes used in Christian church services matched the ancient Greek modes named by Aristotle. Boethius, of course, bought into the ethos concept, and ascribed the ancient Greek views of mood creation and character formation to the church modes. Bear in mind that Boethius was writing 850 years *after* Aristotle. The poor man couldn't have had a clue as to which church mode matched, e.g. Aristotle's Mixolydian mode. That sort of detail was lost centuries before.

In any case, being first translations, Boethius' works, including "Consolidation .. " were widly spread in Italy ... It was one source used by Pope Gregory in about 600AD when he catalogued and classified the modes used in Christian worship. Within a hundred years after having been written, Boethius' incorrect Greek names for the church modes became the official norm, along with much of the mood and character formation baggage.

There was more evolution in the church modes during the next 1000 years. The *really big* change came in the middle to late 1600's with the invention of the movable scale, and the condensation (consolidation?) of the church modes into the major and minor scale system. That's when the church modes became formalized into what we know and use today. The Greek names became convenient labels for particular scales. Locrian mode was 'invented' at that time to complete the theoretical picture. It is unlikely that *anyone* ever actually sang anything in Locrian mode ... 'cept maybe for some jazzers.

I always feel uncomfortable when the concept of a church mode as a song gets muddied with the method whereby a church mode can be produced in the major/minor scale system ... e.g. if you play all the white keys starting and ending on D you're playing Dorian mode *on* D. Thats true, but the church modes are the stuff that songs are made from. Each one does really have a tone center and a set of motives.

From an analytical viewpoint, church modes are an idea whose time has come and gone. The church modes just couldn't explain all the musical things people were doing during the mid 1600's, and they were obsoleted by the major/ minor scale system. That is not unlike today, when the concepts of key signature and key itself, are being made obsolete by 20th century composing practices, and 20th century music genre like blues and jazz, and their derivatives.

Ancient tho they may be, I personally find modes useful tools for constructing bass lines and useful tools for thinking about interactions between certain chords and scales. And there really *are* songs in the modes ... 'cept maybe for Locrian.

People wishing more info, especially details on the church modes prior to 1500 AD, may want to look in the first few chapters of Grout's History of Western Music, and in the section on modes in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Those wishing to discuss this more can feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Larry Mysz
BassLine@aol.com