Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have you ever wanted to sing exotic music from long ago or far away? Do you have trouble performing modal music? Modes can create the feel of mysterious sounding mediaeval chants, some old timey folk and roots music, and exotic types of ethic and world music. Every other month we will explore a new mode. Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies will start you down your path of discovery.
Modes and Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies
Discussing Modes
What is a mode? It can be thought of as a type of scale. Before we start singing shape note solfege Dorian melodies, we should discuss modes some more.
The concept of the modes first came from the ancient Greeks. However, despite using Greek names, the mediaeval and modern modes bear little resemblance to the ancient modes.
In these posts, we will explore the modern modes. Nevertheless, we won’t go into the theory of how modes work. If you want to know about the theory behind the modes, click here. Suffice it to say that each mode has a distinct sound quality:
- Ionian = bright or “happy” (it has the same notes as the major scale)
- Dorian = a lighter minor-like scale
- Phrygian = a darker minor-like scale (used in Mediterranean folk music)
- Lydian = a “floaty” major-like scale
- Mixolydian = a tenser major-like scale (used in gospel)
- Aeolian = dark or “sad” (it has the same notes as the minor scale)
- Locrian = extremely tense, not typically used
Read more to find out about the mode you’ll sing today.
Dorian Mode
In Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies we’ll look at the Dorian mode. To sing Dorian, we’ll use a relative approach to the solfege syllables. For example, if you sing in E Dorian (as you’ll do today), you’ll use the major scale solfege syllables. However, the syllables will go Re to Re instead of Do to Do.
(For a discussion about how this works in the minor mode, see Singing Shape Note Solfege Minor Melodies.)
This post uses shape notes in the examples. Do you need to review shape notes? Read Shape Note Sight Singing Success.
The Dorian Mode:
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Quem Nunc Virgo Peperit and Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies
Quem Nunc Virgo Peperit:
The chant (Quem Nunc Virgo Peperit) that you’ll practice in Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies comes from a very old source. According to Rev. G. R. Woodward, “[The] melody (XI or XII Cent.), in the Dorian mode, [comes] from a Palencia Antiphoner…” (The Crowley Carol Book 3).
Chant music has a sense of ancient mystery to its sound. For more chant manuscripts click here.
Mediaeval melodies didn’t have bar lines. This explains the imposing looking time signatures, which help the melody to have a freely flowing quality. Just sing the solfege syllables (below the melody in the example above) to a steady beat.
Make sure to take breaths at the fermatas as this will allow you to support your pitch. If you don’t take a good breath, your notes will go flat.
The song track uses synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information, read Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices.
For the complete chant, see the following video.
Quem Nunc Virgo Peperit Video
Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies: Quiz
Once you’ve mastered Quem Nunc Virgo Peperit, try the quiz.
Concluding Thoughts on Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies
I carefully chose the tuning on the song tracks for Singing Shape Note Solfege Dorian Melodies. Listen closely to the distance between the notes as this will train your ear for melodic tuning. In other words, daily practice with the sing-along song tracks helps establish your mental pitch schemata.
Shape notes will help any vocalist to sight read better. However, ASD, ADD, LD, and other special needs vocalists will need the special notation to decode the score effectively. This is because shape notes create a multisensory learning experience.
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
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