Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have you ever wanted to sing Mediterranean music or ancient melodies? Do you want to know how to perform modal music? Modes create the feel of exotic music from around the world or from ancient times. Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies will help you discover the world of modes.
In this post we looked at the Dorian mode:
The new mode we’ll explore in this post: Phrygian. Plus, every other month we’ll explore a new mode.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
The Modes and Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies
Talking About Modes
How do we define a mode? It’s a type of scale. Before we start singing shape note solfege Phrygian melodies, we need to talk more about modes.
Even though the modern modes have Greek names, modern modes don’t have the same notes as the Greek modes.
In these articles, we’ll look at practical ways to sing the Phrygian mode. For the theory behind the modes: click here.
Each of the modern modes has a unique sound:
- Ionian = cheerful
- Dorian = a light minor-ish scale
- Phrygian = a dark minor-ish scale
- Lydian = a “drifting” major-ish scale
- Mixolydian = a bluesy major-ish scale
- Aeolian = sorrowful
- Locrian = whacky sounding
In the next section, we’ll talk more about the mode you’ll learn in this post.
The Phrygian Mode
The Phrygian mode gets used a lot in Mediterranean folk music. Also, it underpins the structure of many mediaeval chants. I have a lot of ancient hymns in my public domain modal vocal music collection. So, this month we’ll use another chant as the basis for our solfege example: Ave Maris Stella Miseris.
In Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies, we’ll take a relative approach to the solfege syllables. In other words, if you perform in B Phrygian, you’ll sing solfege syllables from the major scale. However, the syllables progress from Mi to Mi instead of Do to Do.
Also, you may find these posts relevant and helpful:
The Phrygian Mode:
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Ave Maris Stella Miseris and Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies
Ave Maris Stella Miseris:
The song (Ave Maris Stella Miseris) that you’ll perform in Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies comes from the source Piae Cantiones. The sound of a chant has an aura of archaic wonder about it – for more mediaeval scores: click here.
Make sure to take breaths at the end of each line, because this helps you to support the notes. Get a good breath. Otherwise, your note will drop, making you go out of tune.
I specially selected the song track’s tuning in Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies. Listening carefully to the pitch span between the notes will train your ear’s sense of melodic intonation. Explicitly, regular practice with the sing-along song tracks establishes your brain’s pitch template.
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:
Listen to the video below to hear the complete piece.
Ave Maris Stella Miseris Video
Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies: Quiz
Concluding Thoughts on Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies
Practicing every day with the soundtracks in Singing Shape Note Solfege Phrygian Melodies will help install the sound of Phrygian in your ear.
In addition, shape notes can help any singer to sight sing better. However, ADD, LD, ASD, and other special needs singers require special notation to read the sheet music successfully. Thus, shape notes create a multisensory learning experience that leads to vocal success.
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
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