Musical Keys, and what emotions they equal

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An friend of mine from the Army band helped me forever learn musical modes by saying "I don't fight like Muhammad Ali"

I (ionian)-C
Don't (dorian)-D
Fight (phrygian)-E
Like (lydian)-F
Muhammad (mixolydian)-G
Ali (aeolian)-A

Starting on the B would be the locrian but it is not considered an authenic mode.

The idea of correlating emotion with music dates back to the ancient Greek philosophers of 500 B.C. Back then there was no such a thing as keys but they used modes which are antecedents.

If you are interested in more info and can tolerate the dry language here is a link to an abstract.

http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Anci/AnciCozm.htm
 
My high school band teacher taught me the same thing, with one exception. In order to avoid spelling errors...

I - Ionian
Don't - Dorian
Punch - Phrygian
Like - Lydian
Muhammed - Mixolydian
A - Aeolian
L - Locrian
(I - Ionian)

The last thing we need is for the American "I don't care how anything's spelled" mindset to permeate the music field.

And WHAT are you talking about when you say Locrian's not an authentic mode? Pardon my surprise, but are you out of your mind? Because early music avoided B (calling it H instead) doesn't mean it's not authentic. Please tell me what you mean.
 
That's great that you were fortunate enough to be taught the helpful acronym in high school band. I didn't learn it until I was performing in a university concert band when we were doing a joint concert with the 44th Army band several years ago.

Although proper spelling has not always come easy to me, this time it was just an overlooked typo when I missed the "e" and I didn't know American's have such a mindset that you describe.

I am not out of my mind when I say "Locrian's not an authenic mode", I am just repeating what is taught in any 1st year theory class and as a grad student offering help to others you know know this. Surely you have heard of Authenic and Plagal modes. Look it up yourself.

Just trying to be helpful.

Have a nice day
 
According to classical theory Locrian is not a true mode but a construct used only to complete the modal series. As such Locrian was avoided in use for a few hundred years until thrash metal over utilized it (and phyrgian mode).

So any statements about Locrian not being a 'true' mode are 100% correct historically speaking.
 
Except that for all intents and purposes, it's a true mode.

The locrian mode was always there. That it was avoided by the god-fearing Christians at the time does not make it any less true than Ionian. It 'fills in the space' no differently than any other mode. I don't see an argument to the contrary, other than having the unfounded premise of "because they didn't like it."

So, actually, ALL statements about Locrian being a true mode are 100% correct.

This is what I thought Sportsax was eluding to, however he was merely calling it an authentic (vs. plagal) mode, which is correct.

(And regarding the misspelling, I meant the P in Punch for Phrygian instead of the F in Fight which may lead to confusion, not any error made by Sportsax.)
 
Don't do eX

The key you choose to compose in isn't irrelevent.
Well not to me at least. If you were a passionate artist trying to convey a message from you to your audience nothing would be irrelevent. Everything would be the important. From what key you compose in, to how your wrists are positioned over a piano to the acoustics of where you are trying to record. If you really want to get into music, don't think that anythign isn't worth exploring. The ancient greeks tried to study that certain keys would make specific emotions stir within individuals..Even individual notes would make emotions come out.

Just when you think you have mastered something, you're only really scratching the surface.

P's
 
miamisax said:
Except that for all intents and purposes, it's a true mode.

The locrian mode was always there. That it was avoided by the god-fearing Christians at the time does not make it any less true than Ionian. It 'fills in the space' no differently than any other mode. I don't see an argument to the contrary, other than having the unfounded premise of "because they didn't like it."

So, actually, ALL statements about Locrian being a true mode are 100% correct.

This is what I thought Sportsax was eluding to, however he was merely calling it an authentic (vs. plagal) mode, which is correct.

(And regarding the misspelling, I meant the P in Punch for Phrygian instead of the F in Fight which may lead to confusion, not any error made by Sportsax.)
Click to expand...

Of course it's a true mode. I was speaking of its history only. Re-read my post. This isn't a contest.
 
miamisax said:
Sorry you think it is.
Click to expand...

I was just curious to why you were so disagreeable. I use locrian all the time because I'm a sucker for minor 2nds. I also agree that Christians have been censoring music for a long, long time.

At one time the major (ionian) mode was outlawed and seen as declasse because it inspired lust. Hahhaha!
 
Good evening,

I think we all agree here that the Locrian is a true mode. I might add that it appears it also received a bum rap in the past and has been treated like a stepchild in the musical family.

Since the thread is "Musical Keys, and what emotions they equal", I was wondering what emotion does the Locrian evoke. Since the tonic would be diminished and the beloved perfect fifth relationship between tonic and dominant would be betrayed (turning it into that evil tritone), I suggest that it creates a feeling of chaos and unstablity.

Back when the power of "The Church" was the final say and the Universe revolved around the Earth, the locrian was banned.

This has been an interesting thread and alot of excellent ideas have been offered by very knowledgable individuals concerning this subject.

Thanks:cheers:
 
Don't think of it as "happy" and "sad," try and think of it as a dark chord or a brighter chord.

The keys in more flats seem to be darker while the keys in sharps seem to be brighter.

I will say that my experience with Eb minor or Ab are the darkest and most orchestral sounding keys.

Justin
 
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