A modal frame in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

is "a number of types permeating and unifying

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

, and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

" and melody., quoted in Richard Middleton (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music'', p. 203. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . It may also be called a melodic mode. "Mode" and "frame" are used interchangeably in this context without reference to scalar or rhythmic modes. Melodic modes define and generate melodies that are not determined by harmony, but purely by melody. A note frame, is a melodic mode that is atonic (without a tonic), or has an unstable tonic. Modal frames may be defined by their: *floor note: the bottom of the frame, felt to be the lowest note, though isolated notes may go lower, *ceiling note: the top of the frame, *central note: the center around which other notes cluster or gravitate, *upper or lower focus: portion of the mode on which the melody temporarily dwells, and can also defined by melody types, such as: ** chant tunes: (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

Subterranean Homesick Blues "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It was the lead track on the album '' Bringing It All Back Home'', released so ...

") **axial tunes: ("A Hard Day's Night", "

Peggy Sue "Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly on September 20, 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single (Coral 9-61885), but band members Joe ...

", Marvin Gaye's "

Can I Get A Witness "Can I Get a Witness" is a song composed by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier as a non-album single for American recording vocalist Marvin Gaye, who issued the record on Motown's Tam ...

", and

Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...

's " Do the Hucklebuck") **oscillating: (

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' "

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as t ...

") **open/closed: (

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

's "

Hey Bo Diddley "Hey! Bo Diddley" is Bo Diddley's eighth single released by Checker Records (not to be confused with the song "Bo Diddley") and was released as a single in April 1957 by Checker Records. The single's B side was " Mona" (later known as "I Need Y ...

") **

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...

shout-and-fall A modal frame in music is "a number of types permeating and unifying African, European, and American song" and melody., quoted in Richard Middleton (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music'', p. 203. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . It may ...

** ladder of thirds \relative c'' \addlyrics "Chel-sea" football crowd chant: minor third. Further defined features include: *melodic dissonance: the quality of a note that is modally unstable and attracted to other more important tones in a non-harmonic way *melodic triad: arpeggiated triads in a melody. A non-harmonic arpeggio is most commonly a melodic triad, it is an arpeggio the

notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versio ...

of which do not appear in the harmony of the accompaniment. *

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

: a temporary modal frame contrasted with another built on a different

foundation note A level, van der Merwe, Peter (1989). ''Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. . also "tonality level", Gerhard Kubik's "tonal step," "tonal block," and John Blacking's " root ...

. A change in levels is called a shift. *co-tonic: a melodic tonic different from and as important as the harmonic tonic *secondary tonic: a melodic tonic different from but subordinate to the harmonic tonic *pendular third: alternating notes a third apart, most often a

neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

, see double tonic

Shout-and-fall

Shout-and-fall or tumbling strain is a modal frame, "very common in

Afro-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

-derived styles" and featured in

s such as "

Shake, Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Grea ...

" and "

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...

". Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music'', . Philadelphia: Open University Press. . "Gesturally, it suggests 'affective outpouring', 'self-offering of the body', 'emptying and relaxation'." The frame may be thought of as a

deep structure Deep structure and surface structure (also D-structure and S-structure although those abbreviated forms are sometimes used with distinct meanings) are concepts used in linguistics, specifically in the study of syntax in the Chomskyan tradition of t ...

common to the varied surface structures of songs in which it occurs.

Ladder of thirds

A ladder of thirds (coined by

van der Merwe Van der Merwe is a common Afrikaans surname, derived from the Dutch ''van der Merwen'' ("from the Merwede"). It was brought to South Africa in 1661 by Dutch people employed by the Dutch East India Company. The progenitors of the extended clan are ...

1989, adapted from

Curt Sachs Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Er ...

) is similar to the

circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval ...

, though a ladder of thirds differs in being composed of thirds,

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

or minor, and may or may not circle back to its starting note and thus may or may not be an

interval cycle In music, an interval cycle is a collection of pitch classes created from a sequence of the same interval class.Whittall, Arnold. 2008. ''The Cambridge Introduction to Serialism'', p. 273-74. New York: Cambridge University Press. (pbk). In other ...

Triadic chord In music, a triad is a set of three notes (or " pitch classes") that can be stacked vertically in thirds.Ronald Pen, ''Introduction to Music'' (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992): 81. . "A triad is a set of notes consisting of three notes built on suc ...

s may be considered as part of a ladder of thirds. It is a modal frame found in

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

British folk music Throughout the history of the British Isles, the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from Church Music. Traditional folk music, using instruments of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Each of the ...

. Though a

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale (music), scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed ...

scale is often analyzed as a portion of the circle of fifths, the

blues scale Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

and

melodies A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

in that scale come, "into being through piling up thirds below and/or above a tonic or central note." Middleton, Richard (1990). ''Studying Popular Music'', p. 203. Oxford University Press. . They are "commonplace in post-rock 'n' roll popular music – and also appear in earlier tunes". Examples include

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " A Hard Day's Night",

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

's "

" and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's "

Ben Harney Benjamin Robertson "Ben" Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. His 1896 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is the second ragtime compositi ...

's "You've Been A Good Old Wagon" (1895) and

Ben Bernie Benjamin Anzelwitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 23, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...

et al.'s "

Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricis ...

" (1925).

Example

The modal frame of

' " A Hard Day's Night" features a ladder of thirds axially centered on G with a ceiling note of B and floor note of E[] (the low C being a passing tone): According to Richard Middleton (musicologist), Middleton, the song, "at first glance major-key-with-modal-touches", reveals through its "Line of Latent Mode" "a deep kinship with typical

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

melodic structures: it is centred on three of the notes of the minor-

mode n C: C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat(E-G-B), with the contradictory major seventh (B) set against that. Moreover, the ''shape'' assumed by these notes – the modal ''frame'' – as well as the abstract scale they represent, is revealed, too; and this – an initial, repeated circling round the dominant (G), with an excursion to its minor third (B), 'answered' by a fall to the 'symmetrical' minor third of the tonic (E) – is a common pattern in blues."Middleton (1990), p. 201.

References

{{Melody types Musical techniques Melody

Shout-and-fall

Ladder of thirds

Example

See also

References