Part 6 (1/2)

7 whole 6 half 5 whole 4 whole 3 half 2 whole 1 step step step step step step

This form is used only to a very limited extent, and then princ.i.p.ally in vocal music, the harmonic form being in almost universal use in spite of the augmented second.

88. The minor scale in its various positions (up to five sharps and five flats) and in all three forms follows: a composition based on any one of these forms (or upon a mixture of them, which often occurs) is said to be _in the minor mode_. It will be noted that the first four tones are alike in all three forms; _i.e._, the lower tetrachord in the minor scale is invariable no matter, what may happen to the upper tetrachord.

The sign + marks the step-and-a-half.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Note._--The student is advised to recite the _harmonic form_ of the minor scale as was suggested in the case of the major scale, noting that the ”raised seventh” does not affect the key-signature. _E.g._,--E--F[sharp]--G--A--B--C--D[sharp]--E; signature, one sharp, F.

89. A minor scale having the same signature as a major scale is said to be its _relative minor_. _E.g._,--e is the relative minor of G, c of E[flat], d of F, etc., the small letter being used to refer to the minor key or scale, while the capital letter indicates the major key or scale unless accompanied by the word _minor_. Relative keys are therefore defined as those having the same signature. G and e are relative keys, as are also A and f[sharp], etc.

90. A minor scale beginning with the same tone as a major scale is referred to as its _tonic minor_. Thus, _e.g._, c with three flats in its signature is the tonic minor of C with all degrees in natural condition; e with one sharp is the tonic minor of E with four sharps, etc. Tonic keys are therefore those having the same key-tone.

91. The eight tones of the diatonic scale (both major and minor) are often referred to by specific names, as follows:

1. _Tonic_--the tone. (This refers to the fact that the tonic is the princ.i.p.al tone, or generating tone of the key, _i.e._, it is _the_ tone.)

2. _Super-tonic_--above the tone.

3. _Mediant_--midway between tonic and dominant.

4. _Sub-dominant_--the under dominant. (This name does not refer to the position of the tone under the dominant but to the fact that the fifth below the tonic is also a dominant tone--the under dominant--just as the fifth above is the upper dominant).

5. _Dominant_--the governing tone. (From the Latin word _dominus_ meaning _master_.)

6. _Super-dominant_--above the dominant. Or _Sub-mediant_--midway between tonic and sub-dominant.

7. _Leading tone_--the tone which demands resolution to the tonic (one-half step above it).

8. _Octave_--the eighth tone.

92. The syllables commonly applied to the various major and minor scales in teaching sight-singing are as follows:[16]

[Footnote 16: These syllables are said to have been derived originally from the initial syllables of the ”Hymn to Saint John,” the music of which was a typical Gregorian chant. The application of these syllables to the scale tones will be made clear by reference to this hymn as given below. It will be observed that this hymn provided syllables only for the six tones of the _hexachord_ then recognized; when the octave scale was adopted (early in the sixteenth century) the initial letters of the last line (s and i) were combined into a syllable for the seventh tone.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Ut_ que-ant lax-is _Re_-so-na-re fi-bris _Mi_-ra ges-to-rum _Fa_-mu-li tu-o-rum _Sol_-ve pol-lu-ti _La_-bi-i re-a-tum Sanc-te Jo-han-nes.]]

Major--DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO.

Minor[17]--original--LA, TI, DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA.

harmonic--LA, TI, DO, RE, MI, FA, SI, LA.

melodic--LA, TI, DO, RE, MI, FI, SI, LA, SOL, FA, MI, RE, DO, TI, LA.

[Footnote 17: A considerable number of teachers (particularly those who did not learn to sing by syllable in childhood) object to calling the tonic of the minor scale _la_, insisting that both major and minor tonic should be called _do_. According to this plan the syllables used in singing the harmonic minor scale would be: DO, RE, ME, FA, SOL, LE, TI, DO.

There is no particular basis for this theory, for although all scales must of course begin with the key-tone or tonic, this tonic may be referred to by any syllable which will serve as a basis for an a.s.sociation process enabling one to feel the force of the tone as a closing point--a _home tone_. Thus in the Dorian mode the tonic would be RE, in the Phrygian, MI, etc.]

It is interesting to study the changes in both spelling and p.r.o.nunciation that have occurred (and are still occurring) in these syllables. The first one (ut) was changed to _DO_ as early as the sixteenth century because of the difficulty of producing a good singing tone on _ut_. For the same reason and also in order to avoid having two diatonic syllables with the same initial letter, the tonic-sol-fa system (invented in England about 1812 and systematized about 1850) changed SI to TI and this change has been almost universally adopted by teachers of sight-singing in this country. The more elaborate tonic-sol-fa spelling of the diatonic syllables (DOH, LAH, etc.), has not, however, been favorably received in this country and the tendency seems to be toward still further simplification rather than toward elaboration. It is probable that further changes in both spelling and p.r.o.nunciation will be made in the near future, one such change that seems especially desirable being some other syllable than RE for the second tone of the major scale, so that the present syllable may be reserved for ”flat-two,” thus providing a uniform vowel-sound for all intermediate tones of the descending chromatic scale, as is already the case in the ascending form.