Talk:Dorian mode

Autumn Sweater
I believe "Autumn Sweater" by Yo La Tengo is in D Mixolydian, not Dorian. Its tonic chord is major instead of minor.

The End
How can "The End" be in dorian mode??? If you check the harmonic progressions (D-C-D, D-C-G-D and D-G-D) it doesn't fit to what it should be if it was in dorian. D should be minor, not major. Probably the confusion is due to the melody. The melody uses F, a minor 3rd relative to D, but it also uses C# and F#,a major 7th and a major 3rd, and you can feel that the minor 3rd is dissonant in the context.

To me it seems like the harmony is based on D mixolidian, but the melody plays jonic while at D and also jonic while at C, what explains the use of F (4th relative to C). And over the G a mixolidian. But this is just my opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.92.168.157 (talk) 02:38, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Scar Tissue
I just worked this out on my piano and I'm convinced it's in F# major. Whatever the root, it's certainly not in dorian to my ear. Can someone please confirm/dispute this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.11.247.65 (talk) 17:38, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree 201.92.168.157 (talk) 02:48, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Notable songs in Dorian mode is original research
I don't want to be an ass but this section doesn't belong on wikipedia as it's original research (and seems to be partly wrong/misleading - see the discussion at the bottom). Someone, please set up a (simple) website and do some research on these songs, as well as the notable songs in other modes, publish them there and then refer to them here.


 * [NEW COMMENT: previous one is unsigned, and thus does not terminate clearly:] Perhaps I misunderstand some of the subtler points of what original research is - but it doesn't strike me that listening to a piece or reading its score and determining that it is in this or that mode is original research. It seems to me that it's just consulting a source and stating facts that can be observed in it.  If a piece is in the Dorian mode, then anyone who listens to the piece or reads its score and says it's in the Dorian mode is just stating something that is obvious to anyone who knows what the Dorian mode is.  In what way is this different from consulting any other reliable source and restating in your own words facts from it? M.J.E. (talk) 17:19, 25 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I didn't write the original comment, but it is totally correct. Listening to a piece and determining what mode it's in is exactly what original research is.  The difference between "just listening" and consulting a reliable source is verifiability; a reliable source is held to a higher standard of quality control than some guy listening to a song on CD and trying to play along. Torc2 (talk) 08:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

As to songs being sited incorrectly, the version of Greensleeves I have switches between C Dorian and C Harmonic Minor. The uncited source on the page says otherwise. Also, I think that someone who doesn't quite understand music should be able to check a source without having a substantial background in this type of thing.12.165.5.47 (talk) 09:23, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Every one of the items in the list needs a source like "Along Comes Mary" has:

…and for those of you that think sources for each and every item in the list aren't necessary, read No original research before you add any more thoughts on the matter. — Chris Capoccia T&#8260;C 10:33, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot[9] is listed both on this page (Dorian) and the Mixolydian page. Which is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.105.11.82 (talk) 21:33, 6 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Well-spotted, 64.105.11.82! I notice that the source cited on the mixolydian page has been queried for reliability. That doesn't mean that it is wrong and the other one is right, but it does indicate doubt. A "conflict" tag is in order on both pages, I think.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 02:33, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Definition
I read the definition given here as:


 * "In music, the Dorian mode is a diatonic scale or musical mode, using all notes in the major scale, beginning on the note just a whole tone below [the major mode]..."

(Bold text added.) In other words, I interpreted this to mean that a Dorian mode would be, for instance, using all of the notes of a C major scale and starting on B. Of course this is wrong, and the subsequent paragraph clears things up, but is there a clearer way of putting this?

How about:
 * "In music, the Dorian mode is a diatonic scale or musical mode using all of the notes in the major scale that begins a whole tone below it."?

The "that" introducing the last phrase tells the reader that we're describing the major scale here, and that the pronoun at the end of the sentence refers to the Dorian.

Of course, I don't know that much about music - I was using the page, after all - so I hope that someone will double check my usage, or try their own fix.

Asmendel 15:09, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * Your confusion arose from the following:
 * The major scale does not contain a note a whole tone below it's tonic (in C Major: B-C is a semi-tone, Bb-C would be a whole-tone). The sentence appears to be a typo (mine?), it should read "above".
 * Further note or degree can't be above or below a scale, because scales use octave equivalence, "above" the scale CDEFGAB is simply another octave of that scale C'D'E'F'G'A'B'.
 * Thus the start of the Dorian is a whole tone above the tonic of the major scale, not below the major scale.
 * Hyacinth 20:00, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This mode and gregorian chant
In the medival definition of this mode, the natural minor scale, is scale used more often in gregorian chant then others?


 * I'm afraid that I don't fully understand the question. The ancient Greek Dorian mode was the natural diatonic mode in E. The mediaeval and modern Dorian mode is the natural Diatonic mode in D. The natural minor scale is the natural diatonic mode in A. In Gregorian chant, the mode in A was very rarely used. Technically, Dorian is the fancy name for the first of the eight standard Gregorian modes. This mode feels minor to most people who are used to the major/minor duality in modern Western music: it can be thought of as a minor mode with a recurring raised sixth. I wouldn't say that this mode is used more often than others. One of the traditions of plainchant is to cycle through the modes. Have a look at the article on musical modes for more information. --Gareth Hughes 12:10, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Basic question
I can get how a scale can be in Dorian mode (or Phrygian etc.), but I can't get how a piece of music can be in a particular mode. A piece uses notes from all over the scale to produce a tune, and these notes do not seem to conform to a strict pattern. So I would have thought the concept of a mode would be irrelevant in this case. I hope I've made the question clear. I think this page should resolve this issue, since it seems a reasonable misunderstanding, and it is in fact what I read the page for. It is a longstanding item of confusion with me, even having once studied classical guitar.203.129.128.94 00:44, 13 November 2005 (UTC)


 * A piece of music can utilise any musical note, including chromatic and enharmonic intervals. However, most music restricts itself to a selection of possible notes. The most common selection is a diatonic scale. However, there are many cultures that use a different standard. In diatonic music, the fourth and fifth intervals are almost always fixed in relation to the tonic, but the other intervals may have different values. In fixing these 'floating intervals' for a particular scale, one creates a mode. --Gareth Hughes 12:52, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I believe the question was asking, how can you tell the difference between a piece of music in a (say) D dorian mode and a piece that's just in ordinary C major, given that both scales contain the exact same notes. I too came here looking for an answer to this question.  203.171.85.67 (talk) 07:20, 7 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm sure you can hear the difference between the major and natural minor scales, correct? The natural minor scale is the Aeolian mode of a major scale, using the sixth scale degree as a tonal center. The dorian mode has a similar minor quality to it. When it comes down to deciding whether a peice relies on one mode or another, you judge it by its sound. If someone tries to write something in Dorian, but it sounds Ionian, well... it's Ionian. That's just from my POV however. I compose, but I'm certainly not the pinnacle of music theory knowledge. On paper they have the same notes, but in practice they use them to different effect. That's the best I can think of, hope it helps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.73.184.49 (talk) 05:23, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree with "72.73.184.49", the diference between D-dorian and C-Ionian is the tonal center. And what's the diference?? C-Ionian C would be tonic and D would be supertonic and G the dominant, while at D-dorian D is the tonic and A the dominant (i'm not realy sure what function C would have in this case, but i think it would be subtonic)201.92.168.157 (talk) 06:37, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Project for Mode Articles: Standardization and Consolidation
The mode articles are a mess when taken together. The articles need to be standardized and some of the general information consolidated into the Musical mode article and removed from all the articles about specific modes.

a few specific propositions:

corresponding information
 * I think all the mode articles should have corresponding information in corresponding sections. For example, the intervals that define the mode should be given at say, somewhere near the top of the article in a section called "intervals" or something (whatever, as long as its standard for all articles and maximally descriptive). Also things like if the scale is "symmetric" or "asymmetiric" or whether its a "minor" or "major" scale should be all in one place (perhaps a table would be best for these things).

Information about modes in general
 * All information that is about modes in general (i.e. applies to all modes) should be moved to the Musical mode article, and not mentioned in the articles about specific modes (all articles should of course be linked to the general Musical mode article). Information about idiosyncratic properties of the modes then will be easier to find that way, and there will be no confused and redundant info (sorta like this paragraph).

''Greek vs. modern terminology confusion'
 * Information about the confusion between the greek and modern terminology should stay in the Musical mode article, with a note at the top of each article--out of the main body--highlighting the terminology confusion (to eschew obfuscation). Perhaps there should be serperate disambiguable articles for the greek modes e.g. a article for Ionian (Greek Mode) and Ionian (Gregorian Mode).

avoiding articl style divergence with later editors not privy to the standardization project
 * As time passes, people who don't know about the effort to standardize the article no doubt will add information to the article in their own style, perhaps causing the articles to diverge in style over time. To avoid this, we can make a template to go at the top of each talk page that tells editors to keep in mind the style standardization (perhaps a project page--"metawiki pages" I think they are called--with a template and style explanation). Although this may not be that much of a problem, if the style is obvious and is suffieciently elegant to begin with.

Am I getting across the idea here? What do you guys think about such a project? I know there is a way to set up a wikiproject for this sort of thing, but I've never done it before. I'll look into how to do it. Any other ideas on how to make the articles fit better together? Any objections or improvements to the above suggestions? Brentt 09:26, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
 * PS please respond and discuss at the Musical mode talk page

Confusion about tetrachords
There is a discrepancy between this article and the Tetrachords article about the varieties of diatonic tetrachord. This article claims that the Dorian tetrachord is: "descending, a series of falling intervals of two whole tones followed by a semitone," that is to say, ascending, sTT. The Tetrachord article, however, describes it as "a rising scale of tone, semitone and tone," or TsT. I don't know myself which is correct, but the two articles should agree on one of them.

User:Ixionid, Dec 29 22:50:11 EST 2006.

Notable songs in dorian mode
Just a little thing: I don't think Nothing Else Matters is in dorian mode. Off the top of my head I would say it's completely in minor scale. With no exceptions in the whole song... Also in Eleanor Rigby, only the melody of the verses is in dorian.

82.181.237.226 12:37, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I also question "Light My Fire"--the verse is in regular minor, while the chorus is in (dominant) major?? We don't get to hear the all-important 6th tone in the verse to know for sure, if you ask me.

Kmpintj 18:07, 31 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It's just the long jam in the middle of Light My Fire that's in Dorian. Am to Bm, repeated ad infinitum implies A Dorian.


 * The bass line in Riders On The Storm is also in Dorian, you can definitely hear the raised sixth in what is otherwise a minor scale. The solos by Manzarek (keyboard) and Krieger (guitar) are both over that Dorian bass line.


 * -Brian A. Cobb, 18 March 2010


 * brianallancobb@hotmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.165.81 (talk) 02:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but "Maiden Voyage" is not even remotely Dorian. It is Mixolydian. It is all 7(sus4) chords, and the proper chord scale for 7(sus4) is Mixolydian.

Dick burns (talk) 22:02, 9 November 2011 (UTC)


 * See "Maiden Voyage". Hyacinth (talk) 01:43, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

"Frozen Heart" from Frozen (Disney cartoon) is in Dorian mode, and there is a separate page on this song which states that it is in Dorian mode, but gives no citation. I tried searching online for any confirmation, but everything I found that confirmed this was just other wikis copying the Wikipedia page. So I'm not adding this, to avoid citogenesis, but if anyone knows of a source, that would be great. KevinBTheobald (talk) 01:49, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Two definitions
I don't quite get this. It says there are 2 different ways the term can be used but then it only goes on to describe 1. Is it just that I'm confused or is there a bit missing? Munci 17:46, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Someone had removed the second version, mediaeval and modern, of the Dorian mode. If you play all the white notes of a piano from E to E, you are playing the original Greek Dorian. If you play all the white notes of a piano from D to D, you are playing the mediaeval and modern Dorian. Of course, you don't have to keep to these keys: if the same intervals are kept, you can play Dorian mode, of either kind, in any key. — Gareth Hughes 18:54, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Well-known music in this key
I plan on deleting any unsourced entries from this in a few weeks. (Listening to a piece and trying to figure out the key is not a source, and is also WP:OR.) Torc2 (talk) 08:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Removing them all wholesale seems unreasonable. Adding a "citations needed" tag seems much more appropriate. Kwertii (talk) 04:00, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * They were tagged for a month and the message here was left. There was no action on any entry in any list on any key.  Removal was the correct course of action.  These may be readded if they are sourced and are provide unique insight to Dorian mode.  &mdash;Torc.  ( Talk.  ) 09:49, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Eleanor Rigby
How Dorian does an example have to be? I'd call Eleanor Rigby Dorian-ish, but it deviates. Drunken Sailor and Scarborough Fair are pure Dorian. Should Eleanor Rigby be among the examples? Rigaudon (talk) 19:07, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
 * If you can find a reliable source, go for it. Zeldafanjtl (talk) 02:45, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

What Counts As An Adequate Source?
Is it really necessary to insist that every citation in the Notable Compositions section is backed up by a reference? I know a tons of songs that are in Dorian - just because I can't point you to an article in Music Theory Monthly that explicitly states this is immaterial as far as I'm concerned.

I'm sure there are plenty of people here who know enough about music theory to be able to vet citations and reject incorrect ones —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.5.12.52 (talk) 18:03, 28 December 2009 (UTC)


 * All you need do to understand why sources are needed is to read the discussions above. As a matter of fact, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between Dorian mode and ordinary minor keys, unless a piece studiously avoids the minor sixth and major seventh scale degrees. Historically, this distinction was not made until the 19th century, since the Dorian mode possessed both the major and minor sixth degrees, and the leading tone was routinely sharpened at cadences (exactly as in the mpdern minor key). Add to this the confusion and uncertainty in some of the sources offered, and you can easily understand why "everybody knows", or "any musician can tell" is just not good enough.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 18:13, 28 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm still not convinced. Why do we have to wait for some author to put in black and white what we can all see anyway?


 * Of course, there are pieces in which only small portions are in Dorian, and this should of course be made clear where relevant. For instance, take Drama by Erasure there's a line "Your shame is never ending" that is clearly in Dorian. This will be clear to anyone familiar with the scale - tonality is clearly established and it uses a major 6th and minor 7th. Are there not people here with sufficient knowledge/credentials to be able verify this?


 * I appreciate there are standards of quality to be adhered to, but I thought the point of this community is that there are people here with enough knowledge on the matter to uphold these standards by checking all such references.


 * Sometimes it seems that this degree of 'knowledge fascism' is more counter-productive than anything...



Yes, a minor third, a major sixth, and a minor seventh means Dorian mode, QED.

-Brian A. Cobb, brianallancobb@hotmail.com  18 March 2010


 * * * —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.165.81 (talk) 02:40, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I think you are dead wrong about one thing: the point of this community is not that there are "people with enough knowledge" (in other words, experts, or authorities, concepts necessarily shunned on an anonymously edited compendium like the Wikipedia), but you are dead right that there are (or ought to be) people here capable of checking references. If no references are given, however, what is there to be checked? As to "small portions in Dorian", see my remarks about minor-key pieces, practically all of which may be regarded as having "small portions" not only in Dorian, but also in Aeolian and Phrygian.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 20:18, 28 December 2009 (UTC)


 * unless a piece studiously avoids the minor sixth and major seventh scale degrees. So does "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak, JFYI.:) But due to the "knowledge fascism" (great expression!) I can't enter it either. -andy 2.242.251.190 (talk) 16:37, 9 November 2015 (UTC)

Image
isn't this phyrgian, not dorian? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.75.253.188 (talk) 16:53, 6 April 2010
 * See Phrygian. Hyacinth (talk) 16:23, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Dorian in jazz
In modern music, the dorian mode is widely used in jazz improvisation. It would be impossible to catalog an exhaustive list of solos in which this mode is used at some point during a line since it is virtually ubiquitous; it just sounds to the contemporary ear to be very jazz-like, which is to say it has BECOME jazz in a sense (at least for the moment). Nearly always, in this jazz context, it is best understood as a rotation of a major (or even natural minor) mode rather than as an absolute modification of the major tonic specific to that particular key--although were the tune in a minor mode, it might very well be modified to contain a major rather than a minor sixth melodically speaking but that is certainly not the primary place you hear the dorian being used in jazz. In other words, in jazz harmonic progressions, it is the ii-7 chord (of a major mode) that brings out the dorian (trust me, it brings out the dorian in the best of us) and not a dorian tonic per se around which the entire harmonic (and melodic) structure of the tune revolves. It's not an understatement to say that the ii-7 chord is a big f#$king deal in jazz harmony in its own right, and not just as part of the ii-7 to V7 cadence. Many tunes begin on this chord. Many more tunes tend to "sit" with it for a while. The ii-7 chord often has its own "tonic gravity" in jazz since it is very often tonicized by a VI7 chord preceding it. Finally, I'd point out that on a melodic note (so to speak), a lot of lines in jazz resolve on the minor seventh scale degree from the major 6th scale degree. Diatonically, this only works in either a dorian or a mixolydian mode. And anyway the juxtaposition of a major 6th and a minor 7th in a melodic line (at least to my ear) has a very natural, almost folky (American?) feel to it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.136.7.151 (talk) 19:24, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you trying to say this article ought to include discussion of the use of the Dorian scale in jazz?—Jerome Kohl (talk) 20:23, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Additional citations and original research
Why, what, where, and how does this article need additional citations for verification and how may and where then does it contain original research? Hyacinth (talk) 17:13, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
 * For the "where", check the last two paragraphs in the Modern Dorian mode section, all to do with jazz. There are four "citation needed" tags there. The "Why", "what", and "how" are fairly obvious, I think.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 17:24, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Further thought: It looks to me as if the statement "It may contain improper references to self-published sources" must have been long since addressed. I don't see any obviously self-published sources.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 17:28, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Nice work on this, Hyacinth. Is there any possibility that you could add examples of the chromatic and enharmonic genera of the Ancient Greek Dorian, to accompany the one in the diatonic genus? It would be a very useful step toward making clear why the Greek harmoniai are very distant from the medieval modal concept.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 04:17, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Mode of discourse
A tag: "This article's tone or style may not reflect the formal tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page" has been placed on this article. In what way does the tone or style not reflect the formal tone used on Wikipedia, and what are the specific concerns?—Jerome Kohl (talk) 02:00, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Removed: Unsupported by citations
The above was removed because the citations supposedly don't support the claims. Hyacinth (talk) 01:37, 4 July 2012 (UTC)
 * "Greensleeves" (one of several variant forms) Though likely a Dorian melody in its (unrecorded) folk origin, the first section of the tune has Aeolian elements (also found in its passamezzo antico chordal accompaniment), and most versions published since 1600 are minor-key tonal versions.
 * Correction: it was removed because the second citation directly contradicts the first, and the credibility of that first claim has been challenged.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 01:55, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Removed
The above was removed without comment. Hyacinth (talk) 07:41, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonc&eacute;
 * A quick check reveals that the cited source is now a dead link for which the Internet Wayback Machine has no archive. Presumably the redlinked editor who did this is a newbie, and does not understand the importance of providing an edit summary, nor that the usual procedure is to mark such a source with the template, in order to give other editors a reasonable amount of time in which to find another source.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 18:36, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Sibelius's 6th symphony
I added Sibelius's 6th symphony to the list, but I've got someone arguing that it does not belong here. The page for the symphony seems to clearly explain how it is in Dorian mode. Does anybody else believe it should be included? 75.72.241.51 (talk) 06:28, 4 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Please do me the courtesy of addressing me by my Username. I am not "just someone", I do sign my edits. This is a classic example of Wikipedia not standing as a reliable source. Had you checked the article on Sibelius's Sixth Symphony, you would have discovered that there was absolutely no support at all for the claim that it had anything to do with the Dorian mode. That claim could have been made by anyone, even a malicious vandal. As it happens, that problem has now been fixed (by me), and it may be seen that the symphony in question is predominantly (but not exclusively) verified as being in Dorian. Furthermore, you may use the reliable source that I found (two sources, actually, but both by the same author, Lionel Pike) to support the re-addition of the symphony to this list. Please do be careful, however, not to claim that any work as lengthy and complex as a Sibelius symphony can remain exclusively in a single mode. Pike's articles make it very plain that this is not the case.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 07:14, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

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Radioactive
Say- in the examples section, it notes that many songs use the i-III-VII-IV progression, and then separately notes that Radioactive is in Dorian. Radioactive, however, uses that exact progression all the way through!

The abbreviation
What is the abbreviation? JaydenPlayz2011 (talk) 20:29, 5 May 2023 (UTC)