Maybe this is a silly question, but not too silly taking into account that I know ZERO about music theory.
I’d like to know how can you identify the key of a tune… I mean, how do you know if a tune is in Dmaj, Dmix, Amin , Edorian, etc.?
WHAT is “mixolydian”, “dorian”, etc.?
I know that maybe it’s a LONG topic, so, if you know a website where is it explained in a easy way, for a DUMB, please, let me know 
Thanks in advance,
Martin
trouble maker
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=696973
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=712147
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=727324
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=760247
you could Google music keys modes
Great!
Now I have a lot to read. Thanks a lot for that research!!
Regards,
Martin
ya might guess that I put the older ones first (due to the numbering)
the later ones often referred to the earlier ones
I just searched on mode key (search for all terms) and picked the first four that I recognized.
I don’t think that the whole thing is that confusing once ya get into it a bit.
a keyboard instrument would make the whole thing a bit easier to visualize since it’s all about where the half steps hit on the scale for the various modes
A simple question that hides a mountain of complexity. 
There are 2 pieces of information you need to figure out. 1) The main or central note of the melody. This is the tonic note of the tune, and gives you the letter name of the key. 2) The scale or mode that is constructed around that tonic note.
Here is a mechanical discovery procedure or heuristic that works for some (but definitely not all) ITM tunes.
The last strong beat of a tune (or A Part, B Part, etc.) often falls on the tonic note, because ITM tunes usually want to resolve to the tonic. This is especially true when the last strong beat is a quarter note (crotchet) or longer. For a jig or reel, the last strong beat is the second beat of the last measure, when counting in 2.
Once you’ve identified the tonic = key note, do an inventory of the notes of the tune, and line them up in scale order. Then, starting on the tonic note, play those scale notes up and down, and match the result (by ear or by examination) to one the possible modes for that key. The tonic + mode gives you the “key” identification you’re looking for.
For example: The Congress Reel. The last 2 measures are |cBcd eged|cABG A4|. The last strong beat is A. That’s the tonic. Line up the scale notes: G A B c d e f# g a. Playing up or down from A or a, that matches a Dorian scale. So the “key” is A Dorian.
Another example: The Kesh Jig. The last 2 measures are |g^fg aga|bg^f g3|. The last strong beat is g. That’s the tonic. Line up the scale notes: G A B d e f# g a b. Playing up or down from G or g matches either the Major (Ionian) or Lydian mode. Why the ambiguity? Because the c note is missing! The scale is hexatonic (only 6 notes) or gapped. So how do you decide? Well, if you think inserting a c-nat would sound better, then it’s probably Major. If you think that inserting a c# would sound better, then it’s probably Lydian. In fact, in ITM the Lydian mode is pretty rare, so G Major is almost certainly the right choice here.
There are many common tunes where this heuristic works: Sally Gardens, Otter’s Holt, Silver Spire, Maid Behind the Bar, Maids of Mt. Kisco, etc. Also many tunes where the heuristic fails: The Butterfly, McMahon’s, Humours of Tulla, etc. But after a while you can learn to recognize a delayed or false cadence at the end of a tune or part, and still identify the tonic.
In fact, after a while you learn to recognize the tonic/key/mode without doing these sorts of explicit calculations at all.
I know there are many holes in this little trick. But to fill them would require pages, and I’ve got to get some sleep to play for a Civil War Ball re-enactment tomorrow. Gnight …
Or you could consider an alternative notion which has it that the Greek modal system, the octoekos, is not really appropriate for Irish music, coming as it does, and designed for or from, a different tradition, and either develop your own modal theory, or take that view that applying any modal theory to traditional Irish music (and the octoekos in particular) is symptomatic of a postcolonial hangover and a hegemonic power dynamic. 
It’s up to you, like.
Remind me never to ask you, “What key is this frickin’ tune in?”
Ah see now John, if I was being a prick, I’d say “listen,” in reply. I’m reasonably sure that though I do throw the odd main note of the tune out now and then (oh, alright, tonic if you insist) and give a clue to where the third is sometimes with a loosely spoken major or minor, (though my preference would be to not have to call that and have an open chord hit if the third is unknown) I’m reasonably sure that I’ve never said, and never will say, “G, Aolian.” I know quite a few very good guitar players who I feel I could rely upon to punch me on the nose then and there if I did.
Modal concepts are intriguing.
Try this spelling–Octoechos
Aha … so yer the one playing those blasted G minorish tunes. Minorish - that’s in the MTGuru duoechos system …
I’d never risk your embouchure, Ben, but I’d consider inflicting a poke in the ribs. 
Thank you all!
MTGuru: I knew more-or-less how to identify the tonic, and I can do it every now and then, but after that, my problem is, certainly, identifying if it is “major”, “minor”, “mixolydian”, “dorian”, etc.
I can see that it’s not that easy and there’s not a simple rule to discover it
I’ll read the previous threads that Denny told me to try to understand it a bit better.
Thanks again,
Regards,
Martin
I can if you prefer - octoechos - happy? Of course since it is an anglicization of Greek (they don’t do so much with the old ch) it is frequently spelt the other way too.
Of course it is intriguing - hell, I was so intrigued that I went and got and M.A. in it - but I wasn’t talking about its interest quotient, I was talking about whether it should be applied to Irish traditional music.
Still, thanks for the insightful and not at all condescending post. 
People, I just found this http://www.slowplayers.org/SCTLS/modes.htm
It’s easy to understand (for dummies ) and IT WORKS!!
I tried to realized the key mode of some of my sheet music and I could do it.
yes, I saw that yesterday
the problem is that it only shows the ones ya might use
there’s a bunch more of 'em that you’ll never use!
yeah, but the full chart looks so much cooler…
A lot of mathy-types will go into some dissertations about modes, but that’s all too intellectual for me. I’m finding that I’m just naturally starting to understand it with a combination of that mathy-intellectual mumbo-jumbo and intuition.
You know how a tune sometimes just sounds so much brighter because it’s in the key of A? Sometimes tunes sound that way even though I’m pretty sure the sheet music said they had only 2 sharps. Ah-ha. Must be some modal version of A.
Kinda like that I’m beginning to understand.
The other thing helping me is I go to an American music session where they all decide what key all the tunes will be in for the night (so certain folks don’t have to retune). I’ve been surprised how many tunes I thought were in other keys end up on the list. Ah-ha. Starting to understand a little more.
So, coupled with that intellectual stuff that barely makes any sense to me, I’m starting to be able to combine a sixth sense where I say to myself “hey, I think this is one of those modal things” with some of the intellectual stuff, like “G naturals in an A tune, hmm, according to the intellectuals out there, it must be A mixolydian”.
Martin/Bothrops,
If you haven’t already found these, there are useful basic explanations of modes with reference to ITM (bepoq’s controversies aside) at the following places online:
http://tunedb.woodenflute.com/tunedb/how_to_modes.html
A nice thing about ITM is that only 4 modes, 2 major and 2 minor modes, account for nearly all the tunes, which reduces the amount of learning involved. They are:
Major/Ionian and Mixolydian (with flat 7th) = major modes
Minor/Aeolian and Dorian (with sharp 6th) = minor modes
Learn to recognize the basic Major and Minor scales, and the corresponding Mixolydian and Dorian scales differ by only one note each, as indicated. With a little practice, you can learn to hear that one note difference very easily.
Play a D Major scale on the whistle: D E F# G A B c# d. Now find the 7th note (or degree) of that scale, which is c#, and flatten it by 1/2 step: c# → c-nat. That’s D Mixolydian: D E F# G A B c-nat d.
Play an E Minor scale on the whistle: E F# G A B c d e. Find the 6th degree, which is c-natural, and sharpen it by 1/2 step: c-nat → c#. That’s E Dorian: E F# G A B c# d e.
If you have access to a piano or keyboard, you can use it also to help train your ear. Using only the white keys, play a 1 octave scale up and down starting on the following notes:
C - that’s a Major or Ionian scale
D - that’s a Dorian scale
G - that’s a Mixolydian scale
A - that’s a Minor or Aeolian scale
These are the “natural modes” on the white keys. Listen for the interval structure of each scale, not the specific notes. By mentally transposing the sound of those interval structures, you can learn to recognize those modes in any key.
jemtheflute: Thanks!! I hadn’t seen those websites. They’re great too.
MTGuru: I love your didactic explanations, you were very helpful! 
Regards,
Martin
OK, so I’ll confess that once upon a time I was a math major, so making the following was suitably squid-ly fun. If you paste it into concertina.net or an abc program, it should make a chart of the keys and modes available on the whistle (using only the 4 modes you’re actually likely to see).
If anyone finds any errors, or can improve my abc, please let me know.
X:8
T:Modes on a Whistle
M:none
L:1/4
K:C
zzzzzzz | zzzzzzzz| zzzzzzzz|\
K:G
"_G Major / Ionian" GABcdefg||
K:C
zzzzzzz | zzzzzzzz|\
K:G
"_D Mixolydian" DEFGABcd|\
K:D
"_D Major / Ionian" DEFGABcd||
K:C
zzzzzzz |\
K:G
"_A Dorian" ABcdefga|\
K:D
"_A Mixolydian" ABcdefga |\
K:A
"_A Major / Ionian" ABcdefga ||
K:G
"_E Minor / Aeolian" EFGABcde |\
K:D
"_E Dorian" EFGABcde |\
K:A
"_E Mixolydian" EFGABcde| zzzzzzz ||
K:D
"_B Minor / Aeolian" Bcdefgab |\
K:A
"_B Dorian" Bcdefgab | zzzzzzz | zzzzzzz ||
K:A
"_F Minor / Aeolian" FGABcdef | zzzzzzz | zzzzzzz | zzzzzzz ||
Your “F Minor / Aeolian” should be “F# Minor / Aeolian”.
Without labels, all those rests could be confusing. Maybe labeling even the “unplayable” modes would be clearer.
I like your scheme of showing an increasing number of sharps as you move from Minor to Dor to Mix to Major for a given key. An interesting way to think about it.