Playing songs in E Dorian Mode

Whistle
1

I heard a couple of songs today that I really like and thought it sure would be good to play those. Both were written in the key of E dorian. Since I am not familiar with modes etc. I figured I would check out that mode on the internet and it explained that the notes of the E dorian key are the same as in the key of D. If that is the case I presume that it is not necessary to have a whistle in the key of Low E and that it would be possible to play these songs on the Low D whistle. Is this true? If I am missing anything please inform me I am just trying to figure out all of this stuff. All advice and info is appreciated.
Thanks,
Scottie

2

Yes and yes. :slight_smile:

3

Yes, the notes in the Dorian E scale are E F# G A B C# D E
So it’s as if you’re playing a D major scale but you’re starting and ending on the 2nd.

Edit: MT snuck his response in under mine. I should have slid into first instead of trying to run it out.

4

let’s not try to over simplify it here :really:

it’s like an E Dorian scale :stuck_out_tongue:

5

By the same token, A Dorian is (for oversimplification’s sake) a G scale starting on A (A B C D E F# G A), which you can also use your D whistle on.

6

I believe Oscar Wilde composed in Dorian. :stuck_out_tongue:

7

Yeah, but it was Dorian G, Ray …

8

WhOA and Topic Drift, the twin plagues of whistledom.

9

Most of the “E minor” tunes in Irish trad have C#s in them, so are Dorian. Likewise most of the “A minor” tunes have F#s in them and are Dorian. Both fit on a D whistle perfectly.

Breandan Breathnach, in Folk Music and Dances of Ireland, estimates the following percentages of modes in Irish music:

Ionian (Major) 60%
Mixolydian 15%
Dorian 10%
“airs in the Aeolian mode are the least numerous”

“It is of interest to note that English folk music, by and large, falls into these same four divisions and the proportion of airs in each division is surprisingly close to the Irish figures.”

Tomas O Canainn, in Tradtional Music In Ireland, rejects the application of the concepts of modes to Irish music, and instead proposes the concept of note frequency. (By this reckoning Mary Had a Little Lamb, if played in what classical musicians would think of as the key of D, would have a tonic of F#, the most common note, and a dominant of E, the second-commonest note. F# occurs 11 times, E 10 times, but D only thrice.)

Usually the tunes that are in a true minor (Aeolian) mode are the ones played in B minor on the whistle.

10

The piper eliminated any remaining Dorian gray area. Well done!

11

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I appreciate your help.
scottie

12

have you found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode ?
about middle of the page…Modern

Mode 	Tonic relative     White
         to major scale    note 	Interval sequence
Ionian           I            C      T-T-s-T-T-T-s
Dorian          II            D      T-s-T-T-T-s-T
Phrygian       III            E      s-T-T-T-s-T-T
Lydian          IV            F      T-T-T-s-T-T-s
Mixolydian       V            G      T-T-s-T-T-s-T
Aeolian         VI            A      T-s-T-T-s-T-T
Locrian        VII            B      s-T-T-s-T-T-T

I’d a changed it to “D” for ya but I didn’t want to deal with th 2 #s and the alignment…

13

Thank you Denny for the chart.
Scottie