Frets of folk music

What modes are most commonly used in folk music?

As you already know, in addition to major and minor, there were other modes (see “Medieval modes”). Some of these modes have been used and are used to this day in the works of various peoples. We will consider the main modes of folk music used in this article.

Seven-step modes are quite common in folk music. The sequences of intervals between steps in these modes are different, which distinguishes them from natural major and minor, as well as from each other. Despite this, the basis of these modes is either a major mode or a minor one, so the modes of folk music can be considered as varieties of the major or minor mode.

The seven-step modes of folk music include two varieties of major and two varieties of minor modes. Due to the coincidence of the scales of these modes with the scales of the medieval modes, they were given the names of these medieval modes:

In addition to seven-step modes, five-step modes are also found in folk music. They are called the pentatonic scale, and you are already familiar with it. If you forgot, we recommend returning to the Pentatonic article .

Results

You have learned about the basic modes found in folk music.