THE DIATONIC GENUS

What is the diatonic genus?

The diatonic genus of heptataonic (7-note) scales includes the scales that can be played on a sequence of white keys of a keyboard (of a standard piano, organ, harpsichord, accordion, etc.), without skipping.

The music of ancient Greece employed various rhythms and scales, some of which remain in common use today. (The intervals were worked out mathematically.) The Greeks recorded their scales as descending sequences of pitches. Medieval scholars misinterpreted the text of Boethius, reversing the Greek scales into ascending sequences of pitches. Although the set of scales in the genus remained substantially the same, different names were attached to most of those scales.

These modes have become associated with various phenomena. This table shows some of the original characteristics:

Tonic (proslambanomenos)	Ancient Greek mode name	Meaning of name	Inventor (credited)	Mood	described by Erasmus	Authentic Medieval ecclesiastical mode number	Authentic Medieval ecclesiastical mode name	Plagal (sideways) Medieval ecclesiastical mode number	Plagal (sideways) Medieval ecclesiastical mode name	Modern example
B	Mixolydian (Hyperdorian)	inversion of the chord below Luddu, on the Ionian coast of Anatolia	Sappho (7th century B.C. poet and musician) of Lesbos	sorrowful			Locrian, of or pertaining to Locrus, the son of Maera and Zeus in Greek mythology Locrus, an ancient king of the Leleges the Locrians, an ancient Greek tribe reportedly from Pindus Locris, the region of central Greece where the Locrians joined the Leleges, eventually divided by Doris and Phocis (Hyperaeolian)		Hypolocrian	several songs by Metallica and Black Sabbath
E	Dorian	of Doris, between the Gulf of Corinth and the Malic Gulf, where the migrating Dorians settled for a time Dorus, son of Hellen and founder of the Dorians Dorian Pentapolis		strong, brave masculine (in architecture)	solemn	III	Phrygian	IV	Hypophrygian	Italian folk music
A	Hypodorian (Hyperphrygian or Hypermixolydian)	below Doris (above Phrygia)		majestic		IX	Aeolian (of or pertaining to Aeolus, the god of wind; the Aeolians, one of three original Greek tribes; Thessaly, previously known as Aeolia, original home of the Aeolian tribe; Aeolis, the district where the Aeolians settled in Anatolia (Asia Minor); or the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea.	X	Hypoaeolian	"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"
D	Phrygian	of or pertaining to Phrygia, a country in central Anatolia (Asia Minor) Phrygian the Phrygians, inhabitants of Phrygia, previously from the Balkans, also known as Bryges or Phruges presumably, the city or inhabitants of Bruges, West Flanders		spirited, gay, warlike	warlike	I	Dorian	II	Hypodorian	"And I Love Her" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney "Eleanor Rigby" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney "Drunken Sailor" sea chanty "Scarborough Fair" (traditional)
G	Hypophrygian (Hyperlydian)	below Phrygia in central Anatolia (above Luddu on the Ionian coast of Anatolia)		active		VII	Mixolydian	VIII	Hypomixolydian	Khamaj thaat TV "Theme from Ben Casey" by David Raksin "Ticket to Ride" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
C	Lydian	of or pertaining to Luddu, known to the Greeks as Lydia, a country on the Ionian coast of Anatolia (Asia Minor) Lydians Lydian		soft, sweet, effeminate		XI	Ionian, of or pertaining to the Ionians, one of three original Greek tribes, who inhabited most shores and islands of the Aegean Sea Anatolia (Asia Minor); Ion or Ionas, a character in ancient Greek mythology Ionia, a region between the rivers Hermus and Maeander in coastal Anatolia (Asia Minor), along with the islands of Chios and Samos; the Ionian League, an alliance of city-states of the eastern Aegean Sea an ion, an atom or group of atoms with a net electrical charge the Ionian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Southern Italy the Ionian Islands, seven Greek islands which lie on the eastern coast of the Ionian Sea Ionian Stage, the Middle Pleistocene Stage	XII	Hypoionian	"Aislean an Oigfear" (also known as "The Young Man's Dream" or "Londonderry Air" or "Danny Boy") "Adeste Fideles" "Ar Hyd y Nos" (Welsh folk song also known as "All through the Night") "Carnival of Venice" "Coming Through the Rye" "Downtown" by Tony Hatch "Joy to the World" (Christmas carol partly attributed to Handel) Brahms's Lullaby "O Tannenbaum" (traditional German Christmas carol) "Old Folks at Home" by Stephen Foster "Three Blind Mice" "Turn, Turn, Turn" (music by Pete Seeger)
F	Hypolydian	below Luddu on the Ionian coast of Anatolia		voluptuous	plaintive	V	Lydian	VI	Hypolydian	"The Simpsons Theme" by Danny Elfman

Connection to other arts

Compare Greek architectural orders

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Last revised: 15 October 2010

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