Editing Mode (music) (section)

== Mode as a general concept ==
Regarding the concept of mode as applied to pitch relationships generally, in 2001 [[Harold Powers|Harold S. Powers]] proposed that "mode" has "a twofold sense", denoting either a "particularized scale" or a "generalized tune", or both: {{quote|"If one thinks of scale and tune as representing the poles of a continuum of melodic predetermination, then most of the area between can be designated one way or the other as being in the domain of mode."<ref name="Powers-2001-§I,3">{{harvp|Powers|2001|loc=§I,3}}</ref>}}

In 1792, [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir Willam Jones]] applied the term "mode" to the music of "the [[Persians]] and the [[Hindoos]]".<ref>{{harvp|Powers|2001|loc=§V,1}}</ref> As early as 1271, Amerus applied the concept to ''cantilenis organicis'' (lit. "organic songs", most probably meaning "[[polyphony]]").<ref name="Powers-2001-§III,1">{{harvp|Powers|2001|loc=§III,1}}</ref> It is still heavily used with regard to Western [[polyphony]] before the onset of the [[Common practice (music)|common practice period]], as for example "modale Mehrstimmigkeit" by [[Carl Dahlhaus]]<ref>{{harvp|Dahlhaus|1968|pp=174 et passim}}</ref> or "Alte Tonarten" of the 16th and 17th centuries found by Bernhard Meier.<ref>{{harvp|Meier|1974}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Meier|1992}}</ref>

The word encompasses several additional meanings. Authors from the 9th century until the early 18th century (e.g., [[Guido of Arezzo]]) sometimes employed the Latin ''modus'' for [[interval (music)|interval]],<ref name="Powers-2001-§1,2">{{harvp|Powers|2001|loc=§1,2}}</ref> or for qualities of individual notes.<ref>N. Meeùs, "''Modi vocum''. Réflections sur la théorie modale médiévale." ''Con-Scientia Musica. Contrapunti per Rossana Dalmonte e Mario Baroni'', A. R. Addessi e. a. ed., Lucca, Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2010, pp. 21-33</ref> In the theory of late-medieval [[Mensural notation|mensural]] polyphony (e.g., [[Franco of Cologne]]), ''modus'' is a rhythmic relationship between long and short values or a pattern made from them;<ref name=Powers-2001-Introduction>{{harvp|Powers|2001|loc=Introduction}}</ref> in mensural music most often theorists applied it to [[Modus (medieval music)|division of longa into 3 or 2 breves]].<ref>A. M. Busse Berger, "The Evolution of Rhythmic Notation", ''The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory'', Th. Christensen ed., Cambridge University Press 2002, pp. 628-656, particularly pp. 629-635</ref>