Editing Klezmer (section)

==Musical elements==
===Style===
The traditional style of playing klezmer music, including tone, typical [[Cadence (music)|cadences]], and [[ornamentation (music)|ornamentation]], sets it apart from other genres.<ref name="Rubin 2020 175-214">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Joel E. |title=New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Rochester, NY |isbn=9781580465984 |page=176}}</ref> Although klezmer music emerged from a larger Eastern European Jewish musical culture that included [[hazzanut|Jewish cantorial music]], [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] [[Nigun]]s, and later [[Yiddish theatre]] music, it also borrowed from the surrounding folk musics of Central and Eastern Europe and from cosmopolitan European musical forms.<ref name="Slobin 2000 7" /><ref name="Feldman 2022">{{cite journal |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Musical Fusion and Allusion in the Core and the Transitional Klezmer Repertoires |journal=Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies |date=2022 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=143–166 |doi=10.1353/sho.2022.0026 |s2cid=253206627 |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/sho.2022.0026|issn=1534-5165}}</ref> Therefore it evolved into an overall style which has recognizable elements from all of those other genres.

Few klezmer musicians before the late nineteenth century had formal musical training, but they inherited a rich tradition with its own advanced musical techniques. Each musician had their understanding of how the style should be "correctly" performed.<ref name="Rubin 2009">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Joel |editor-last=Weiner |editor-first=Howard T. |title=Early Twentieth-Century Brass Idioms |date=2009 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0810862456 |pages=77–102 |chapter='Like a String of Pearls': Reflections on the Role of Brass Instrumentalists in Jewish Instrumental Klezmer Music and the Trope of 'Jewish Jazz'}}</ref><ref name="Rubin 2020 175-214" /> The usage of these ornaments was not random; the matters of "taste", self-expression, [[Variation (music)|variation]] and restraint were and remain important elements of how to interpret the music.<ref name="Rubin 2020 175-214" />

Klezmer musicians apply the overall style to available specific techniques on each melodic instrument. They incorporate and elaborate the vocal melodies of Jewish religious practice, including ''[[Hazzan|khazones]]'', ''[[Davening|davenen]]'', and paraliturgical song, extending the range of human voice into the musical expression possible on instruments.<ref name="Feldman 2016 39">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |page=39}}</ref> Among those stylistic elements that are considered typically "Jewish" in klezmer music are those which are shared with cantorial or [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] vocal ornaments, including imitations of sighing or laughing.<ref name="Slobin 2000 98-122">{{cite book |last=Slobin |first=Mark |title=Fiddler on the move : exploring the klezmer world |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780195161809 |pages=98–122}}</ref> Various Yiddish terms were used for these vocal-like ornaments such as {{lang|yi|קרעכץ}} (''[[Krekhts]]'', "groan" or "moan"), {{lang|yi|קנײטש}} ({{transliteration|yi|kneytsh}}, "wrinkle" or "fold"), and {{lang|yi|קװעטש}} ({{transliteration|yi|kvetsh}}, "pressure" or "stress").<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" /> Other ornaments such as [[Trill (music)|trills]], [[grace note]]s, [[appoggiatura]]s, ''glitshn'' ([[glissando]]s), ''tshoks'' (a kind of [[bent note]]s of cackle-like sound),  flageolets ([[string harmonic]]s),<ref name=strom2006>[[Yale Strom]], "The absolutely complete klezmer songbook", 2006, {{ISBN|0-8074-0947-2}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nIo2hCQEJGoC&dq=dreydlekh&pg=PR27 Introduction]</ref><ref>Strom 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MeUxtaGGtMkC&dq=kneytshn&pg=PA102, pp. 101, 102]</ref> [[Pedal point|pedal notes]], [[Mordent (music)|mordents]], [[Slide (musical ornament)|slides]] and typical klezmer cadences are also important to the style.<ref name="Rubin 2020 175-214" /> In particular, the cadences which draw on religious Jewish music identify a piece more strongly as a klezmer tune, even if its broader structure was borrowed from a non-Jewish source.<ref name="Feldman 2016 375-85" /><ref name="Feldman 2022" /> Sometimes the term ''dreydlekh'' is used only for trills, while other use it for all klezmer ornaments.<ref>Chris Haigh, ''The Fiddle Handbook'', 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aba8o2tYD1IC&dq=%22dreydlekh%22&pg=PA113 Example 4.9]</ref> Unlike in Classical music, [[vibrato]] is used sparingly, and is treated as another type of ornament.<ref name="Slobin 2000 98-122" /><ref name="Rubin 2020 175-214" />

In an article about Jewish music in Romania, Bob Cohen of [[Di Naye Kapelye]] describes krekhts as "a sort of weeping or hiccoughing combination of backwards slide and flick of the little finger high above the base note, while the bow does, well, something – which aptly imitates Jewish liturgical singing style."  He also noted that the only other place he has heard this particular ornamentation is in [[Turkish music]] on the violin.<ref>Cohen.</ref> [[Yale Strom]] wrote that the use of ''dreydlekh'' by American violinists gradually diminished since the 1940s, but with the [[klezmer revival]] in 1970, dreydlekh had become prominent again.<ref name=strom2012>Yale Strom, ''Shpil: The Art of Playing Klezmer'', 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MeUxtaGGtMkC&pg=PA94 p. 94]</ref>

The accompaniment style of the accompanist or orchestra could be fairly impromptu, called {{lang|yi|צוהאַלטן}} ({{transliteration|yi|tsuhaltn}}, holding onto).<ref name="Avenary 1960" />

===Historical repertoire===
The repertoire of klezmer musicians was very diverse and tied to specific social functions and dances, especially of the traditional wedding.<ref name="OJFM 530-48" /><ref name="Feldman 2022" /> These melodies might have a non-Jewish origin, or have been composed by a klezmer, but only rarely are they attributed to a specific composer.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> Generally klezmer music can be divided into two broad categories: music for specific dances, and music for listening (at the table, in processions, ceremonial, etc.).<ref name="Beregovski 1941" />

====Dances====
* Freylekhs.<!--redirect here--> The simplest and most widespread type of klezmer dance tunes are those played in {{music|time|2|4}} and intended for group circle dances. Depending on the location this basic dance may also have been called a {{transliteration|yi|Redl}} (circle), {{transliteration|yi|Hopke}}, {{transliteration|yi|Karahod}} (round dance, literally the Belarusian translation of the Russian ''[[khorovod]]''), {{transliteration|yi|Dreydl}}, {{transliteration|yi|Rikudl}}, etc.<ref name="OJFM 530-48" /><ref name="Feldman 2016 275-98">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=275–298}}</ref><ref name="Avenary 1960" /><ref name="Hasidic lexicon" />
* [[Bulgar (dance)|Bulgar]], or {{Transliteration|yi|Bolgar}}, became the most popular klezmer dance form in the United States. Its origin is thought to be in Moldavia and with a deep connection to the [[Sârbă]] genre there.<ref name="Feldman 2022" />
* [[Sher (dance)|Sher]] is a [[contra dance]] in {{music|time|2|4}}. Beregovsky, writing in the 1930s, noted that despite the dance being very commonly played across a wide area, he suspected that it had its roots in an older German dance.<ref name="OJFM 530-48" /> This dance continued to be known in the United States even after other complex European klezmer dances had been forgotten.<ref name="Feldman 2016 261-73">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=261–273}}</ref> In some regions the music of a Sher could be interchangeable with a Freylekhs.<ref name="Feldman 2022" />
* {{Transliteration|yi|Khosidl}}, or {{Transliteration|yi|Khosid}}, named after [[Hasidic]] Jews, is a more dignified embellished dance in {{music|time|2|4}} or {{music|time|4|4}}. The dance steps can be performed in a circle or in a line.
* [[Hora (dance)|Hora]] or {{Transliteration|yi|Zhok}} (from the Romanian [[wikt:joc|Joc]]) is a circle dance in {{music|time|3|8}}. In the United States, it came to be one of the main dance types after the Bulgar.<ref name="Feldman 2022" />
* {{transliteration|yi|Broygez-tants}}<ref name="Beregovski 1941" />
* [[kolomyjka|Kolomeike]] is a fast and catchy dance in {{music|time|2|4}} time, which originated in Ukraine, and is prominent in the folk music of that country.
* ''Skotshne'' is generally thought to be a more elaborate {{transliteration|yi|Freylekhs}} which could be played either for dancing or listening.<ref name="OJFM 530-48" />
* ''[[Nigun]]'', a very broad term which can refer to melodies for listening, singing or dancing.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" /> Usually a mid-paced song in {{music|time|2|4}}.
* [[Waltz]]es were very popular, whether classical, Russian, or Polish. A ''padespan'' was a sort of Russian/Spanish waltz known to klezmers.
* [[Mazurka]] and [[polka]], Polish and Czech dances, respectively, were often played for both Jews and Gentiles.
* [[Sârbă|Sirba]]&nbsp;– a Romanian dance in {{music|time|2|2}} or {{music|time|2|4}} (Romanian ''[[sârbă]]''). It features hopping steps and short bursts of running, accompanied by triplets in the [[melody]].

====Non-dance repertoire====
* The {{transliteration|yi|Doyne}} is a freeform instrumental form borrowed from the [[Romanian music|Romanian]] shepherd's [[doina]]. Although there are many regional types of doina in Romania and Moldova, the Jewish form is typically simpler, with a minor key theme which is then repeated in a major key, followed by a {{transliteration|yi|Freylekhs}}.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> A {{transliteration|yi|Volekhl}} is a related genre.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" />
* {{transliteration|yi|Tish-nign}} (table tune)<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" />
* {{transliteration|yi|Moralish}}, a type of [[Nigun]], called [[Devekut]] in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], which inspires spiritual arousal or a pious mood.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" /><ref name="Avenary 1960" />
* A {{transliteration|yi|Vals}} ([[Waltz]]), pieces in {{music|time|3|4}} especially in the [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] context, may be slower than non-Jewish waltzes and intended for listening while the wedding parties are seated at their tables.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" />
* Forms centering on bridal rituals, including {{transliteration|yi|Kale-bazetsn}} (seating of the bride)
* A {{transliteration|yi|Marsh}} ([[March (music)|March]]) can be non-Jewish march melodies adapted into joyful singing or playing contexts.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon" />
* Processional melodies, including {{transliteration|yi|Gas-nigunim}} (street tunes), {{transliteration|yi|Tsum tish}} (to the table). According to Beregovski the {{transliteration|yi|Gas-nign}} was always in {{music|time|3|4}} time.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" />
* The {{transliteration|yi|Taksim}}, whose name is borrowed from the Ottoman/Arab [[Taqsim]] is a freeform fantasy on a particular motif, ornamented with trills, [[Roulade (music)|roulades]] and so on; it usually ends with a {{transliteration|yi|Freylekhs}}.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> By the twentieth century it had mostly become obsolete and was replaced by the doina.<ref name="Feldman 2016 147">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |page=147}}</ref>
* [[Fantazi]] or fantasy is a freeform song, traditionally played at [[Jewish wedding]]s to the guests as they dined. It resembles the [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]] of "light" classical music.
* A {{transliteration|yi|Terkisher}} is a type of virtuosic solo piece in {{music|time|4|4}} performed by leading klezmorim such as [[Dave Tarras]] and [[Naftule Brandwein]]. There is no dance for this type of melody, rather it references an [[Ottoman music|Ottoman]] or "oriental" style, and melodies may incorporate references to Greek [[Hasapiko]] into an Ashkenazic musical aesthetic.
* Parting melodies played at the beginning or end of a wedding day, such as the {{transliteration|yi|Zay gezunt}} (be healthy), {{transliteration|yi|Gas-nign}}, {{transliteration|yi|Dobriden}} (good day), {{transliteration|yi|Dobranotsh}} or {{transliteration|yi|A gute nakht}} (good night) etc.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /><ref name="Feldman 2016 220-7">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |pages=220–227}}</ref> These types of pieces were sometimes in {{music|time|3|4}} which may have given an air of dignity and seriousness.<ref name="Feldman 2016 232-3">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |pages=232–233}}</ref>

===Orchestration===
Klezmer music is an instrumental tradition, without much of a history of songs or singing. In Eastern Europe, Klezmers did traditionally accompany the vocal stylings of the [[Badchen]] (wedding entertainer), although their performances were typically improvised couplets and the calling of ceremonies rather than songs.<ref name="Pietruszka 1932">{{cite book |last=Pietruszka |first=Symcha |title=Yudishe entsiḳlopedye far Yudishe geshikhṭe, ḳulṭur, religye, filozofye, liṭeraṭur, biografye, bibliografye un andere Yudishe inyonim |date=1932 |publisher=Yehudiyah |location=Warsaw |pages=163–166 |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc201734 |language=yi}}</ref><ref name="Feldman 2016 146-56">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=146–156}}</ref> (The importance of the Badchen gradually decreased by the twentieth century, although they still continued in some traditions.<ref name="Rubin 1973 251">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Ruth |title=Voices of a people : the story of Yiddish folksong |date=1973 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |isbn=0070541949 |page=251 |edition=2nd}}</ref>)

As for the klezmer orchestra, its size and composition varied by time and place. The klezmer bands of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century were small, with roughly three to five musicians playing woodwind or [[string instrument]]s.<ref name="Rubin 2009" /> Another common configuration in that era was similar to [[Music of Hungary|Hungarian bands]] today, typically a lead violinist, second violin, cello, and [[cimbalom]].<ref name="Feldman 2016 100-111">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=100–111}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gifford |first=Paul M. |title=The hammered dulcimer: a history |date=2001 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=9781461672906 |pages=106–107}}</ref> In the mid-nineteenth century, the Clarinet started to appear in those small Klezmer ensembles as well.<ref name="Feldman 2016 111-3">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=111–113}}</ref> By the last decades of the century, in Ukraine, the orchestras had grown larger, averaging seven to twelve members, and incorporating [[brass instrument]]s and up to twenty for a prestigious occasion.<ref name="Feldman 2016 93-6">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |pages=93–96}}</ref><ref name="Levik memoir">{{cite book |last=Левик |first=Сергей Юрьевич |title=Записки оперного певца |date=1962 |publisher=Искусство |pages=18–19 |language=ru}}</ref> (However, for poor weddings a large klezmer ensemble might only send three or four of its junior members.<ref name="Feldman 2016 93-6" />) In these larger orchestras, on top of the core instrumentation of strings and woodwinds, ensembles often featured [[cornet]]s, [[Clarinet|C clarinets]], [[trombone]]s, a [[contrabass]], a large Turkish drum, and several extra violins.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> The inclusion of Jews in tsarist army bands during the 19th century may also have led to the introduction of typical military band instruments into klezmer. With such large orchestras, the music was arranged so that the bandleader soloist could still be heard at key moments.<ref name="Feldman 2016 115">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |page=115}}</ref> In [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], and [[Belarus]], the smaller string ensemble with cimbalom remained the norm into the twentieth century.<ref name="Feldman 2016 100-16">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244514 |pages=100–116}}</ref><ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> American klezmer as it developed in dancehalls and wedding banquets of the early twentieth century had a more complete orchestration not unlike those used in popular orchestras of the time. They use a clarinet, saxophone, or trumpet for the melody, and make great use of the trombone for slides and other flourishes.
[[File:Jewish musicians of Rohatyn (west Ukraine).jpg|thumb|Jewish musicians of Rohatyn (west Ukraine)]]

The melody in klezmer music is generally assigned to the lead violin, although occasionally the flute and eventually clarinet.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /> The other instrumentalists provide harmony, rhythm, and some counterpoint (the latter usually coming from the second violin or viola). The clarinet now often plays the melody. Brass instruments—such as the French valved [[cornet]] and keyed German trumpet—eventually inherited a counter-voice role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://borzykowski.users.ch/EnglMCKlezmer.htm|title=KLEZMER MUSIC|publisher=users.ch|access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> Modern klezmer instrumentation is more commonly influenced by the instruments of the 19th-century military bands than the earlier orchestras.

Percussion in early 20th-century klezmer recordings was generally minimal—no more than a [[Woodblock (instrument)|wood block]] or [[snare drum]]. In Eastern Europe, percussion was often provided by a drummer who played a [[frame drum]], or ''poyk'', sometimes called [[baraban (drum)|baraban]]. A poyk is similar to a [[bass drum]] and often has a cymbal or piece of metal mounted on top, which is struck by a beater or a small cymbal strapped to the hand.

===Melodic modes===
====Western, Cantorial, and Ottoman music terminology====
Klezmer music is a genre that developed partly in the [[Western culture#Music|Western musical tradition]] but also in the [[Ottoman Empire]], and is primarily an oral tradition which does not have a well-established literature to explain its [[Mode (music)|modes]] and modal progression.<ref name="Horowitz 1993">{{cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Joshua |title=The Klezmer Ahava Rabboh Shteyger: Mode, Sub-mode, and Modal Progression |url=http://www.budowitz.com/Budowitz/Essays_files/Mode%20Article%20PDF%20File%20%28Merged%29.pdf |website=Budowitz.com |access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Rubin 2020 122-74" /> But, as with other types of Ashkenazic Jewish music, it has a complex system of modes which were used in its compositions.<ref name="Hasidic lexicon">{{cite journal |last1=Mazor |first1=Yaacov |last2=Seroussi |first2=Edwin |title=Towards a Hasidic Lexicon of Music |journal=Orbis Musicae. |year=1990 |volume=10 |pages=118–43}}</ref><ref name="Tarsi motifs">{{cite web |last=Tarsi |first=Boaz |title=Full Text: Cross-Repertoire Motifs in Liturgical Music of the Ashkenazi Tradition: An Initial Lay of the Land by Boaz Tarsi |url=https://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/full-text-cross-repertoire-motifs-liturgical-music-ashkenazi-tradition-initial-lay-land-boaz |website=Jewish Music Research Centre |access-date=27 June 2021}}</ref> Many of its melodies do not fit well in the [[Major key|major]] and [[Minor key|minor]] terminology used in Western music, nor is the music systematically [[Microtonal music|microtonal]] in the way that [[Middle Eastern music]] is.<ref name="Horowitz 1993" /> [[Nusach (Jewish music)|Nusach]] terminology, as developed for [[Hazzan|Cantorial music]] in the nineteenth century, is often used instead, and indeed many klezmer compositions draw heavily on religious music.<ref name="Feldman 2016 220-7" /> But it also incorporates elements of [[Baroque music|Baroque]] and Eastern European folk musics, making description based only on religious terminology incomplete.<ref name="Feldman 2016 375-85">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |pages=375–385}}</ref><ref name="Avenary 1960" /><ref name="Frigyesi 1983" /> Still, since the [[Klezmer revival]] of the 1970s, the terms for Jewish prayer modes are the most common to describe those used in klezmer.<ref name="Rubin 2020 361">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Joel E. |title=New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Rochester, NY |isbn=9781580465984 |page=361}}</ref> The terms used in [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] for these modes include ''nusach'' ({{lang|yi|נוסח}}); {{transliteration|yi|shteyger}} ({{lang|yi|שטײגער}}), "manner, mode of life", which describes the typical melodic character, important notes and scale; and {{transliteration|yi|gust}} ({{lang|yi|גוסט}}), a word meaning "taste" which was commonly used by [[Moisei Beregovsky]].<ref name="Avenary 1960">{{cite journal |last=Avenary |first=Hanoch |title=The Musical Vocabulary of Ashkenazic Hazanim |journal=Studies in Biblical and Jewish Folklore |year=1960 |pages=187–198 |location=Bloomington, Indiana}}</ref><ref name="Beregovski 1941" /><ref name="Rubin 2020 122-74">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Joel E. |title=New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Rochester, NY |isbn=9781580465984 |pages=122–74}}</ref>

Beregovsky, who was writing in the [[Stalinist era]] and was constrained by having to downplay klezmer's religious aspects, did not use the terminology of [[Nusach (Jewish music)#Musical modes|synagogue modes]], except in some early work in 1929. Instead, he relied on German-inspired musical terminology of [[Major key|major]], minor, and "other" modes, which he described in technical terms.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /><ref name="Feldman 2016 40">{{cite book |last=Feldman |first=Zev |title=Klezmer: music, history and memory |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780190244521 |page=40}}</ref> In his 1940s works he noted that the majority of the klezmer repertoire seemed to be in a minor key, whether [[natural minor]] or others, that around a quarter of the material was in [[Freygish]], and that around a fifth of the repertoire was in a major key.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" />

Another set of terminology sometimes used to describe klezmer music is that of the [[Turkish makam|Makams]] used in [[Ottoman music|Ottoman]] and other [[Middle Eastern music]].<ref name="Rubin 2020 361" /><ref name="Alford-Fowler 2013">{{cite thesis |last=Alford-Fowler |first=Julia |date=May 2013 |title=Chasing Yiddishkayt: A concerto in the context of Klezmer music |type=Doctoral thesis |institution=Temple University |url=https://scholarshare.temple.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12613/586/Alfordfowler_temple_0225E_11450.pdf |access-date=16 June 2021}}</ref> This approach dates back to Idelsohn in the early twentieth century, who was very familiar with Middle Eastern music, and has been developed in the past decade by Joshua Horowitz.<ref name="Tarsi intersection" /><ref name="Frigyesi 1983">{{cite journal |last=Frigyesi |first=Judit Laki |title=Modulation as an Integral Part of the Modal System in Jewish Music |journal=Musica Judaica |date=1982–1983 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=52–71 |jstor=23687593 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23687593}}</ref><ref name="Rubin 2020 361" /><ref name="Horowitz 1993" />

Finally, some Klezmer music, and especially that composed in the United States from the mid-twentieth century onwards, may not be composed with these traditional modes, but rather built around [[Chords in music|chords]].<ref name="Feldman 2016 375-85" />

====Description====
Because there is no agreed-upon, complete system for describing modes in Klezmer music, this list is imperfect and may conflate concepts which some scholars view as separate.<ref name="Tarsi motifs" /><ref name="Tarsi intersection">{{cite journal |last=Tarsi |first=Boaz |title=At the Intersection of Music Theory and Ideology: A. Z. Idelsohn and the Ashkenazi Prayer Mode Magen Avot |journal=Journal of Musicological Research |date=3 July 2017 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=208–233 |doi=10.1080/01411896.2017.1340033 |s2cid=148956696 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2017.1340033 |issn=0141-1896}}</ref> Another problem in listing these terms as simple eight-note ([[octatonic scale|octatonic]]) [[Scale (music)|scales]] is that it makes it harder to see how Klezmer melodic structures can work as five-note [[pentachord]]s, how parts of different modes typically interact, and what the cultural significance of a given mode might be in a traditional Klezmer context.<ref name="Horowitz 1993" /><ref name="Rubin 2020 122-74" />
[[File:C Jewish scale.PNG|thumb|Freygish mode in C]]

* {{transliteration|yi|Freygish}}, {{transliteration|yi|Ahavo Rabboh}}, or [[Phrygian dominant scale]] resembles the [[Phrygian mode]], having a flat [[Second (interval)|second]] but also a permanent raised [[Third (musical interval)|third]].<ref name="Rubin 2020 364" /> It is among the most common modes in Klezmer and is closely identified with Jewish identity; Beregovsky estimated that roughly a quarter of the Klezmer music he had collected was in Freygish.<ref name="Beregovski 1941" /><ref name="Horowitz 1993" /> Among the most well-known pieces composed in this mode are "[[Hava Nagila]]" and "{{transliteration|yi|Ma yofus}}". It is comparable to the [[Arabic maqam#Maqam families|Maqam Hijaz]] found in [[Arabic music]].<ref name="Horowitz 1993" />
[[File:Ukrainian Dorian mode on C.png|thumb|Mi Sheberakh mode in C]]

* {{transliteration|yi|Mi Sheberakh}}, ''[[Av HaRachamim]]'', "altered Dorian" or [[Ukrainian Dorian scale]] is a minor mode which has a raised [[Fourth (music)|fourth]].<ref name="Rubin 2020 364" /> It is sometimes compared to {{lang|tr|Nikriz Makamı}}. It is closely related to {{transliteration|yi|Freygish}} since they share the same pitch [[Interval (music)|intervals]].<ref name="Horowitz 1993" /> This mode is often encountered in {{transliteration|yi|Doynes}} and other Klezmer forms with connections to [[Romanian music|Romanian]] or [[Ukrainian music]].
[[File:Mixolydian mode C.png|thumb|Adonoy Molokh mode in C]]

* {{transliteration|yi|Adonoy Molokh}} or {{transliteration|yi|Adoyshem Molokh}} a [[Nusach (Jewish music)#Musical modes|synagogue mode]] with a flatted [[Seventh (interval)|seventh]].<ref name="Avenary 1960" /> It is sometimes called the "Jewish major".<ref name="Tarsi intersection" /> It has some similarities to the [[Mixolydian]] mode.<ref name="Rubin 2020 364">{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Joel E. |title=New York klezmer in the early twentieth century : the music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras |date=2020 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Rochester, NY |isbn=9781580465984 |page=364}}</ref>

[[File:Aeolian mode C.png|thumb|Mogen Ovos mode in C]]
* {{transliteration|yi|Mogen Ovos}} is a synagogue mode which resembles the Western [[natural minor]].<ref name="Avenary 1960" /> In klezmer music, it is often found in greeting and parting pieces, as well as dance tunes.<ref name="Horowitz 1993" /> It has some similarities to the ''[[Bayati (maqam)|Bayati maqam]]'' used in Arabic and Turkish music.
* {{transliteration|yi|Yishtabakh}} resembles {{transliteration|yi|Mogen Ovos}} and {{transliteration|yi|Freygish}}. It is a [[Nusach (Jewish music)#Yishtabach mode|variant of the Mogen Ovos]] scale that frequently flattens the second and fifth degrees.<ref>{{cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Josh |title=The Main Klezmer Modes |url=https://www.klezmershack.com/articles/horowitz/horowitz.klezmodes.html |website=Ari Davidow's Klezmer Shack |access-date=24 June 2022}}</ref>