Modality: Same Place, New Beginning

Last week I covered the topic of motifs and melodies, and for the next few weeks we'll be working through the components that make up their anatomy. However, we'll be breaking from the convention of typical theory texts in that we won't be discussing scales and chords just yet. Instead, the initial focus will be on modality, intervals, and voice leading. The main reason for this is that modality existed long before chords, functional harmony, and other Common Practice techniques; a lot of these concepts simply do not apply or translate well to modes anyway. Rather than expecting the reader to forget everything they've read, or risk the misapplication and over generalization of concepts we'll start from the actual beginning.