Modal Music Composition: Expanded Edition [Paperback]

Stephen M. Cormier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2006

* This edition has been replaced by the 3rd Edition* Modal Music Composition:Expanded Edition serves as a reference work unlikely to be superseded and also as a source of fresh ideas for composers and songwriters looking to use modal music as a true alternative to the tonal system. Only a modest knowledge of traditional (tonal) harmony and forms is necessary. No knowledge of modal music is assumed. Numerous examples and tables provide important information in easy-to-use form. Three more chapters and 40 more music examples have been added to this new edition. Three extended study compositions illustrate the procedures more vividly than standard examples. The 3 study compositions and examples are recorded on the included audio CD. This book, therefore, fills the need by composers and songwriters alike for a comprehensive description and analysis of the melodic and harmonic characteristics of the modal scales and their interrelations. Although composers have often used modal passages, it is acknowledged that the modal scales have less harmonic stability than the still predominant major-minor scales. To remedy this, Dr. Cormier has taken a fresh look at the modal scales and developed a systematic set of procedures that can maintain modal stability while retaining their special character

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen M. Cormier has long pursued twin interests in science and music. He studied cognitive and neuro-psychology as well as music at the George Washington University. He has a particular interest in the association of cognition and information processing with emotion, as seen in his published monograph, Basic processes of learning, cognition and motivation (Erlbaum Associates).

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Inman & Artz Publishers (August 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097543182X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975431825
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!, April 10, 2007

By 

SEA-Addict "SEA-addict" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modal Music Composition: Expanded Edition (Paperback)

I've found this book to be an extremely helpful guide to writing modal music. The author has really thought out just about every piece of information that a songwriter or even serious composer would need to know to write a modal work. The detailed melodic and harmonic information is clearly presented either in tables or in the many very useful examples. Anyone with a short course or two in regular music theory could follow it. In addition, the author presents a lot of interesting ideas and suggestions to improve the structure and coherence of modal compositions. Although my interest is mainly in songwriting and jazz related pieces, I found much of the material thought provoking and very practical. I would think that composers of complex music would get even more out of the ideas than myself. The included audio CD has recordings of most of the examples (played on a piano). Also on the CD are 3 "study" compositions written by Cormier for a clarinet choir (each about 6 minutes long) which are a terrifically innovative way to present the material in more "realistic" fashion. (The study compositions are discussed in detail with the scores in the Appendices.) In short, an excellent reference and good value.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent theory, nice process, but write your own musical examples, December 30, 2008

By 

A Reader from (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Modal Music Composition: Expanded Edition (Paperback)

Three and a half starts actually.

This book IMHO is pretty effective in identifying and generating modal sounding environments using established Western melodic and harmonic procedures, i.e., secondary dominants, chord functionality and modulation construction. As a harmony book (Piston), I was impressed with his knowledge of Western historical practice, from organum to Schoenberg, emphasizing the dominance of the major-minor tonal system over the modal system, the evolution of consonance, the emancipation of dissonance and the possible resurgence and the modernization of the modal system. I especially liked his logical but practical, step by step, often repetitive (yes, some of us need that!) approach in delineating modal characteristics of a given musical passage. The argument of scalar dyads--linking the chord functions of Lydian with Dorian, Ionian with Aeolian, and Mixolydian with Phrygian--is clearly brilliant and well described. As a personal aside, I believe it's probable now, using some of the author's procedures, to generate music bearing a perceptible Locrian flair--which in my 20+ years in the music field was thought to be "impossible" to hear or unstable to sustain. (Of course all you death metal composers already knew what THAT world sounds like! LOL.)

I would have given this book 5 stars if the author didn't have so many typos in his musical examples. For extra credit, he could have improved the voice leading in all of them by eliminating parallel/hidden octaves and fifths in the outer voices, generating smoother movement between voices esp. in modulations, and defining in written analysis whether a chord is major [V], minor [v] or diminished [vo]. It would also be helpful if his study examples didn't sound so dull and academic (and cheesy: he could have used real instruments/players to play these pieces). Perhaps, in his next edition, he should hire some composition students to write the study examples, which is what George Russell did to support his Lydian Chromatic Concept book. That way, one can better hear what Dr. Cormier has so effectively posited theoretically.

My two cents. Purchase this book without reservations, but have a pen handy to edit out the music example typos, improve their voice leading and perhaps write better study examples. All in all, I'm very glad this book was written and is currently available to the public at large.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is NOT out of print! The 3rd editon is available at normal prices, February 22, 2011

By 

Ghost(Ghost(M)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modal Music Composition: Expanded Edition (Paperback)

The third edition (2010, ISBN 0975431838 ) has been available for a while now, for its traditional thirty-five bucks. I see this old edition is offered here for like three times that amount -- but the book is not out of print! What is out of print is older editions. Let the smartases up above wait till kingdom come for someone stupid who'd pay these crazy amounts when a newer version is in print and easy to get, here or from the publisher's website (same amount).