Enjoy the Dorian Mode book

Experience the Dorian mode through over 800 years of music in 26 new arrangements.

Enjoy the Dorian Mode is for therapeutic musicians, faire enthusiasts, and everyone interested in the sounds of yore. One of the most common requests I hear from people learning the modes is how to get more modal repertoire. Ionian and Aeolian pieces are widely available, but Dorian and Mixolydian are harder to come by. Get the hard copy or PDF.

What makes Enjoy the Dorian Mode special

I’ve collected and arranged 26 Dorian songs from England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Hungary, medieval France, medieval Spain, the West Indies, and the United States. Each song includes lyrics, chord symbols, and historical background.

I take advantage of the similarities between Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian and provide companion lead sheets for each arrangement transformed to Mixolydian and Aeolian. By comparing the Dorian version to the Aeolian version, you learn the difference between these similar modes. By comparing the Dorian version to the Mixolydian version, you learn how these modes are similar.

That means not only do you get 26 Dorian tunes, you also get 26 Mixolydian tunes and 26 Aeolian tunes. More about that below. But first, here’s my arrangement of one of the Dorian pieces:

Get this arrangement and more in Enjoy the Dorian Mode, available in hard copy and PDF.

Listen to the Mixolydian → Dorian → Aeolian difference

An amazing thing about the harp is that you can hear the same song in different modes by playing the same strings (almost) and only changing the pedals or levers. Compare the D Aeolian version (B♭) to the D Dorian arrangement (no sharps or flats) to the D Mixolydian version (F♯) in clips from two songs.

In “Betsy Williams,” you can hear the differences in the scale that starts 6 seconds in:

• D E F G A B♭ C in Aeolian

• D E F G A B C in Dorian

• D E F♯ G A B C in Mixolydian

You can hear another point of difference between Aeolian and Dorian in the last note of the clip. The last note of the Aeolian clip is B♭. In Dorian, it’s B. This is the only note that is different between these two modes.

In “Ave maris stella,” the Aeolian/Dorian difference is in the third, sixth, and ninth note that you hear: B♭ in Aeolian, B in Dorian. The Dorian/Mixolydian difference is in the home chord: minor in Dorian (d+f+a), major in Mixolydian (D+F♯+A).

All of the scores use colors and typography to highlight the differences between the modes, so you can both see and hear them.

Enjoy the Dorian Mode is available in hard copy and PDF. Here is the first chapter.

Chapter 1: What is the Dorian mode?

The ancient Greeks loved to put things in order. They started grouping songs together and naming the groups after people from different regions. “This music is strong. The Dorians were strong. Let’s call this music Dorian.”

Preferences change over time, and advances in science refine our ways of thinking. Medieval writers made guesses about the ancient Greek definitions of modes, additions were proposed in the Renaissance, and discoveries were made by collectors of folk music, all of which contributed to our modern understanding of Dorian.

Today’s Dorian mode is a scale with notes that relate to each other in this order:
whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step.

Hearing notes with those relationships creates a particular ambience. Dorian feels like mindfulness, strength, grit, concentration, contemplation, toughness. It’s walking into a bar where they know your name and they know when you want to be left alone. It’s standing in a forest, with trees in all directions. It’s the ocean on a blustery day. It’s a warehouse. A factory. A cathedral. A cavern. It’s deer on the moors and bison on the plains. Morels. Mustard. Flint. Wizards.

Dorian sounds a little more old-timey than a tune in natural minor.

The songs gathered here have a range of subject matter: from jolly adventures at sea, happy trysts, and beautiful spring days, to scorned women, scornful women, scrofula, lost books, and lost love. (Hey, the one about scrofula ends happily.) They were composed over the course of at least 700 years, and the arrangements have benefited from another century of scholarship. You’ll get to hear how all of these pieces are tied together via the sound of Dorian.

What else is inside Enjoy the Dorian Mode

• Sea shanties, Gregorian chants, troubadour ballads, folk songs, a folk dance, a slow air, sacred harp, and more.

• Explanation of what characterizes a Dorian piece, with special attention to how Dorian differs from natural minor.

• Tips for modifying and creating your own arrangements.

• The answer to the question, “Does Dorian start on D?”

• Instructions for determining if a piece is in Dorian.

• 137 pages.

• Click a purchase option below to see the table of contents and sample pages.

Enjoy the Dorian Mode contains practical information for all musicians and is written especially for harpers. Dorian arrangements have no sharps or flats (D Dorian). The Mixolydian lead sheets have one sharp (D Mixolydian). The Aeolian lead sheets have one flat (D Aeolian). In some cases, I have provided Ionian examples with two sharps (D Ionian).

The lowest note on the arrangements is the C below middle C. The highest note is three Es above middle C.

Praise for Enjoy the Dorian Mode

“After the success of Karen Peterson’s Enjoy the Modes, where she gives an extensive overview of all of the modes, Karen has given the harp world another great book!!! Enjoy the Dorian Mode takes a deeper look into the mode, and Karen includes 26 of her arrangements in D Dorian. It is a varied and interesting collection of songs.

“Karen includes detailed instructions on playing and understanding the arrangements. She also encourages and gives tools for taking her arrangements and adding your own choices to them! I love this collection because you could just play the songs and have nice additions to your repertoire or play and expand your knowledge of the Dorian mode at the same time!!! Here’s hoping Karen continues giving the rest of the modes a spotlight!” — Robbin Gordon-Cartier➚, harp teacher, performer, and presenter

“Karen Peterson’s new book, Enjoy the Dorian Mode, is a comprehensive tutorial in understanding and crafting arrangements with a modal feel. She has an engaging selection of folk songs scored for harp in D Dorian (no sharps or flats). Through creative arrangements, she points out chords that emphasize or shade the modal feel. Included are Aeolian (natural minor) and Mixolydian versions of each tune—demonstrating how to change the mode in a musical way.

“Karen uses different type styles (color, italics, bold) to show at a glance the significance of each chord (main chord, alternate chord, etc.). All the chords also list their Roman numerals which helps translate the progressions to other key signatures. Although arranged for harps, this book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in modal music.

“Karen uses whimsical comparisons and suggestions to create context and build musical skills. Therapeutic musicians use different modes as a tool in their work. This book gives generous resources in useful tunes and how to change them into other modes. Highly recommended!” — Karen Ashbrook, CMP, creator of the Mystery of Modes workshops➚ and Dulcimer with Heart➚

“Karen Peterson’s Enjoy the Dorian Mode is an excellent follow-up to her Enjoy the Modes book. With her treatment of 26 diverse tunes, Karen has taken a serious, yet fun, approach to what may be the least well known of the four commonly used modes. Get Enjoy the Dorian Mode. You’ll love it!” — Ivan Bradley, multi-instrumentalist

“Karen Peterson’s Enjoy the Dorian Mode is an excellent resource for any musician seeking to expand his/her repertoire with unexpected musical gems. Karen is an excellent musician, teacher, and writer. She combines these skills in her books—both Enjoy the Dorian Mode and Enjoy the Modes—by explaining concepts in detail, while at the same time giving the experienced musician, whom she often refers to as ‘music theory superfans’ the permission to move on to the next section, or to go to later chapters that explain concepts in greater detail.

“The music in Enjoy the Dorian Mode has been carefully chosen, all from the public domain. Karen presents the melody and accompaniment in D Dorian, followed by an explanation of the melody’s history and text. She offers options for setting its mood and creating your own arrangement for those who so choose. The D Dorian arrangement is followed by lead sheets for the same melody in D Aeolian and D Mixolydian with relevant information for playing in those modes.

“The music and information in Karen’s books are written with the therapeutic musician in mind. However, Karen encourages each person’s own creativity and adaptation based on her/his own needs. Although written for harp, Karen’s music can be easily adapted by musicians who play other instruments, e.g., keyboard or even single-line melody instruments such as flute or violin.” — Anna Belle O’Shea, CMP, flutist and pianist, student of harp

Two ways to purchase Enjoy the Dorian Mode

Click either option to see the table of contents, list of songs, and sample pages from the book:

For an overview and comparison of the Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian modes, check out my book Enjoy the Modes. If you’re very new to modes, check out my list of free modes resources, which has links to videos and other books.