I'm learning myself to play the piano and I was practicing the c-major scale with my left and right hand simultaneously, playing a c-major scale and the same scale one octave higher at the same time. To make things a bit more interesting I started shifting my right hand one step up each time and noticed that it gave some interesting sounds/harmonies. So in fact I was playing the C-major scale (ionian) against all the other church modes.
I was thinking that the octave (C-major scale + C-major scale one octave higher) and the fifth (C-major scale + the mixolydian scale) would sound the most harmonic but to my surprise it was the C-major + the third (in any octave) that sounded incredibly rich and harmonic. In other words the C-major scale played simultaneously with the Phrygian scale, actually playing major and minor thirds alternated sounded most harmonic. And not just a bit more harmonic than the rest but really a dramatic difference. When I play simple melodies like that it sounds incredibly melodic and harmonic to me.
Any thoughts about this? History? pieces of music using this type of harmony?
thanks!
I was thinking that the octave (C-major scale + C-major scale one octave higher) and the fifth (C-major scale + the mixolydian scale) would sound the most harmonic but to my surprise it was the C-major + the third (in any octave) that sounded incredibly rich and harmonic. In other words the C-major scale played simultaneously with the Phrygian scale, actually playing major and minor thirds alternated sounded most harmonic. And not just a bit more harmonic than the rest but really a dramatic difference. When I play simple melodies like that it sounds incredibly melodic and harmonic to me.
Any thoughts about this? History? pieces of music using this type of harmony?
thanks!