What are modes of limited transposition?
Q: What are modes of limited transposition?
A: Modes of limited transposition are a kind of musical scale that was used by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. They have a few (usually two or three) transpositions and each transposition is a different combination of notes.
Q: How many transpositions does a major scale have?
A: A major scale has twelve different transpositions, meaning it can start on any of the twelve notes (C, C#, D, D# etc.).
Q: How many transpositions does a chromatic scale have?
A: A chromatic scale only has one transposition since it uses every note. This means that it can start on any note and will be the same combination of notes.
Q: What is the whole tone scale?
A: The whole tone scale rises by a whole tone each time and has two transpositions. It was used by Glinka, Liszt and Debussy. Messiaen called it the first mode of transposition.
Q: What is Messiaen’s second mode called?
A: Messiaen's second mode is also called the “octatonic scale” and rises by alternating semitone, tone, semitone, tone etc..
Q: How many total transpositions does Messiaen's third mode have?
A: Messiaen's third mode rises by a pattern of tone, semitone, semitone and has four total transpositions.
Q:What did Messiaen like about these modes?
A:Messiaen liked these modes because there is no note which sounds like the starting note; all the notes sound equal so he described them as having "the charm of impossibilities."
