In music a modal frame (Van der Merwe 1989) is one of "a number of types permeating and unifying African, European, and American song" (Middleton 1990, p.203). Types include floor note , ceiling note , central note , chant tunes (Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues"), axial tune s ("A Hard Day's Night", "Peggy Sue", Censored page's "Can I Get A Witness", ando Roy Milton 's "Do the Hucklebuck"), oscillating (Rolling Stone's "Jumpin' Jack Flash"), open/closed ("Hey Bo Diddley"), terrace, shout-and-fall, and the ladder of thirds. The modal frame of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night features a ladder of thirds axially centered on G with a ceiling note of Bb and floor note of Eb (the low C being a passing tone): (ibid)

See also tune-family.

Other songs with modal frames indicated:

• "A Day in the Life"
• "My Generation"
• "Peggy Sue"

Source

• Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0335152759.
  • Van der Merwe, P. (1989). Origins of Popular Style. Oxford.