Forum Activity for @strumelia

Ed, I like that ! And, there is always someone who plays worse then us, and someone who plays better than us.

Ken, you make some great points. But one problem I have with your definitions criteria is that it calls for everyone to be able to play in more than one style in order to be classified as an intermediate or advanced player. Some folks are very advanced players in their chosen style of playing, -why should they have to be able to play in multiple styles in order to be considered anything other than a beginner? This is definitely not true in the banjo community for example- imagine if all clawhammer players were classified as beginners unless they could play banjo in bluegrass style as well...!

I also feel that 'performing' should not necessarily be a requirement for evaluating players. Some folks don't want to perform for one reason or another, but I feel some of them are highly skilled players regardless of that.

P.S. Dusty, Robin, FF,.... isn't there an old Anglo ballad by the name of "False Nut on the Road" ...?

I'll always be a beginnerat the next level whatever that may be.

Dan said "I met with one of the members of a local dulcimer society, he began with telling me all the things I have to have. My noter and quill was not mentioned. No way I can play chords with first string staple frets....I imagine I too am destined to always being a beginner."

Dan, I know exactly how you feel. For more years than I want to count, every time I met a dulcimer player or group that was the same reaction I received --- you can't do that, you have to play this way, we only play DAd, et cetera ad nauseum .

There is still far too much of that sort of prejudice going on in the dulcimer world today. Unfortunately most of those folks don't read FOTMD or ED, either, to see how the wider world works.

After being insulted, put down and shunned by people and groups like that, I wasn't about to cower in the corner and shut my trap. That's just not me Is it any wonder that I have become such a vocal champion of "playing your way" as well as preserving the more traditional styles -- in particular Noter & Drone. My mission, as such, is to prove to those blatantly wrong self-righteous folks that the dulcimer does not have to be, and never was intended to be, played only DAd tuning and chords and fingerpicking and all that other modern nonsense.

The good thing that's happened over the past few years, and in particular here at FOTMD, is what I've taken to calling the Second Dulcimer Revival -- a.k.a. Dulcimer Revival Part Deux, the Return of Traditional Playing

Dan, you're welcome to share my semi-official moniker: Uncontrite Modal Folker.

Robin, your noter technique is definitely advanced. And hey, no beginner could use a false nut so effectively.

Folkfan, no beginner could talk modes and tunings as clearly and confidently as you do.

I love you both, but y'all are nuts.

I think almost everyone in the dulcimer community is humble about their playing abilities. I take a lot of beginner's workshops for several different reasons. 1) Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. In music, like in sports, having the best grasp possible of the fundamentals of technique is necessitous. 2) How material is presented. If, someday, I ever teach a workshop or two, I like to see how players/instructors I respect present their material to get ideas I can borrow for myself. 3) Learn a new tune, simply, so I can add my own "take" to it later.

Intermediate workshops are for the challenge. I took one last year just for that reason. Wasn't sure about the tune, but I wanted to push the envelope a little (maybe a lot) and get out of my "comfort zone."

An "expert/advanced" workshop, to me, would be a master class where the student and instructor (usually a pro) work on one piece to make it the "best it can be." These are quite common in the classical music world and I've been pleased to see them starting to catch on in our musical world as well.

So, if there's a problem, it could be with people's perceptions of their own abilities and their desire to stay in their comfort zones rather than the terminology regarding the workshop.

My 2 centavos

Robin, your noter technique is definitely advanced. And hey, no beginner could use a false nut so effectively.

Folkfan, no beginner could talk modes and tunings as clearly and confidently as you do.

I love you both, but y'all are nuts.

Sooooooo sad. I'm always a beginner. But I enjoy playing the dang thing my way and for me, myself and I so I guess it doesn't really matter. heheheheee

I dunno...I'm not much for labels. If there's a class with a subject matter of interest to the participant, then take it. Even if it is above or below a particular perceived ability level, there is valuable information to be gained when there is a genuine interest in the material covered. I also feel that personal improvement can be delayed if one consistently stays with classes within their "comfort zone" so to speak. It's refreshing to see folks just step through the door in search of a new challenge. The journey becomes much less mysterious if there is a knowledge of the road ahead. For me personally, I'm too dumb to realize that there is stuff out there that I can't eventually do with a reasonable amount of practice and desire. I say keep it fun, keep it forward, but don't keep it a secret! Share this wonderful instrument with others!

Brian and I host an old-time music camp-out every year, and we get about 250 fiddlers, banjo players, etc.

We host workshops in Fiddle, Guitar, and Banjo, with different respected players teaching every year.

One thing I notice is that the workshops are always full of beginner and intermediate players. But all the 'advanced' players are seldom there- they are out in the campgrounds, just playing music, not taking workshops.

So I too would be interested in seeing who goes to a class aimed at advanced/expert players. Wouldn't they all just be the teachers, playing together?

Most often when a workshop is listed as beginner/intermediate or intermediate/advanced the idea is not that a new, in-between category is created but that the workshop would be appropriate for players of both levels.

Yes, Ken, it appears people don't like the word "expert." But if you change the name to "advanced" we'll find something else to complain about.

So what I'm hearing here is that more people are objecting to my use of the word Expert rather than something else... And not objecting so much to the actual definitions??

Helen - I think if you break things down too far the distinctions begin to blur too much. What distinguishes Beginner from Advanced Beginner? Knowing what VSL stand for? Being able to play two tunes but not three? See what I mean?

Ex = former

Spurt = a drip under pressure

OK... Novice, Intermediate, Advanced then...

Lisa: I know that you know at least 6 tunes from memory! And, except for maybe not up to leaping tall buildings, you surely do meet Expert, not just Intermediate.

I see what you mean, Dusty. But an expert blues or classical guitarist doesn't normally start out studying strictly blues or classical guitar, either. They get a firm foundation in general guitar playing before they start specializing in blues or whatever. I guess my point is that most dulcimer players do not get a firm foundation in the totality that is the dulcimer. And more's the pity...

My definition of a 'professional' dulcimer player is one who makes significant or primary income from teaching, performing, making & selling CDs/DVDs, etc. When I said an expert 'regularly plays solo in public', I didn't mean to imply stage performances, but rather a level of comfort playing in front of others (besides your immediate family and pets). I mean being comfortable enough with one's skills to play for strangers - not in a jam setting, but in a park, at a nursing home, farmer's market, etc. - and not be scared witless.

Well that certainly lets me out...I'll never be an expert!

Heck, I honestly don't even think I meet all the criteria to be an Intermediate!

Hey, I thought an expert was "Someone who knows more and more about less and less until finally they know everything about nothing".

Ken, it would indeed be nice if everyone could adopt a common set of definitions of these terms. If this discussion begins the process whereby such an agreement could be made, you have done the dulcimer world a great service.

Let me complicate things a bit.

There are at least two other terms commonly used in this context: novice and advanced. In fact, I think "advanced" is much more commonly used than "expert." One might still be a student and be "advanced," but your definition of "expert" is what most of us would call a professional. I doubt you will see a workshop advertised for the "expert" level,but you might see it for the "advanced" level.

One reason this issue is complicated and confusing is that although some people come to the dulcimer with no prior experience on any musical instrument, others come as advanced players on other instruments. I was able to tune and change strings before ever holding a dulcimer because I had beenplaying guitars, mandolins,ukuleles and the like for decades. And I could probably play six tunes from memory within a couple of hours of getting my first dulcimer. That ability was not due to some natural gift I have, for believe me, I am not naturally gifted, but simply that I had been playing so many other stringed instruments that I was already familiar with how to play. And the fact that I had read (perhaps a dozen times) your essay"I Just got a Mountain Dulcimer, Now What?" over on ED meant that I was familiar with MD terminology even though I had never held one before. About a month after getting my first dulcimer I attended a festival thinking I was a beginner but was told by people at my first workshop that I was at least intermediate and perhaps even advanced. They were wrong, of course. My knowledge of the fretboard was still in its infancy, for example. But they based that opinion on my comfort fretting, strumming and picking notes and chords. I guess my only point is that any serious definition of these terms for "levels" of playing has to account for those whose technique might be advanced but whose understanding of the instrument is still at a beginner level. In fact, after almost four years I probablystill fit that description. (Maybe the term "novice" could be defined in such a way as to include those new to the dulcimer but familiar with other fretted instruments.)

My only real quarrel with your definition of terms, though, is the insistence that one must be equally familiar with all styles of dulcimer play. Is it not possible for someone to be an expert noter/drone player who knows nothing about chords? Is it not possible to be an expert modern chord player who knows nothing about noter technique? One would not demand that an expert blues guitarist also know how to play classical guitar or that the double bass player in an orchestra also know how to play bluegrass bass.

In various times and places (noticeably when reading festival class descriptions) we have all pondered the meaning of the words Beginner, Intermediate and Expert. In the interest of developing and promoting a Fabianist discussion of the topic, I thought I would post here my own descriptions of those playing distinctions.

Beginner

Someone who cannot tune and re-tune their dulcimer in less than five minutes. Someone who has never changed a string, does not know what kinds and gauges of strings are on their dulcimer, and does not know how to determine what kinds and gauges are necessary. Someone who does not understand common dulcimer terminology. Someone who has begun learning one style of left-hand and right-hand play in one tuning. Someone who cannot play at least three tunes completely through from memory.

Intermediate

Completely at home changing both keys and tunings (DAd to CGG for example) in less than five minutes, and understands the nomenclature of tunings (1-5-8 vs Dorian vs DAC). Can change strings quickly and correctly, and has changed all the strings on their instrument at least twice. Understands and uses common dulcimer terminology. Can demonstrate at least two styles of left-hand and right-hand play, and play at least one tune completely through in each style. Can read tab or SMN, or learn by ear, and plays at least 6 tunes completely through from memory using at least one style of play.

Expert

Someone who has experienced all three major styles of left-hand play, at least two styles of right-hand play, and regularly uses elements of those in his/her personal style and repertoire. Changes and re-tunes naturally. Regularly (at least 6 times a year) performs solo in public. Can play at least twelve tunes completely through from memory using at least two styles of play. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

Let the fur fly!

go slow ..take your time ....as a guitarist I have had to go into the dulce with a blank mind and that I should always have fun and feel the notes

When I got my 1st instrument in Dec 1986, there were quite a few books available. I had Jean Ritchie's Dulcimer Book , and a few others. I knew of no others on the Eastern Shore of Maryland or in lower Delaware who played, so I was on my own. Like Ken, I listened to records of players I liked and players I didn't like. I took something from all. I had one afternoon workshop with Leo Kretzner right after I got my dulcimer. That was all the instruction I'd had 'til 18 months ago. I laid the instrument down for several years, playing maybe once or twice a year at most. I have been playing seriously now for about 18 months. Were I able to go back I would buy the one book I specifically rejected because it didn't have songs in it: In Search of the Wild Dulcimer by Robert Force and Al D'ossche. This is now available from www.robertforce.com as a free download along with its companion: The Wild Dulcimer Songbook . Reading it after I bought a copy at a thrift shop on Mercer Island, Washington, made me want to play the dulcimer again. So I have, and I've increased my instrument collection and, most importantly, I've increased my friends.

Welcome!!

I'm a self-taught traditional noter & drone player. When I started nearly 40 years ago there was only Jean Ritchie's Dulcimer Book , and a few cassettes and records (!!) to listen to. Today you've got a zillion YouTube videos and teaching CDs, some of them by folks here an other well known players and quite good, others not so much.

Lois Hornbostel is a trained teacher, unlike 95% of the other dulcimer teachers out there, and her Classroom Dulcimer book is extremely well written and developed, and I can't recommend it highly enough if you want a good teach-yourself book. www.loishornbostel.com

In the meantime you might want to read the article I wrote here called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms and answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, modes, care and feeding of your new best Friend. It's here:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/i-just-got-a-dulcimer-now-what

Thanks Robin, I always play in a very direct style, and hardly ever play with others, so a lot of that escapes me.

Disregarding what the 'true' mode may be, I do find many tunes are a lot easier to play from one position rather than another

john

As you can see this shows a single setting, but can be translated in to the diatonic world in 3(or 4) different ways. DAD, DAA, DAG,( DAC) and thats without any transposing.

One reason I try not to talk in modes when it is more accurate to talk of gapped scales.

John P - I can understand that. The fact that many, many tunes are 'gapped' (Cripple Creek, Angeline the Baker, Shady Grove, Cluck Old Hen, Buffalo Gals etc etc) is a godsend at old time sessions as it saves a lot of re-tuning. I can play most of the 'standards' in more than one position on the freboard.

But I don't think it is more accurate to talk about gapped scales rather than modes as these aren't really cross modal tunes. They are just tunes that don't use all the notes from their 'home' mode and so you can cheat by moving them around the fretboard. For example, if you start to improvise on Cripple Creek or Angeline the Baker you very quickly realise that their 'home' mode is ionian even though the tunesthemselvescan be played on the mixolidian scale. I've not come across a tune yet that will truely work in more than one mode, when you start to harmonise or improvise they all have their 'home' mode. It is good though to know that you can get away with playing lots of tunes from different start points on the diatonic scale.

Sorry John, didn't mean to sound like I was taking a dig at you

This often happens when we start talking of Modes, there's always this split between one string and three string styles of playing.

john

Sorry if you found that overkill John, to me everything you need to know is contained in that one table, you can dump anything else you've dragged in from the chromatic world.

Are you sure you understand how to tune a dulcimer, and not just learnt a couple of rules of thumb ?

It's a two stage process, first you tune the melody string, then you tune the drones accordingly, why are you expecting the keynote to turn up on the drones(although it usually does), it's the melody string you tune.

SMN is not a precise system by any means, it purports to be a 'one size fits al' but it's not.

Here's the SMN for Pretty Saro :

as you can see this shows a single setting, but can be translated in to the diatonic world in 3(or 4) different ways. DAD, DAA, DAG,( DAC) and thats without any transposing.

One reason I try not to talk in modes when it is more accurate to talk of gapped scales.

john

Quite true Paul - it can be confusing.

You are right the '1' does denote the keynote. Howevera '1' does not always appear as an open string. Some quite common tunings like 5-5-5 (D,d,d played in the key of G ionian from the 3rd fret) or5-5-4 (D-d-c played out of G dorianwith the keynote at the 4th fret) do not have a '1' on the open strings. If you can learn to find the '1', the keynote,by counting up the melody stringit will give you both the key and themodefor every possibletuning.

Paul Certo said:

The original question here was how to determine the keynote when changing from a tuning such as DAD to DGD. Let us not confuse each other with this issue. When we speak of dulcimer tunings as 155,158, 515, etc, the string we designate as "1" is tuned to the key note of the scale that tuning is used to play. To say that tunings don't have key notes is to confuse people. Adding an extra scale to a single tuning by way of the 6+ fret doesn't change the key note, it only allows us to play two modes from one tuning. Both of those modes, ionian and mixolydian, relate to the same Keynote.

While some may understand advanced music theory, many do not. And of those who do not, a good many play very well, and do not allow the lack of college level classes to hinder their enjoyment. Lets keep our answers to the point, and not go too deep. There are many lessons between beginning and advanced theory, those who are missing many of those lessons will become confused.

Paul

Hi John,

Transcribing modal folk tunes into SMN can be a wee bit problematic for us noter drone players as the 'convention' varies (ie. there is no convention!). So a tune that is in the key of A mixolidian mode may appear in SMN written on a key of D signature staff, because that's the scale of notes the mode actually uses although it starts and finishes on A.

http://thesession.org/tunes/7237/7237?print=true

(June Apple - Key of A mixolidian but written in key of D)

However, if you set your drones for key of D according to the key signature and then play the tune as written you will be in the wrong key and mode (because the modes sound is set by its relationship to the drones). This factor doesn't matter to fiddlers (most Appalachian tune SMN is written for/by fiddlers) as they are just playing the melody - so you quite often see key of A mixolidian tunes like June Apple, Red Haired Boy and Old Joe Clark written in the key of D in fiddle books although they are played off the page in the key of A and appear listed under 'Key of A Tunes'.In the same way,key of A Dorian tunes like Shady Grove or Frosty Morning are often witten in the key of G.

http://thesession.org/tunes/6467/6467?print=true

(Cold Frosty Morning - written in the key of G ionian but actually played off the page in the key of A dorian although there is no indication of that fact on the SMN here - a bit of a problem for us noter drone players when selecting drones!)

Alternatively, some transcribers would write a key of A mixolidian tune on a key of A signature staff and then use accidentals to define the mode.

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/session-mandolin-tab/pdf/old_joe_...

(Old Joe Clark - also A mixolidian but this time written in the key of A with accidentals)

The trouble with this approach is that when you get to something like key of A aeolian you end up with accidentals all over the staff and it becomes unreadable - so in that case the tune may be written as the key of C on the staff but would need to be played against A and/or E drones on the dulcimer!!!!!! But you have to know that the tune is in A rather than C, although you are playing the C scale notes and the tune is written on the page in C ionian.

I have also seen some pieces written with a two step variation. So, for example, our key of A aeolian tune may be written in the key of G but with a mixolidian accidental (F sharp moved to F) yet we would need to find key of A drones to play the tune in A aeolian! Some dulcimer teaching books are particulary fond of doing this because they write everything from the key of D staff but may be playing in another key and then find they have to 'accidental' their way around the tune or the 6+.

I think that the most 'dulcimer friendly' SMN I have seen is written in the key signature of the note placed at the 3rd fret (ie key of D key signature for A mixolidian like the first examples above) - but then the true key of the piece is written top left at the start of the tune. So, as an example, 'F Dorian' would be written above a staff showing a key of Eb key signature (the tune being written in Eb) and then you'd know straight away that C and F drones would be OK to play against your melody string tuned to Bb.

There, see how easy it is to play in keys and scales on our little diatonic instrument Its a good job folk music is an aural tradition or you'd need a PhD to play the dulcimer!

Robin

John Hockett said:

I must have said something incorrectly. You make my point but with overkill. Modes is modes, but we play in keys and scales or else we could not transcribe into staff notation.

The original question here was how to determine the keynote when changing from a tuning such as DAD to DGD. Let us not confuse each other with this issue. When we speak of dulcimer tunings as 155,158, 515, etc, the string we designate as "1" is tuned to the key note of the scale that tuning is used to play. To say that tunings don't have key notes is to confuse people. Adding an extra scale to a single tuning by way of the 6+ fret doesn't change the key note, it only allows us to play two modes from one tuning. Both of those modes, ionian and mixolydian, relate to the same Keynote.

While some may understand advanced music theory, many do not. And of those who do not, a good many play very well, and do not allow the lack of college level classes to hinder their enjoyment. Lets keep our answers to the point, and not go too deep. There are many lessons between beginning and advanced theory, those who are missing many of those lessons will become confused.

Paul

Hi John,

This starts to get very complicated if you apply chromatic theory. Trying to squeeze 7 modes into 2 scales gets confusing.

Diatonic theory would say that the modes are based on intervals and, as such, are independent of key. All this means is that the tunings are relative, not absolute. You only need to tie things down to an absolute pitch if you are singing or playing with others.

Here is a chart that is based on intervals :

The 6+ fret comes from superimposing a second fretboard a fifth above the first.
IOW by adding 4 to the home fret you will get an alternative home fret that uses the 6+

e.g Ionian 3+4 (-7) = 0 can be played from the Mixalydian position with a 6+
Mixalydian 0+4 = 4 can be played from the Dorian position with a 6+

Dorian 4+4 (-7) = 1 can be played from the Aeolian position with a 6+
Aeolian 1+4 = 5 can be played from the Phrygian position with a 6+
etc.

john

Thanks Robin, managed to catch the note there.

What a great series The Transatlantic Sessions was, made by BBC Scotland and never originally planned to be shown south of the border, can you believe !

Hi John,

I have come across a few tunes that don't resolve and so the mode (and drone selection) are a bit difficult to spot. The Blackest Crow isone. It sounds like a minor tune but it is an unresolvedmajor key tune that finishes on the 6thnote (and minor chord) leaving everything hanging and in tension! A good versionof the tune to listen to in order to get the sound of thatunresolved ending is the one they played on the Transatlantic sessions.

In fact at the 1.53 mark theyswitch the phrase end note to a major chord, which passesunoticed!

john p said:

Thanks for looking at that Robin, explains to me more of what I'm doing.

I never do resolve the tune, I like to hear it left hanging. I've reduced it to pentatonic, gapped at the 2nd and 5th, so start and end on the same note, It can be played out of the 2nd, 5th or 8th fret like that.

john

Thanks for looking at that Robin, explains to me more of what I'm doing.

I never do resolve the tune, I like to hear it left hanging. I've reduced it to pentatonic, gapped at the 2nd and 5th, so start and end on the same note, It can be played out of the 2nd, 5th or 8th fret like that.

john

Some players use reverse tunings because the strings we have on our dulcimers will not raise or lower enough to use traditional tunings. My normal tuning is DAdd. If I want to play in G, I can't lower or raise my low D string to G. It is easy to lower the middle from A to G, giving me the reverse tuning DGdd. This places my root, G, on the middle string. And many of us do tune the drones to our key, then tune the melody string to the mode we need. But sometimes we have issues with too loose/ too tight strings for the melody strings as well. This can sometimes dictate what keys/modes we can actually reach with certain gauges of strings.

On diatonic instruments,capos not only change the key, they also change the mode. The best way to grasp this concept is to find a book that uses tabs with a capo. It becomes clearer with practice.

Paul

Hi John,

I've just had a look at 'The Curra Road'

Ger Wolfe plays it in the key of C - It is an ionian tune so CGG will work fine. The 'home fret' is the 3rd fret. The tune starts on the 5th fret but resolves to the 3rd the second time through Part A and at the end of Part B.

Robin

[edit] I've recently put up a piece called 'The Curra Road'. Convention would say this is one of the minor modes, but none of the ones I tried really suited the words. I ended up using a simple Ionian tuning, but playing out of the Locrian position (Home = 2nd fret).

john

No capo here, either, Babs. It's not hard to re-tune quickly.

Thanx for the explanation, john p.

Hi Babs,

No, I don't capo - I re-tune my drones. Have a look at this:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/oldstyledronenoterplayers/page/tunings-for-noter-drone-beginner-intermediate

The principle of tuning, which John also mentioned above, is that the drones are there to support the melody whatever key and mode that melody is in.

The thing to get hold of is that the drones don't define the keynote, rather the keynote defines the drones.

The basis for n/d tunings is the Home fret, this is invariably the fret that the tune ends on. and is where you tune your keynote.
IOW, if you tune the melody string to D and then play an Ionian tune, you will be ending on a G, what your guitarist hears.
It's after that you tune the drones. The idea here is to provide a constant reference to this keynote whilst playing, something that can be used to gauge the intervals being used and firmly establish the mode. The octave and the fourth/fifth give the best grounding for this and are usually chosen for the drones.

This is what makes DGD an Ionian tuning, the 'reverse' of the more conventional, and not easilly tuned, GDD

Some tunes you may want to use a cross tuning, where the drones are not where you would conventionally put them. depends on the feel you're aiming at. Regardless, the keynote is always at your Home fret.

[edit] I've recently put up a piece called 'The Curra Road'. Convention would say this is one of the minor modes, but none of the ones I tried really suited the words. I ended up using a simple Ionian tuning, but playing out of the Locrian position (Home = 2nd fret).

john

Hi Ken,

Yep - most of the time I'm playing with the bass string being the 'keynote', but not always. And for the type of playing I do - playing a lot at sessions - I need to know the key I'm playing in and the mode within that key. So I've had to work out a system for understanding tunings that suits my playing - but the system I use for working out tuningsmay notsuit the way others play - and it is not the way that tunings and modes were explained by the likes of Bonnie Carol or Jean Ritchie.

My guitarist friend keeps saying I'm in the key of G when I'm tuned Ddd or DAd. I think there may be two "keynotes" here.

I learned "keynote" as a word in reference to the instrument, not the scale being played on that instrument. "That dulcimer is in the key of D" (and as Bonnie Carol taught decades ago, with dulcimers that refers to the note to which the bass string is tuned); not "I'm playing this song in the key of G".

Hi Ken and Babs,

In some tunings the keynote does not appear in the drones at all. D,d,d may have the keynote of D in the drones or that tuning could be played as the key of G, with the keynote being on the 3rd fret of the melody string and not appear in the drones at all.At least half of the traditionalGalax tunes are in the key of G from d,d,d,d tuning!

Personally, I would not use the term 'keynote' in relation to the drones at all but instead find it on the melody string. For example, for the key of D ionian the keynote is at the 3rd fret on the melody string. The drones will be either the root or the 5th of the D ionian scale - and they will work in any combination. You could have D,A,A or D,d,A or A,d,A or A,A,A - all of those tunings would be key of D ionian tunings and A,A,A would also be key of A mixolidian. They would each have a slightly differnt feel to them but they would all work.

When I'm learning a new tune I always start with the melody string and place the keynote on the correct fret first. So if I was playing in A dorian then I would place an 'a' at the 4th fret (so my string would be tuned to d). My drones would need to be either A or E in any combination A,A or A,E, or E,A or E,E. Depending on the feel I wanted from the tune and the ability of the bass and middle string gauges to reach certasin notes I would decide which drone combination to select.

Robin

The traditional Modal Tunings all have the bass string as the Keynote:
Ionian........DAA
Locrian.......DAB
Aeolian.......DAC
Mixolydian...DAD
Lydian........DAE
Phrygian.....DAF
Dorian........DAG

Bagpipe Tuning.... Ddd and Galax Tuning........ddd, also have the bass string as the Keynote.

There is some Circle of Fifths apparently sound Musical Theory reason why the so-called Reverse tunings (like Reverse Ionian...DGd) can have the keynote on another string. Someoine will surely come along and confuse me again with the reasoning, I'm sure.

Reverse Ionian is the most common middle string keynote tuning, but there are a couple others. But I personally don't use those tunings and have never bothered to absorb the theory.