What does it mean for a mode to be "tonally effective"?
The web site www.tonalcentre.org states that there are only two "tonally effective" modes of the diatonic scale (viz., the Ionian and Aeolian modes) [http://www.tonalcentre.org/Scales.html] and that there is only one "tonally effective" mode of the harmonic minor scale (viz., its first mode, i.e., the harmonic minor scale itself) [http://www.tonalcentre.org/Harmonicmi.html]. It indicates that, to be tonally effective, a mode must: "support a tonic triad. That is, it must have a chord which serves as a chord of rest and completion, as the tonal centre against which all the other triads are measured and towards which all gravitate."
I find this definition to be ambiguous, and I have not found any other definitions. I wonder, for example, why D Dorian mode does not "support" Dmin as its tonic triad?
Could somebody please clarify the definition of "tonally effective"? Thanks.
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I think he's got the right answer but the wrong reason. There's no problem hearing a tonic as 'home' in any of the modes. But tonal harmony is all about dominant-tonic relationships, about there being a chord that has a strong tendency TOWARDS the tonic. You need a major dominant chord, containing the leading note a semitone below the tonic, and all the better if it has a minor 7th to complete the tritone.
This only happens in Ionian and Aeolian (harmonic) modes. Which is why those two have been promoted from 'mode' to 'key' status, and are the basis of Common Practice music.
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