Modes
Modes are basically repurposed uses of existing scales by altering which note is used as the tonic. The most common mode is the Aeolian, which uses the 6th note of the major scale as its root. As we've already studied, this is the natural minor scale.
Contents
PreReqs
- Music Theory Basics - major scale
- Music Theory - Minor Keys
- Modulation
Disambiguation with Historical Connotations
Historically in music, the term mode (modus in Latin) was used to refer to various common practices in music, such as common rhythms, etc. See Wikipedia for more information. We are only focused on the repurposed scales. Historically, there have been 3 separate times and locations where this has occurred. One is the Greeks, and one is the medieval churches in the West. We are not concerned with these, as their basic foundation of music theory and scales tend to differ from the ones we have learned. That leaves us with the "Modern" conception/usage of modes.
Common Modes
Given the standard 7-note Major scale, we can start/end melodic phrases on any of the particular notes, treating them as the tonic. These are named the following:
| Mode Name | Tonic's Location in Maj. Scale |
whole/half pattern | Uni | m2 | M2 | m3 | M3 | P4 | d5 | P5 | m6 | M6 | D7 | M7 | Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | I | w-w-h-w-w-w-h | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Dorian | II | w-h-w-w-w-h-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Phrygian | III | h-w-w-w-h-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Lydian | IV | w-w-w-h-w-w-h | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Mixolydian | V | w-w-h-w-w-h-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Aeolian | VI | w-h-w-w-h-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Locrian | VII | h-w-w-h-w-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
So if we used the scale of notes from the key of C Major, the Ionian mode uses C as the tonic. C Ionian is the same as our normal C Major key. Aeolian uses A as the tonic, which is the same as A natural minor. The others we are less familiar with. But starting on D would be Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, and B Locrian.
Notice how as the modes progress from I to VII, the whole-half patterns and interval chart seems to move diagonally from top right to bottom left. Yet if you simply look at the interval chart from line to line, the changes seem fairly random. Once they are arranged in fifths, however, they become more ordered.
Here's some more tables for reference to wrap your head around this.
Same table but arranged in fifths
| Mode Name | Tonic's Location in Maj. Scale |
whole/half pattern | Uni | m2 | M2 | m3 | M3 | P4 | d5 | P5 | m6 | M6 | D7 | M7 | Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lydian | IV | w-w-w-h-w-w-h | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Ionian | I | w-w-h-w-w-w-h | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Mixolydian | V | w-w-h-w-w-h-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Dorian | II | w-h-w-w-w-h-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Aeolian | VI | w-h-w-w-h-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Phrygian | III | h-w-w-w-h-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Locrian | VII | h-w-w-h-w-w-w | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Tonic's Location in Maj. Scale |
Mode Name | whole/half pattern | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | I | w-w-h-w-w-w-h | ||||||
| Dorian | II | w-h-w-w-w-h-w | b | b | ||||
| Phrygian | III | h-w-w-w-h-w-w | b | b | b | b | ||
| Lydian | IV | w-w-w-h-w-w-h | # | |||||
| Mixolydian | V | w-w-h-w-w-h-w | b | |||||
| Aeolian | VI | w-h-w-w-h-w-w | b | b | b | |||
| Locrian | VII | h-w-w-h-w-w-w | b | b | b | b | b |
Same table but arranged in fifths
| Tonic's Location in Maj. Scale |
Mode Name | whole/half pattern | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lydian | IV | w-w-w-h-w-w-h | # | |||||
| Ionian | I | w-w-h-w-w-w-h | ||||||
| Mixolydian | V | w-w-h-w-w-h-w | b | |||||
| Dorian | II | w-h-w-w-w-h-w | b | b | ||||
| Aeolian | VI | w-h-w-w-h-w-w | b | b | b | |||
| Phrygian | III | h-w-w-w-h-w-w | b | b | b | b | ||
| Locrian | VII | h-w-w-h-w-w-w | b | b | b | b | b |
| Ionian | Dorian | Phrygian | Lydian | Mixolydian | Aeolian | Locrian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-A-D or A-D-G patterns |
|-|o|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|o|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|o|-| |
|o|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |x|o|-|o|-| |
|-|o|x|-|-| |-|o|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|o|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|o|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |x|-|o|o|-| |
|o|-|x|-|-| |o|o|-|o|-| |x|o|-|o|-| |
| w/ Flats and Sharps rel. to Major |
|-|o|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|b|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|b|-| |
|b|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|b|-| |x|b|-|b|-| |
|-|o|x|-|-| |-|#|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|b|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|-|o| |x|-|o|-|o| |
|b|-|x|-|-| |o|-|o|b|-| |x|-|o|b|-| |
|b|-|x|-|-| |o|b|-|b|-| |x|b|-|b|-| |
| Open Position Using C Maj. Scale |
o|o|-|o| o|x|-|o| o|-|o|-| o|-|o|o| o|-|o|x| o|o|-|o| |
o|o|-|o| o|o|-|x| o|-|o|-| x|-|o|o| o|-|o|o| o|o|-|o| |
x|o|-|o| o|o|-|o| o|-|o|-| o|-|x|o| o|-|o|o| x|o|-|o| |
o|x|-|o| o|o|-|o| o|-|o|-| o|-|o|x| o|-|o|o| o|x|-|o| |
o|o|-|x| o|o|-|o| x|-|o|-| o|-|o|o| o|-|o|o| o|o|-|x| |
o|o|-|o| o|o|-|o| o|-|x|-| o|-|o|o| x|-|o|o| o|o|-|o| |
o|o|-|o| x|o|-|o| o|-|o|-| o|-|o|o| o|-|x|o| o|o|-|o| |
| Open Position w/ C as Root |
o|o|-|o|-| o|x|-|o|-| o|-|o|-|-| o|-|o|o|-| o|-|o|x|-| o|o|-|o|-| |
||o|-|o|-| ||x|-|o|o| o|-|o|o|-| o|o|-|o|-| o|o|-|x|-| ||o|-|o|-| |
||o|-|o|o| ||x|o|-|o| o|o|-|o|-| ||o|-|o|-| ||o|-|x|o| ||o|-|o|o| |
o|-|o|o|-| o|x|-|o|-| o|-|o|-|-| o|-|o|-|o| o|-|o|x|-| o|-|o|o|-| |
o|o|-|o|-| ||x|-|o|-| o|-|o|o|-| o|-|o|o|-| o|o|-|x|-| o|o|-|o|-| |
||o|-|o|o| ||x|-|o|o| o|-|o|o|-| o|o|-|o|-| ||o|-|x|-| ||o|-|o|o| |
||o|o|-|o| ||x|o|-|o| ||o|-|o|-| ||o|-|o|o| ||o|-|x|o| ||o|o|-|o| |
Why/When to Use Modes
Ionian and Aeolian are the major and minor scales, respectively. We should be quite familiar with their sound and impact on us musically by now. 4 of the other 5 modes differ from either Ionian or Aeolian by only one note and can be considered synthetic scales that retain most of the core impact of those scales but provide a slightly different color. They are often termed as "moody". These can easily substitute for the major or minor scale for the given key, provided that the current harmony does not cause their use to become too dissonant. The other mode, Locrian, shares most notes with the minor scale. It additionally has a m2 like Phrygian, but the biggest difference from all the other modes is that it has a diminished 5th. This can give it a very unsettling feel and can be substituted for minor, when Phrygian isn't enough.
| Mode | Comparison |
|---|---|
| Ionian | Major Scale |
| Dorian | Minor Scale w/ ♯6th |
| Phrygian | Minor Scale w/ ♭2nd |
| Lydian | Major Scale w/ ♯4th |
| Mixolydian | Major Scale w/ ♭7th |
| Aeolian | Minor Scale |
| Locrian | Diminished 5th |
So let's look at some example progressions:
C F G C Ionian Mixolydian Lydian Ionian
Here we have a standard I - IV - V - I progression in C Major. The C major scale = C Ionian. This has the B - C leading tone, as well as the P5 G, solidly establishing the tonality of C. We start on C Ionian over the C major chord to root the piece in C Major. When the F major chord occurs, we switch to C Mixolydian. F consists of the P4, M6, and M2 notes from C Major. Mixolydian shares all the notes of C Major with the exception of the M7. C Mixolydian has a ♭7. While this doesn't create any severe dissonance with the chord, it certainly shakes up the tonality a little bit. Similarly, over G Major we use C Lydian, which shares all the same notes as C Major except it has an A4 instead of P5. C Lydian is actually equivalent to G Major. It feels like a modulation to G, but then when we return to the C Major chord in the harmony, we revert back to C Ionian.
Pitch Axis Theory
Pitch Axis is a method of composition that tends to retain a common root note across a chord progression, simply changing the quality and embellishments of the chord. A sample sequence could be A, Am, A°, A+. No single scale contains all these chords. Instead, one could use the A Ionian, Lydian, or Mixolydian over A. Then A Dorian, Phrygian, or Aeolian over Am. Then A Lydian or Locrian over A°. And finally A Harmonic Major, Augmented, or Whole Tone over A+ (those are technically not modes based on the major scale, but still scales with a tonic note of A).
This approach really emphasizes the changes in how the root note is approached and how it interacts with the other notes. It can feel almost like a random modulation, but the common root note ties it together and makes for quite adventurous progressions and melodies.
Homework
- Know the names of all 7 modes of the common heptatonic scale.
- Know the whole-half step patterns of all 7 modes.
- Know each mode in terms of flatting or sharping notes of the major or natural minor scales.
- Practice all 7 modes of C Major in open position, starting and stopping on the root of the mode.
- Practice all 7 modes in open position using a root of C.
- Understand pitch axis theory. Create your own progression and practice changing modes with a common root over the progression.