The hidden power of Modes

Click here for the general overview

In the previous Pomodoro, we learned quite some stuff :

1. A scale or key is called “major” or “minor” solely on the ground of it’s third ! If the third is major (2 steps), then the whole scale or key is major. If it’s minor (1 + 1/2 steps), then the whole scale or key is minor.
2. There are 3 minor scales :
   1. The natural or relative minor scale, which is the ordinary diatonic scale, but starting from the 6th note.
   2. The harmonic minor scale, which is the natural minor, but with the 7th note raised. This scale is used in jazz only for making chords in minor keys.
   3. The melodic minor scale, which is the same as the major key of the same root, but with it’s 3rd lowered from major to minor.
3. The natural or relative minor scale is used to determine in which key a piece of music is written. Thus, the key signature of a song can signify a major key, or the relative minor key. E.g. 2 flats means : the key of Bb major OR G minor !

So, the relative minor key plays an important role. And as we know, the relative minor key is just the diatonic scale starting from the 6th note as being the root.

That’s why there are discussions about this “scale”. Some people say that the relative minor is not a scale on its own, but only a derivative – or mode - of the major diatonic scale. Other people will argue that the relative minor is a scale in its own right, because it uses another pattern than the major diatonic scale, in other words : it stacks the tones and half-tones differently.

It’s certainly not up to me to decide who’s right or wrong (it’s a matter of semantics anyway). The only important thing to remember is that you can start the diatonic scale on any of its notes as the root, and that this is called a mode.

Since there are 7 notes, there are also 7 modes. Each mode has its own name, and will be either major or minor according to its 3rd interval. Just a warning ahead : the names are a bit strange ! (source : Wikipedia)

Name	Starting from note	Example in the key of C	Particularity
Ionian	1	C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C	this is the “normal” major key
Dorian	2	D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D
Phrygian	3	E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E
Lydian	4	F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F
Myxolydian	5	G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G
Aeolian	6	A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A	this is the relative minor key
Locrian	7	B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B

So, let’s try an example in another key. What notes would you play in the Lydian mode in the key of D ?

Think about it for a minute (and write it down) before you read the answer below…

Well, the key of D is : D – E – F# – G – A – B – C# – D
The Lydian mode takes the 4th note as root, which is G.
So, the Lydian mode in the key of D is : G – A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G

Do you want another one ? Ok, how about this : the Dorian mode in the key of G ?

Answer : A – B – C – D – E – F# – G – A. Why ? The Dorian mode start on the 2nd note, which is A in the key of G. And since we are in the key of G, we must play F#.

Now, the first question you probably ask yourself, and it’s a very pertinent one, is : what is the use of modes ?

To be honest, I’m a bit confused myself on the subject. For me however, they serve 2 purposes : a harmonic and a melodic one.

As far as the harmonic use is concerned, modes will come in very handy when we’ll start talking about building chords in the next Pomodoros. Indeed, you can see them as “chord-specific scales”.

On the melodic field, I’m a little less confident. So far, I used them to look for variations for melodies or solos. I’ll explain that a bit later, so please just read on, and I think you’ll find lots of fun using modes.

First, let’s look at another important question. And that is whether the mode is major or minor. As we know, a scale or key, is major or minor depending on its major or minor third. The same goes for a mode.

Let’s take the key of C as an example (see table above).

The Ionian mode is the “normal” key with the interval C – E as the third. It’s a major third, so the Ionian mode is a major mode. This comes as no surprise, because it is the major key !

The Dorian mode is a minor mode, because the interval D – F is a minor third.

The Phrygian mode is also a minor mode, because of the minor third E – G.

And so on and so forth. Try to figure out for all the modes if they are major and minor yourself before you read the answer below :

Mode	Major/minor
Ionian	Major
Dorian	Minor
Phrygian	Minor
Lydian	Major
Myxolydian	Major
Aeolian	Minor (of course ! It’s the relative minor !)
Locrian	Minor (diminished)

The major/minor characteristic of a mode is NOT dependent of the key ! For instance, the Lydian mode (mode IV) will always be major, in the key of C, G, Bb, or any other key !

So, modes I, IV and V are major, and II, III, VI and VII are minor. (Lame joke alert : the majority of modes is minor). The VII mode, Locrian, is even more than minor, it’s diminished, but we’ll talk about that in the next Pomodoro.

Now, before we see how we can use modes to look for variations in melodies or solos, there’s a last point, and that’s the “lingo” musicians use.

As a shorthand, musicians will say “G Lydian”. What they mean is : play the Lydian mode, with G as the root of the mode. Since Lydian is the 4th mode, we know that G must be the fourth note in the major scale. That major key can only be D (there are no other keys with G as the 4th note !). That means that you play : G – A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G. (The key of D has 2 sharps : F# and C#).

What they DON’T mean with “G Lydian” is : play the Lydian mode of the key of G. The 4th note in the key of G is C. That would give : C – D – E – F# – G – A – B – C. Totally different !

Now that we gathered all this knowledge, let’s start applying it. Like I said, my experience with modes is limited, so far I only used it to experiment and find variations for melodies or solos. But it is fun ! Let’s take the example of “Happy Birthday”.

This is the normal version (in the key of C) :

In order to find a variation, in the first complete bar, in stead of playing C Ionian (the “normal” major mode), you could play C Myxolydian. Since Myxolydian means starting from the 5th note, we have to look for the key in which C is the 5th note, which is the key of F. The key of F has 1 flat note : Bb. So, you could play this :

I changed only 1 note : the 3rd note in the first bar. In stead of the plain root C, I changed into a more colorful Bb, which comes from the Myxolydian mode.

If you play this, and you listen carefully, this tiny variation asks for another change : the 3rd note of the 3rd bar. There you can change the D in B :

No, you didn’t use another mode, you stayed in the Ionian mode.

But what we get here is a “chromatic” pattern as the transition between 2 bars : from bar 1 to bar 2 we use Bb – B, which is a half-step distance. And from bar 3 to bar 4 we use B – C, again a half-step distance. Using half-step patterns like this (upwards or downwards) is called “chromatic”, because the chromatic scale consists of only half steps !

Wow, all this because I changed only 1 little note using a different mode ! That is indeed the melodic power of modes.

But why did I choose the Myxolydian mode, and not any other ?

Well, like I said, my experience is limited. What I do is switch a major mode for a major mode, and a minor for a minor. Let me explain with the example above. The first bar is in a major mode : Ionian, the normal major key. So I have only 2 other major modes I can use : the Lydian and the Myxolydian. There were a couple of choices available : changing the G to F# (Lydian mode), the A to a Bb (Myxolydian mode) or changing the C to Bb (also Myxolydian mode). I tried them all, and it was the last variation that sounded best to me. Like I said : lots of fun !

Being a bluegrass banjo player, my experience so far is limited to major modes, but jazz musicians use the minor modes a lot. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise : with 3 minor scales, and 4 minor modes to choose from, it almost seems you can’t play a wrong note in minor !

Now, the last bit of this extra-long Pomodoro is how you can easily learn the various modes. If you see “D Dorian”, how do you know practically instantly what notes are involved ?

Well, you could do the arithmetic as we did above several times. But I use an mnemonic, called LIMDAPL. This mnemonic is based on the fact that for the same root, there’s only 1 note that changes per mode. The modes are ordered from the “most major” to the “most minor” :

Mode	Example with root C	Change in relation to Ionian (“normal” major)
Lydian	C – D – E – F# – G – A – B – C	augmented 4
Ionian	C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C	--
Myxolydian	C – D – E – F – G – A – Bb – C	dropped 7
Dorian	C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb – C	dropped 7, dropped 3
Aeolian	C – D – Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C	dropped 7, dropped 3, dropped 6
Phrygian	C – Db – Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C	dropped 7, dropped 3, dropped 6, dropped 2
Locrian	C – Db – Eb – F – Gb – Ab – Bb – C	dropped 7, dropped 3, dropped 6, dropped 2, dropped 5

If you take the first letter of the modes, you get the acronym “LIMDAPL”. But more importantly, you can use this to immediately figure out what notes you have to play. Say for example “A Dorian”.

The normal Ionian mode would be : A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A.

But with Dorian mode I know : dropped 7, dropped 3.

So that makes : A – B – C – D – E – F# – G – A.

That’s why some teachers will insist that you don’t only practice the “normal” scale on your instrument, but also the modes for the same root (e.g. C Lydian, C Ionian, C Myxolydian, C Dorian, C Aeolian, C Phrygian, C Locrian) to get them into your “muscle memory”.

Well, this is all I know about modes. I’m pretty sure there are other areas in which you can use them, but I haven’t explored them yet. If I ever do, I’ll make sure to brag blog about it !

In the next Pomodoro, we will make use of the modes to build chords. I promise, it will be a much more simple topic !