Parent Major Scales
At the very start of our journey we saw modes in series. The C Major scale was the start point. There followed a succession of modes, in series, called D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian and B Locrian.
The amazing – although sometimes confusing and sometimes irrelevant – fact about all of those modes is they all share the exact same seven notes. Without exception. In other words, they all share the same Parent Major Scale. They all have C major as their Parent Major Scale. Sometimes called PMS.
The C major scale is the ‘parent’ of C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian etc.
The chords of C major are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim respectively. In turn, those are also the chords of each of the modes derived in series from the C major scale - albeit with the chords occupying different positions. When viewing the modes sequentially in series, the major scale notes move along one place, therefore so do the chords rooted on those notes.
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Back to the modes in parallel of our study – all having root note C. Clearly (I hope), C major is the Parent Major Scale of C Ionian. What of the other modes? What are their Parent Major Scales? How can we quickly find them?
There are several ways and I am going to refer back to the 12-colour circle of fifths and the seven-sector frames used earlier.
As at the very outset, the start is C Ionian, clockwise to C Lydian and its solitary sharp, then anticlockwise in succession to all other modes with their assortment of flats.
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The C Ionian Mode
Parent Major Scale = C Major
There is something useful to see and use here. This is a crucial point to understand the power of the circle of fifths as a tool to discern the Parent Major Scale of a mode.
C is the Parent Major Scale of the C Ionian mode and its root note can be found in the second sector of the frame when taken clockwise.
For emphasis:
The note in the second sector of the seven-sector frame shows the root note Parent Major Scale.
This holds true for all the modes here.
Let us now run through all seven modes with their seven-sector frames to identify the Parent Major Scales.
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The C Ionian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Ionian = C Major (from the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Ionian and the C major scale are (of course) an exact match.
Note that C is the 1st note of the C major scale and that the Ionian mode is conventionally referred to as the 1st mode.
The chords associated with C Ionian are essentially the chords of C major:
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The C Lydian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Lydian = G Major (G is the note in the second sector clockwise).
G Major scale:
The notes of C Lydian and the G major scale are an exact match.
Note that C is the 4th note of the G major scale here and that the Lydian mode is conventionally referred to as the 4th mode.
The chords associated with C Lydian are the chords of G Major, albeit reordered to have the C-root chord as the tonic chord.
becomes
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The C Mixolydian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Mixolydian = F Major (F is the note in the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Mixolydian and the F major scale are an exact match.
Note that C is the 5th note of the F major scale here and that the Mixolydian mode is conventionally referred to as the 5th mode.
The chords of C Mixolydian are a reordering of the chords of F major.
becomes
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The C Dorian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Dorian = Bb Major (Bb is the note in the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Dorian and Bb major are an exact match.
Note that C is the 2nd note of the Bb major scale here and that the Dorian mode is conventionally referred to as the 2nd mode.
The chords of Bb major give us the chords of C Dorian when rearranged to start with the C-root chord.
becomes
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The C Aeolian (natural minor) Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Aeolian = Eb Major (Eb is the note in the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Aeolian and Eb major are an exact match.
Note that C is the 6th note of the Eb major scale here and that the Aeolian mode is conventionally referred to as the 6th mode.
By shifting the positions of the chords of Eb major, we have the chords of C Aeolian.
becomes
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The C Phrygian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Phrygian = Ab Major (Ab is the note in the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Phrygian and the Ab major scale are an exact match.
Note that C is the 3rd note of the Ab major scale here and that the Phrygian mode is conventionally referred to as the 3rd mode.
Again, taking the chords of the Parent Major Scale we have the chords of the mode.
becomes
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The C Locrian Mode
Use the seven-sector frame to find what we need.
The Parent Major Scale of C Locrian = Db Major (Db is the note in the second sector clockwise).
The notes of C Locrian and the Db major scale are an exact match.
Note that C is the 7th note of the Db major scale here and that the Locrian mode is conventionally referred to as the 7th mode.
The chords of C Locrian can be seen, once more, with a simple reordering of the chords of its Parent Major Scale.
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In summary, in one reference post, bringing all seven modes and their associated chords together, along with their Roman numeral designations, we have:
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We now have seven chords, seven diatonic chords, for each of the seven modes we are exploring.
Great.
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It has been quite a journey to here.
Maybe it is time to get on with making some darn music eh!
Okay - we will do just that in our next instalment.
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Very well presented once more, in nice digestible chunks. Love the modes stacked at the end as an easy reference. Not sure why I missed this starting but as usual a great read, to refresh the grey matter theory.
Thank you !
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Hi Richard,
Oh, this is really great explained, I would have loved to read this when I started with Justin…maybe I’ll post a picture someday (in the LL) of the “schematic” of what I wrote then 
…it’s correct, but,well just for me probably…
This stuff will make people very happy if they make the jump to this, …
And because of a different way of explanation, this refresher course is easier for me to read…
Greetings…
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I thought the same 
… thanks for bringing it up… it’s busy in the community, then you sometimes miss something, especially if you also gotta play guitar in between 
…
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Modes Part 7 - A Simple and Manageable Step Towards Modal Improvisation.
Maybe it is time to get on with making some darn music.
Too right it is. Yes - it is time we turned our attention away from reading and towards doing. We need to pick up our guitars and play something for goodness sake! Make noise. Listen to the sounds. There has been a lot of explanation and not enough exploration so, let’s strap on groovy boots, tune up our guitars and let’s go modal!
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The first task is going to involve playing some simple, improvised leads over a chordal backing track. For the moment the backing tracks will comprise nothing but sustained tonic chords.
- Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian all share the same tonic chord of C major.
- Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian all share a C minor tonic.
- Poor little Locrian is, I’m sad to say, a lonesome outlier and we will ignore it again.
To play our improvisations we will explore playing scale shapes on the guitar – one for each of six modes. To explore those scale shapes in a free-play, no rules, no restrictions kind of way. Apart, that is, from some very tight limitations on the total number of notes to use. We stick to the scale patterns provided and try not to stray from them. Not yet anyway – that comes later.
This imposed limitation will help us keep things simple, focussed and accessible as a starting point. The scale shapes are all in a similar place on the guitar fretboard with a one octave scale pattern to use and play with.
We need a simple backing track that plays just the appropriate tonic chord – either C major (for Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian) or C minor (for Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian). Make one yourself if you have a looper or DAW. I am providing a 32-bar (1 min 28 sec) backing track for both types to begin.
We will start the major modes with Ionian (THE major scale). The sound of the major scale should be such a familiar one that this will feel immediately safe and secure.
Then the other two major modes, Lydian and Mixolydian will follow. Each differs from the Ionian by just one note each. These will be the notes to pay special attention to and use - target notes to add the modal flavours.
When moving on to the minor modes, Aeolian (THE minor scale) is first up. This too should be familiar. The other two minor modes differ from it by just one note each. As above, these need to be targeted and used to bring out the unique character of each mode.
Let’s have at it!
Modal improvising with C Ionian
Yes – this is basically major scale improvising.
If you have followed any of Justin’s teaching on improvising with the major scale, this will be very familiar and comfortable territory. I encourage you to also watch the recent lesson on improvising with Re-Active Listening.
32 bar looped C major chord
Improvise using this scale pattern. The root note is red and all other notes are shown as black. Ionian is a major type so the major 3rd is a good choice to target. The sound of this should be recognisable to your ears.
