Modes Parts 1 - 9

[DavidP]

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

I Like Mal. Doesn’t Angus Play Lead ?

Ionian Lydian Mixolydian Dorian Aeolian Phrygian Locrian ? There begins and ends my knowledge of modes. Somewhat useable knowledge Ionian = the major scale

Keep on rocking in the southern world, The Mad Mixo Kid

[TheMadman_tobyjenner]

@DavidP

Ionian Lydian Mixolydian Dorian Aeolian Phrygian Locrian ?

You got it David, its the order in which Richard presents them as parallel modes. And understanding how that applies to finding them on the C of F for any given Key, I needed another phrase to remember the sequence. Also note in parallel its the 3 Major Modes followed by the 3 minor and the cool on last or weird as Mr C would call it.

So for serial modes you should be able to deduce :

I Dont Play Like MAL

[Richard_close2u]

@DarrellW

Great illustrations, really interesting!

Thanks @DarrellW

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

So from I Dont Play Like MAL for the order of Serial Modes…

Modes in Series:
Ionian
Dorian
Phrygian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian
Locrian
Yup!

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

I Like Mal. Doesn’t Angus Play Lead ? for the parallel order.

Modes in Parallel … mmmh … I threw you a curve ball here didn’t I rather? I rotated one space clockwise from Ionian, went back to Ionian (which I referred to as zero / default) then began rotating anticlockwise, giving Modes in Parallel:
Ionian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Dorian
Aeolian
Phrygian
Locrian
Yes, according to the presentation above. There is a case to be made that Lydian could come first, then Ionian second, if we took the furthest most cluster of notes as a start point and then only considered rotation in one direction from there (anticlockwise rotations all the way).

That modest alteration would give:
Lydian
Ionian
Mixolydian
Dorian
Aeolian
Phrygian
Locrian

L-I-M-D-A-P-L

Make somethning of that !!

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

in parallel its the 3 Major Modes followed by the 3 minor

Yes. Another benefit and advantage I see in adopting the parallel perspective.

[TheMadman_tobyjenner]

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

I Like Mal. Doesn’t Angus Play Lead

Like I’m Mad. Does Angus Play Locrian ?

And that will work on my C of F app, as long as I remember to place the Key/Root at 11am !!
Off for a lay down.

[Richard_close2u]

@TheMadman_tobyjenner

as long as I remember to place the Key/Root at 11am

That’s early in the morning for some loud rocking!!

[sairfingers]

@Richard_close2u

• if you can’t yet read the words you can simply enjoy the illustrations!

After reading all this I’m off for a lie down. Lovely pictures!

[Eccleshall]

Thanks to a question on the recent University Challenge final I now have a great way to remember that distinctive but angular and tricky to sing sounding Lydian Mode
It’s the Simpson’s Theme tune ( Starts C E F# A G E)
D’Oh!

[Eccleshall]

I reckon the reason Locrian doesn’t get used is because it is the only mode that doesn’t have a major dominant. The dominant to tonic interval or V - I cadence is so important to western music that it’s easy to see that a scale without that feature becomes an unattractive prospect for music makers.
And I think bands like Sabbath that used the flat fifth a lot, didn’t play in ‘chords in the key’ of Locrian

[Richard_close2u]

@Eccleshall

I reckon the reason Locrian doesn’t get used is because it is the only mode that doesn’t have a major dominant.

That’s an interesting observation which I hadn’t noticed before. I didn’t really look past the fact of it having a very unstable tonic chord - diminished chords simply do not sound like home base, as a place of resolution, to my ears.

[bblak]

I work on resigning myself to the parallel naming convention, even though lines sharing a vertex cannot, by definition, be parallel unless vectoring 180º.

Relative modes on the other hand, are indeed parallel. Slip sliding parallel.

musings from my head.

Edit add:

let me add I’ve struggled hopelessly at times over 6y or so to understand this stuff. It started to come together finally about a year ago with the help of more thorough on line site that explained it fully. Successively playing relative modes around a circle sounded just that - major scale. Parallel modes with an open drone note of A, E or D then allowed me to hear a real mode in context harmonically.

Your explanations are taking this to the next level still for me in terms of clarity with no ambiguity. So much on line leave out contextual detail entirely and muddy the waters terribly.

Great stuff, thanks for posting all this.

[Richard_close2u]

Modes Part 4 - Modal Melodies: the sound of the modes?

It is time to involve the ears in our cognition.

We are going to hear seven parallel modes, all with root note C. First in a simple ascending and descending sequence. Then in a three-note sequence formed from playing three notes up, going back two, three notes up, going back two and so on. This inverts once the upper most note of the pattern is reached. These may still sound like the scale exercises / etudes I decried earlier when discussing modes in series. However, I hope that this time, a distinct difference in character and the unique flavour of each mode becomes just that bit more evident in the eras.
We are going to start with the Lydian mode - the mode found when the modal frame holding a seven-note cluster was rotated to its furthest point clockwise. We will work anticlockwise, ending with Locrian. The order will be:
Lydian
Ionian
Mixolydian
Dorian
Aeolian
Phrygian
Locrian

[Richard_close2u]

The C Lydian Mode

—

C Lydian ascending and descending

C Lydian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Ionian Mode

—

C Ionian ascending & descending

C Ionian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Mixolydian Mode

—

C Mixolydian ascending and descending

C Mixolydian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Dorian Mode

—

C Dorian ascending and descending - audio file

C Dorian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Aeolian (natural minor) Mode

—

C Aeolian ascending and descending

C Aeolian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Phrygian Mode

—

C Phrygian ascending and descending

C Phrygian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

The C Locrian Mode

—

C Locrian ascending and descending

C Locrian ascending and descending 3-in-a-line

[Richard_close2u]

Modal Melodies

We have heard the modal scales played in sequence. Hopefully your ears are beginning to discern some differences between them. We now progress to some modal melodies.

I created a fairly simple melody. I was not looking to write the world’s greatest, most memorable melody for a worldwide chart hit. I merely wanted something that moved around the scale, using the notes.

The first example you will hear uses the Lydian mode with its sharp 4 (#4). This is often considered the ‘brightest’ mode. You will then hear how the melody changes as, one at a time to take it from mode to mode, one note is flattened. The order follows that above.

Lydian melody

Ionian melody

Mixolydian melody

Dorian melody

Aeolian melody

Phrygian melody

Locrian melody

[Richard_close2u]

Now, just for a bit of silliness, and to illustrate one way that modes can be made to sound awkward and wrong, I present some variations on a tune. A well-known tune. This time going from Lydian to Locrian. Apologies if you had managed to put festive thoughts away for the year.

Ding Dong Lydian

Ding Dong Ionian … the true scale for this tune.

Ding Dong Mixolydian

Ding Dong Dorian

Ding Dong Aeolian

Ding Dong Phrygian

Ding Dong Locrian

Crikey! That was something wasn’t it? Wow.