Stage 12 · Advanced
The Modes Archipelago
The seven modes, harmonic and melodic minor, and the ii–V–I
Seven islands built from the same material, each with its own landscape. You learn to hear modes by their characteristic note, play them over vamps, the minor scales and the ii–V–I.
Stops in this stage
- What are modes?Relative and parallel: the same scale from another centre.
- Dorian and MixolydianThe modes of rock, funk and blues.
- Lydian, Phrygian and LocrianBrightness, darkness and extreme tension.
- Modal vamps and the characteristic noteHow to make a mode sound like itself.
- Harmonic and melodic minorThe leading note in minor and its consequences.
- The ii–V–IThe most important progression in jazz, in major and minor.
- Milestone: The Modes ArchipelagoReview, practical challenge and self-assessment to close the stage with everything you learned.