The modes
The seven scales you get by playing the major scale from each of its degrees, and the note that gives each one its character.
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Content under musical review. It may contain inaccuracies.
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The seven scales you get by playing the major scale from each of its degrees, and the note that gives each one its character.
Applied
Play the notes of C major starting and ending on D instead of C and you get a different scale: the dorian mode. Each of the seven degrees of the major scale produces a mode. The names (ionian, dorian, phrygian…) come from ancient and medieval tradition, although today's modes don't exactly match those of classical Greece.
Same notes, different tonic. First C major (ionian), then D dorian:
Now compare two modes on the same tonic. D aeolian (natural minor) and D dorian differ by just one note:
That major sixth (B) is what makes dorian sound minor but bright.
From brightest to darkest, compared with the major scale:
| Mode | Formula | Characteristic note | Typical chord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lydian | 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 | #4 | maj7, maj7#11 |
| Ionian | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | 4 and 7 | maj7 |
| Mixolydian | 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 | b7 | 7 |
| Dorian | 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 | 6 | m7, m6 |
| Aeolian | 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 | b6 | m7 |
| Phrygian | 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 | b2 | m7, sus |
| Locrian | 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 | b5 | m7b5 |
D dorian on the fretboard:
String 6, Open: E2 · 2 · Scale tone
Pick a tonic and step through the seven modes. Watch which degrees change compared with the major scale:
The seven modes on C G mixolydianA mode only "sounds" like itself when the tonic is clear. Play D dorian over a C chord and your ear hears C major. That's why modes are practised over a pedal note or a one- or two-chord vamp that confirms the centre and highlights the characteristic note:
Thinking "D dorian = C major from D" helps you find the notes, but not hear the mode. It's more useful to think in parallel: D dorian is D minor with a major sixth; G mixolydian is G major with a minor seventh. That way you improvise from the tonic and aim straight at the note that carries the colour.
Ear & improvisationTarget tonesImprovise over a backing track aiming at a specific tone of each chord.Any seven-note scale generates its own modes. Those of melodic minor are central to jazz: the fourth is lydian dominant (1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7) and the seventh is the altered scale (1 b2 #2 3 #4 b6 b7, often written 1 b9 #9 3 #11 b13 b7), as Levine explains. Harmonic minor modes include phrygian dominant (1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7), common in flamenco and metal.
Locrian rarely works as a tonal centre: its diminished fifth prevents a stable tonic triad. It's mostly used as the scale for the half-diminished chord.
Modes of melodic minor