Beginner's Guide To Modes In Music | Part 1: The Very Basics
- Yash
- Jan 17, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 19, 2022
Modes are, without the shadow of a doubt, my favorite concept in music theory. They are so simple, and yet such a powerful tool that brings a freshness to songs. In this post, I am going to explain the concept at the very basic level, and in future articles, explore the ways in which you can use them in your own music.
P.S.- You need to know what is a major scale, and how to find the notes of any major scale before reading.
What is a mode?
A major scale has seven notes, and they are all called "degrees" of the scale. You can write this scale the usual way, starting with the first degree, or you can start writing it from some other degree. That's how you get modes. Since there are seven degrees in the scale, you have seven possibilities for starting it, giving you seven modes (The first mode is the scale itself). Each of these modes has a different "sound" or a different feeling to it. Once we have understood the basics of how to make modes, we can dive into the sounds and music side of it.
Let's take an example of a scale. For the sake of keeping it simple, we will use the C Major scale. Here are all the notes in it, and their degrees.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C D E F G A B
Now, I am going to write this scale starting from different degrees.
Starting Degree | Notes in the mode |
1(C) | C D E F G A B |
2(D) | D E F G A B C |
3(E) | E F G A B C D |
4(F) | F G A B C D E |
5(G) | G A B C D E F |
6(A) | A B C D E F G |
7(B) | B C D E F G A |
Naming the modes
Each of these new modes that we get are given their own names. If the mode starts on the 1st degree of the major scale (Which means the scale itself), it is called Ionian Mode. If it starts on the 2nd degree, it is called Dorian. Similarly, there is a name for each mode.
In addition to that, we also need to write the first note of the mode to get its full name. For example: The mode starting on the 2nd degree of C Major is Dorian, and it is starting on D, so it will be called "D Dorian Mode".
Here's a list of all the modes we made earlier, with their names:
Starting Degree | Notes in the mode | Name of the Mode |
1(C) | C D E F G A B | C Ionian |
2(D) | D E F G A B C | D Dorian |
3(E) | E F G A B C D | E Phrygian |
4(F) | F G A B C D E | F Lydian |
5(G) | G A B C D E F | G Mixolydian |
6(A) | A B C D E F G | A Aeolian |
7(B) | B C D E F G A | B Locrian |
Few More Examples
After learning all of that, you might be wondering, why even bother writing the scale from different degrees if you are using the exact same notes?
That question will be answered as we learn more about how to use the modes. But before we do that, it is important to wrap our heads around how to make a mode and how to name it, so let's use a few more examples to get used to the concept. Try figuring these out yourself before you check the answers.
What is the name of the mode starting on the 4th degree of major scale?
Lydian
What is the 7th mode of major scale called?
Locrian
What are the notes of 2nd mode of G Major? What is its name?
First, we need to know the notes of G Major itself. They are: G A B C D E F#.
The 2nd mode will start on the 2nd degree of this scale, which is A.
So the notes of this mode will be: A B C D E F# G
Since it started on 2nd degree, it is the Dorian mode. Its first note is A, so the name of this mode will be "A Dorian".
What are the notes of 6th mode of Bb Major? What is its name?
The notes of Bb Major are: Bb C D Eb F G A
The 6th degree is G. So the notes will be: G A Bb C D Eb F
Since it is starting on the 6th degree, it will be called "G Aeolian"
What are the notes of A Phrygian?
This one is a little tricky to answer with our current knowledge, but not impossible. Later on, it will become a lot easier to figure out.
First we need to look at the name. "A Phrygian". That means, this mode will start on A, and it is the 3rd mode of some major scale.
Next, we need to see which major scale has "A" as its third degree. If you are a beginner, this is a good way to revise all your major scales. F Major is the answer here.
Therefore, the notes of A Phrygian will be the same notes as those of F Major, just starting on A: A Bb C D E F G.
What are the notes of B Mixolydian?
This question is similar to the previous one.
Step 1: Understand the name. B Mixolydian will start on B, and since it is mixolydian, it will be the 5th degree of some major scale.
Step 2: Look through your major scales to see which of them has B as its 5th degree. The answer is E Major. Notes of E Major are: E F# G# A B C# D#.
Step 3: Write the notes of this scale, but starting on B, to get the B Mixolydian Mode:
B C# D# E F# G# A
What even is the point of this? A look at Parallel Modes.
We now know how to make multiple modes from a "parent" major scale. These are called relative modes. Remember:
Relative modes all share the same notes with each other, but they start on different notes.
For example, D Dorian is the relative Dorian of C Ionian. F Lydian is the relative Lydian of D Dorian, etc.
But the true beauty of modes is understood by looking at it from a different perspective.
Consider the C Major scale again. Let's see what is the 5th mode of this scale.
C Major: C D E F G A B C
5th Degree: G
5th Mode: Mixolydian
Notes of G Mixolydian: G A B C D E F
Now, here is the magic sauce. Compare the G Mixolydian mode to G Major Scale (or you can call it "G Ionian" mode)
G Mixolydian: G A B C D E F
G Ionian: G A B C D E F#
As you can see, there is one note that is different between these two modes, both of which are starting on G. That one note can make a world of difference. Go ahead, try playing them yourself on any instrument.
Changing the F# in G Major scale to F in G Mixolydian does something special while we are listening to the scale. Since our ears are so used to hearing music in major scale, that one little difference makes the scale unpredictable, and when used correctly, it can give the listeners a pleasant surprise.
G Mixolydian and G Ionian are examples of what we call Parallel Modes.
Modes that start on the same note, but have some particular notes that are different, are called Parallel Modes.
Keep in mind that you can't just randomly change any note from the major scale and call it a new mode. According to the explanation that I gave earlier, modes are created when we start to write a major scale from its various degrees. As such, there are only 7 modes of the major scale.
Just like we had G Mixolydian, we can also have G Dorian (Which is the 2nd mode of F Major).
Or G Phrygian (3rd mode of Eb Major). Take a look at this table that lists all the 7 modes, but instead of sharing a common "parent" scale, these all come from different parents and have the same first note. In other words, these are all parallel modes starting on G.
Name Of The Mode | Notes | Parent Scale |
G Ionian | G A B C D E F# | G Major |
G Dorian | G A Bb C D E F | F Major |
G Phrygian | G Ab Bb C D Eb F | Eb Major |
G Lydian | G A B C# D E F# | D Major |
G Mixolydian | G A B C D E F | C Major |
G Aeolian | G A Bb C D Eb F | Bb Major |
G Locrian | G Ab Bb C Db Eb F | Ab Major |
Try playing all of these modes on an instrument. You will find that they all have a distinct sound. We will take an in-depth look into each of these modes later on.
How do I remember all these notes?
When talking about parallel modes, each one of them is often compared to the Ionian mode, because Ionian is the most commonly used mode in western music. So, it makes sense to see which notes are different in any given mode by comparing it to Ionian.
This is done by looking at the degrees of each mode. We will use parallel modes starting on G to understand these differences and then generalize the results for all keys using scale degrees (i.e., we are going to use numbers).
*All the modes that I am using in following examples are listed in the table above.
Ionian Since Ionian is the bottom line for our analysis, we will number its degrees from 1 to 7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G A B C D E F# That's as far as it goes with Ionian. As I have said repeatedly, the Ionian Mode is the same as major scale.
Dorian G Dorian Notes: G A Bb C D E F Changes from Ionian Mode: B → Bb | F# → F Changes in scale degrees: 3 → b3 | 7 → b7 Scale degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7.
Phrygian G Phrygian Notes: G Ab Bb C D Eb F Changes from Ionian Mode: A → Ab | B → Bb | E → Eb | F# → F. Changes in scale degrees: 2 → b2 | 3 → b3 | 6 → b6 | 7 → b7 Scale degrees: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7.
Lydian G Lydian Notes: G A B C# D E F# Changes from Ionian Mode: C → C# Changes in scale degrees: 4 → #4 Scale Degrees: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7.
Mixolydian G Mixolydian Notes: G A B C D E F Changes from Ionian Mode: F# → F Changes in scale degrees: 7 → b7 Scale Degrees: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7.
Aeolian G Aeolian Notes: G A Bb C D Eb F Changes from Ionian Mode: B → Bb | E → Eb | F# → F Changes in scale degrees: 3 → b3 | 6 → b6 | 7 → b7 Scale Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7.
Locrian G Locrian Notes: G Ab Bb C Db Eb F Changes from Ionian Mode: A → Ab | B → Bb | D → Db | E → Eb | F# → F Changes in scale degrees: 2 → b2 | 3 → b3 | 5 → b5 | 6 → b6 | 7 → b7 Scale Degrees: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7.
Here's a handy table listing all the parallel modes and their scale degrees compared to the major scale:
Using this table, it becomes a lot easier to figure out the notes of any mode.
For example, let's try figuring out the notes of F Dorian Mode.
Step 1: Write down the F Major Scale- F G A Bb C D E
Step 2: Look at the table to see what needs to be done to the major scale to get its parallel Dorian. You'll find that it says "b3 and b7"
Step 3: Perform these operations on the major scale to get the Dorian mode- F G Ab Bb C D Eb.
The previous method we used to figure out the notes of a mode was slightly more complicated, because first we had to find out out the parent scale of the mode in question. But this way is much easier, because now you don't need to mess around with all the major scales to see which scale would have F Dorian in it.
Try solving these for some more practice:
What are the notes of D Lydian Mode?
Step 1: Notes of parallel major- D E F# G A B C#
Step 2: Changes that need to be made to get Lydian- #4
Step 3: Making those changes to the D Major Scale- D E F# G# A B C#
What are the notes of Bb Aeolian Scale?
Step 1: Notes of parallel major- Bb C D Eb F G A
Step 2: Changes that need to be made to get Aeolian- b3, b6 b7
Step 3: Making those changes to the Bb Major Scale- Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab
Conclusion
Modes are a re-arrangement of a parent scale, by starting it on various scale degrees.
Modes that share the same note and come from the same parent scale are called relative modes.
There are 7 modes of major scale, since there are 7 degrees in it.
The names of modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
Modes that start on the same note are called Parallel Modes, and they each have a different flavor.
I will take a deeper look into each mode, as well as explain some ways to use these modes in your compositions in another post, so be on the lookout for that.
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