Beginner's Guide To Modes In Music | Part 3: Using Modes In Songs

Yash
Jan 29, 2022
9 min read

Updated: Jun 7, 2022

In Part 1 and Part 2, I went over what are modes, and what makes them unique. It involved quite a bit of music theory and calculations. But now we have gathered the tools and it's time to construct a house with them.

This part will deal with the ways of applying modes to songs, bringing flavor to your compositions harmonically and melodically. Check out the other parts if you need a refresher on the basics of modes, then continue reading here.

P.S.- You need to know about roman numeral notation of chords in order to understand the contents of this article better.

Diatonic Chords Of Modes

This application of modes relies on the concept of Parallel Modes. First step is to figure out all the diatonic triads of each mode. That sounds a lot more time consuming than it actually is.

You might know that in Ionian Mode (Major Scale), the quality of diatonic chords in order are:

M, m, m, M, M, m, dim. We have also seen that the degrees of Ionian are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Combining those two pieces of information, we can write the roman numeral notation of the diatonic chords: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°.

Now, let us take the Dorian Mode. All we are doing to make the Dorian Mode is starting the major scale on the second degree. So the chords will also start from the 2nd place in the previously mentioned order. It becomes:

m, m, M, M, m, dim, M.

And as explained in part 1, the degrees of Dorian are:

1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7

Therefore, the roman diatonic chords of Dorian Mode would be: i, ii, bIII, IV, v, vi°, bVII.

Let's do it one more time with Phrygian. The chords will move by one more step:

m, M, M, m, dim, M, m.

The degrees of Phrygian are: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7.

So, the chords would be: i, bII, bIII, iv, v°, bVI, bvii.

Once you understand what's going on, you can follow the same process for the rest of the modes. Here's a table that tells you all the diatonic chords of the modes.

Ionian	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
Dorian	i	ii	bIII	IV	v	vi°	bVII
Phrygian	i	bII	bIII	iv	v°	bVI	bvii
Lydian	I	II	iii	#iv°	V	vi	vii
Mixolydian	I	ii	iii°	IV	v	vi	bVII
Aeolian	i	ii°	bIII	iv	v	bVI	bVII
Locrian	i°	bII	biii	iv	bV	bVI	bvii

But now the question is, what do we do with this information?

Modal Interchange

We use a little something called Modal Interchange.

Put simply, Modal Interchange is borrowing a chord from a parallel mode. This borrowed chord can be used any way you want.

Let me explain that with an example:

Here is a simple chord progression in the Major Scale: I - V - iii - IV.

A pretty vanilla chord progressions that doesn't use any notes outside the scale. Now I am going to replace one of these chords with a chord borrowed from a parallel mode.

Let's pick any one. How about replacing the IV with a iv from Aeolian mode?

The progression now becomes I - V - iii - iv. That last chord does not belong to the Ionian Mode. As a result, the listener is surprised when that appears.

This technique is even more powerful if you play the original progression a couple of times to condition the listener's ear and then suddenly switch it up with that borrowed chord.

But that's not all. As I said before, you can do anything you want with a borrowed chord, you are not limited to substituting one chord with another. You can jam it as an extra chord in the progression like this: I - bIII - V - iii - IV.

Here I borrowed the bIII chord from the Phrygian mode and wrote it in between the existing chords.

The more adventurous folks reading this might be thinking, "Can we borrow more than 1 chord?". The answer is, yes you can. In fact, you can borrow chords from multiple modes in the same progression.

Here's an example.

Take this progression: I - IV - vi - V.

I'll add one extra chord from the Lydian Mode and substitute one of the existing chords using something from the Dorian Mode.

I - IV - II - vi° - V

As chord progressions become longer, this technique gives you many more options. There are tons of possibilities for chord substitutions and new chords.

An important point to note here is that the chord being borrowed would be even more impactful if it contained the characteristic note of that mode.

However, harmony is only half the picture. You can emphasize this borrowed chord by using the notes from its respective mode in the melody. That brings us to the 2nd way of using modes.

Melodic Application Of Modes

In part 2, I mentioned Characteristic Notes. These are the notes in any mode that give the mode its flavor/sound. When writing melodies that come from a mode, we try to emphasize the characteristic note repeatedly. Like using the Natural 6 while being in the Dorian mode.

This concept can be used in 2 ways (that I know of).

1. Modal Melodies With Borrowed Chords:

As mentioned in the section about Modal Interchange, we can emphasize the borrowed chords by playing a melody from the respective mode.

For example, if I have this chord progression: ii - V - iv - I (Dm, G, Fm, C in C major scale). Here the iv chord has been borrowed from the parallel Aeolian Mode. So you can write a melody here in C Aeolian instead of C Ionian (While the borrowed chord is playing)

2. Modal Melodies With Normal Chords:

Let's say that you have a straightforward chord progression in major scale. (Or maybe even have some fancy chords like the secondary dominants and tritone substitutions, but I'll keep it simple here).

The chord progression is: vi - IV - V - I. (Am, F, G, C in C Major scale)

Consider the vi chord in this progression. Since it is the 6th chord of the major scale, it is technically the tonic chord of Aeolian mode. But since it is a minor chord, you can just as easily treat it as the tonic chord for any other minor mode, like Phrygian. Once you shift your perspective like this, you can then write a melody that belongs to this new mode. So while the Am chord is playing, compose something that uses the A Phrygian mode. Use its characteristic note to make it clear. You can come right back to the C Major scale in the next chord, and that little tour outside the scale will stand out and become memorable.

A Word Of Advice:

Your mind might be running a mile a minute thinking about the possibilities right now, so I think it's the right time to mention that it can get out of hand very easily. If you are borrowing a chord in every bar, or constantly moving out of the scale to write melodies, you lose the sense of coherence. It becomes a noodling mess of a composition with no clear direction in mind.

I recommend using these concepts in moderation to really bring out their potential.

That being said, there is a way where you can safely go overboard while using a mode.

Modal Compositions

So far, we have been using modes to alter a composition made in the major scale (though the concepts can also be extended to minor scale). But that is not all.

We can make a song that completely belongs to a mode. That means we are not relying on borrowed chords to bring in a dash of spice. We can embrace the sound of a mode completely by staying within its notes and exploring what it has to offer. To do this, we need to understand 2 concepts: Characteristic Notes and Modal Cadences. I have already explained Characteristic Notes, so let's take a look at the other one.

Modal Cadences

You might be aware that cadences are akin to punctuation in music. They are chord progressions usually played at the end of a phrase to have a particular effect. You have perfect cadence (V - I) that is a satisfying resolution. Then there is Imperfect cadence (for example V - vi), that creates suspense and leads us to the next phrase. There are a couple more of these. But they are all played in the context of the major scale mostly.

Modal Cadence is a little bit different. A modal cadence is a movement between 2 chords of a mode, where at least one of those chords MUST contain the characteristic note.

For example: If we want to write a song in the Mixolydian mode, we could use v - I progression. Here, the v chord contains the b7 note that is characteristic to Mixolydian. Another one could be bVII - I. Here bVII contains the b7 note.

Let's now see how to make a modal composition. There are a few guidelines I follow in my music.

Stick to limited chords and modal cadences. Since the modes other than Ionian and Aeolian are a little unstable, if you have too many chord changes, we begin to lose the mode's identity. It's even worse if we somehow lead the listener to the Ionian mode. What I mean is, if you are jumping around the chords and play the tonic chord of the parallel Ionian mode, you would most probably lose your hold on their ears. Because now that they have heard a familiar mode, they will start to hear that as the tonal center instead of what you are trying to push as the tonal center.
Use and abuse the characteristic note. There is no shame in doing it if the composition itself is supposed to be modal. That's the whole point after all. Stay on this note longer than others, circle around it, use it as a pedal point, whatever works for you.
Establish the tonal center early. When you start the song, stick around the tonic chord for a while (while emphasizing the characteristic note in the melody) to color the listener's ear and make them comfortable with the sound. Once you've done that, you can explore other chords a bit more. But at the beginning it is recommended to use 1 or 2 chords, preferable a modal cadence, to establish the mode.
Find some phrases or intervals that accentuate the quality of the mode. Like b7 - b2 - 1 in Phrygian. Or 1 - 3 - #4 - 5 in Lydian. I can make a list such phrases/licks in every mode, but I want you to explore it rather than reading about it.

Take a look at this little piece I composed in the Dorian Mode. You'll notice that I am constantly playing the root of the mode and emphasizing the natural 6th by lingering on it from time to time. It also uses some modal interchange towards the end, changing the mood for a brief second before ending.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/921b79_1636c221e6c6426db47e6e00736b94a4/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

That is actually pretty much the gist of it. Modal compositions tend to feel like a droning sound because the harmony doesn't move around too much. Indian classical music is arguable all modal, but that that is a gross oversimplification of the whole style, so don't take that sentence too seriously.

Each mode has a certain mood, and you can have a significant impact on the listener's emotions if you manage to capture the spirit of a mode in your composition. But music is not limited to planned melodies and chords. We have a whole area of music-making that could benefit hugely from modes.

Improvisation and Modes

This is another area of music where modes can shine bright. When you are improvising over a chord progression, being able to quickly switch perspectives from chord-to-chord opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

You can use the methods described in the Melodic Application section of this article during improvisation. It will take some time to get used to it though. While improvising, we tend to stick to one scale. I know I have been guilty of that too. However now you have another tool, use it to improvise more creatively.

Conclusion

In this part, I explained the 3 major ways of using modes to make music: Harmonic, Melodic, and Compositional. Within the melodic usage, there were 2 sub-divisions: Melody over borrowed chords and melody over normal chords by treating them as the tonic of some mode.

Spice up your chord progressions by borrowing chords from parallel modes and using them to substitute existing chords or add new chords in between.

Improve your melodies by using the mode from which you borrowed the chord. Or treat a diatonic chord as the tonic triad of some other mode than what it was supposed to be.

Create a whole composition in a mode and explore all the possible sounds in it by experimenting with different phrases and intervals that accentuate the quality of the mode.

I am sure there is still more to this beautiful concept that I haven't yet learnt. Take your time and explore, maybe you'll find something new.

Oh, and did I mention that major scale is not the only one with the concept of modes? There's several more scales in music like Melodic minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Neopolitan Minor, etc. and each one of them has its own set of modes.

Consider subscribing to my blog to get notified when I write about any of those scales or other concepts related to making music.

Thankyou for reading these articles. I hope they broadened your musical horizons a little bit.