Truly Understand Modes From 2 Easy Perspectives

You can understand modes in two ways: treat each mode as its own scale built from one root by changing intervals, or keep one key signature, such as F major with Bb, and start on each scale degree to get Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 27 min

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This music theory lesson from Jason Zac at Nathaniel School of Music shows two ways of thinking about modes. Textbooks often make modes feel like something you have to memorise before you can use them. This lesson helps you hear and use them instead. It suits pianists and songwriters who know the major scale and want to bring modes into their own music. Everything is shown in the key of F.

Perspective 1: A Mode Is Just Another Scale

Keep one strong root, F, and treat each mode as a scale built from intervals above that root. Each interval choice changes the emotion:

• Major second or minor second
• Major third or minor third
• Perfect fourth or sharp (augmented) fourth
• Perfect fifth, diminished fifth or augmented fifth
• Major sixth or minor sixth
• Major seventh or flat (minor) seventh

A diminished fifth can sound chaotic. A sharp fourth in the Lydian mode sounds dreamy.

The modes measured against the major scale

• Ionian: the major scale itself.
• Mixolydian: major scale with a flat 7.
• Lydian: major scale with a sharp 4.
• Aeolian (natural minor): flat 3, flat 6 and flat 7, with a perfect fourth. It sounds desolate and sad.
• Dorian: natural minor with a raised (major) 6. In other words, a major scale with a flat 3 and flat 7. It sounds brave, like overcoming the odds.
• Phrygian: a minor-type mode whose flat 2 gives it an exotic sound.
• Locrian: almost everything is flat, including flat 2, flat 3 and a flat 5 (the tritone). It fits the minor seventh flat five chord and is not used much.

You can go beyond the seven major modes. Mixolydian flat 6 comes from the melodic minor, and Jason Zac uses it a lot in his own music. Lydian dominant combines the sharp 4 with a dominant (flat) seventh. You do not need to know which parent scale these came from to compose with them.

Harmonise the mode

Next, find chord movements that make the mode recognisable.

• Mixolydian: a common move is from the flat VII major chord to the IV major, then back down to the I major.
• Dorian: move from the i minor chord to the IV major.
• Natural minor: use its own chords. In F minor these are i minor, ii diminished, bIII major, iv minor, v minor, bVI major and bVII major.

To sum up this perspective: keep a steady root, learn the mode's unique intervals, and use cadences that bring out its character. Remember your scale degrees, and map out which chords are available.

Perspective 2: Modes From One Key Signature

The textbook approach keeps the key signature fixed. The key is just the home note. The key signature is the number of sharps or flats. F major and its relative minor, D minor, both have one flat: Bb.

Play the F major notes but move the bass note up one scale degree at a time. You get a new mode on each degree:

1. F Ionian (F major)
2. G Dorian
3. A Phrygian (you feel the flat 2)
4. Bb Lydian (you feel the sharp 4)
5. C Mixolydian (you feel the minor seventh)
6. D Aeolian (the relative minor)
7. E Locrian

Support each mode with a seventh chord

Seventh chords from the F major key signature make each mode clearer:

• Fmaj7 (F A C E) for Ionian
• Gm7 (G Bb D F) for Dorian
• Am7 (A C E G) for Phrygian
• Bbmaj7 (Bb D F A) for Lydian
• C7 (C E G Bb) for Mixolydian
• Dm7 (D F A C) for Aeolian
• Em7b5 (E G Bb D) for Locrian

For Lydian, Mixolydian and especially Locrian, the chord matters a lot. Without it, the mode may not sound like itself.

Using Modes in Songwriting

Modes extend the idea of a major key and its relative minor. You can move from the first degree to any other degree, not just the sixth.

For example, a verse built on Dm, Gm and Am sounds dark and trapped. A chorus built on the major chords of F major then sounds victorious. Because all of these chords share the same notes, listeners still hear one song, with the mood changing like scenes in a film.

You could even give each section its own mode:

• F major for the verse
• C Mixolydian for the bridge
• D minor for the chorus
• A Phrygian for an unusual interlude

How to Practise

• Play each mode over a held root, then over its seventh chord, and listen to its mood.
• Work through both perspectives in F.
• Then try the same steps in other keys, not only C, until you can work in any of the 12 keys.

Questions about this lesson

What is the easiest way to understand modes?

Think of each mode as a scale compared with the major scale on the same root. Mixolydian is major with a flat 7, Lydian is major with a sharp 4, and Dorian is major with a flat 3 and flat 7.

What are the modes of F major?

Keeping the one-flat key signature (Bb), the modes are F Ionian, G Dorian, A Phrygian, Bb Lydian, C Mixolydian, D Aeolian and E Locrian.

Do I need to know a mode's parent scale to use it?

No. You can compose with a mode such as Dorian or Mixolydian flat 6 simply as a scale. Knowing the parent key signature becomes useful when you want to move between modes that share the same notes in a song.

Which chords make a mode sound like itself?

Support each mode with its characteristic chord, ideally a seventh chord. In F major these are Fmaj7, Gm7, Am7, Bbmaj7, C7, Dm7 and Em7b5. The chord matters most for Lydian, Mixolydian and Locrian.

Practise it

• Two NotesA guided field guide to intervals: consonance, inversions, scales, modes and the Circle of Fifths.
• Circle of FifthsExplore the Circle of Fifths through keys, scales, chords and intervals.
• All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.

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