The Modes as a Family of Scales

Making sense of the modes can be a challenge. Here we'll discuss the modes as one cohesive structure, put the modes in order by fifths, and talk about modal chords among other topics.

Instruction vs Learning

When I was first learning how to play guitar I was reading as much as I could. It was the 90’s and I had a subscription to Guitar One magazine. I was reading an interview with Aaron Lewis from Stained and how one of his favorite modes was D Dorian. To this day I still remember wondering why it was specifically D Dorian and not any of the other eleven notes. To be honest, I didn’t know what Dorian even meant. All I knew about modes was that they were like a scale, which was half correct. So, I looked up Dorian with the old dial-up modem and played the scale. Since I didn’t know what intervals I was playing, I also didn’t grasp what Aaron Lewis was trying to convey. It wasn’t until years later I was able to appreciate this mode. I had to learn what intervals were and how they all have different musical functions. I was able to grasp modes as soon as I applied intervals to them. This, in turn, let me listen for specific sounds within a mode so that I could appreciate it for what it can do.

As I speak with other musicians at every level about modes there seems to be a consensus that most people don’t know how to use modes. Some might know that they are scales. Others know that they can come from the major scale. A rare few can call out the specific degrees, or intervals, of all seven modes of the major scale. I believe that this is due two factors: most people do not study music at a collegiate level, or the person teaching is not using the same instrument as the student.

I took a music theory class in college, but the instructor used a piano while I played guitar at a beginner level. I was introduced to modes from the instructor’s perspective and the assigned book. We were basically told to start at one note in the major scale and ascend to the same note. I was able to convert piano notes over to guitar tablature to understand concepts and passed the class, yet I was unable to use what I had learned. In my mind I learned all of this with piano sheet music and HAD to convert it to tablature. It took quite a while to unlearn this and really make sense of it all, so I’ll be referencing both piano and guitar to help bridge some of the gaps between instruments.

What is a Mode?

A mode is a scale. They are the same thing. The reason why we call them modes and not scales is because of how we construct a mode. Take a parent scale like the major scale, which is two whole steps, one half step, three whole steps, and one-half step: W – W – h – W – W – W – h. Starting on the major scale as it is gives us the Ionian mode. If we start on the second degree of that scale, we get Dorian: W – h – W – W – W – h – W. If you start on the second degree of Dorian, you will get Phrygian: h – W – W – W – h – W – W. You can continue this progress to get Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. These are the modes of the major scale, so think of the major scale as the parent scale. The modes are all children to the parent scale. At this point you might be thinking, “But they all use the same notes. There’s no real difference.”

When playing a mode, the first note is tonic. This is like saying where my song resolves to. Try it out. Get a keyboard app out if you need to. Try starting on C and playing just the white keys and resolve back to C. Now start on another white key note like D, play a melody on the white keys, and resolve back to D. Keep doing this and you will notice a variety of feelings and flavors within the sounds these modes create. That variety is why we use modes.

The Chromatic Scale as the Parent Scale

An interval is the distance from one note to another note. To get my head around intervals I had to understand the piano a bit better. When you start on C on any instrument that uses the twelve-tone even temperament system (or twelve half steps in a full octave) you will have intervals that line up perfectly with the piano.

Above we have two modes from the C major scale. Starting on C and only playing the natural notes from C to C gives us the Ionian mode. Starting on D and ending on D while only playing the same natural notes gives us the Dorian mode. Notice how we have not used any altered notes: there are no sharps or flats. Also notice the interval names that are labels for both modes which are 1, b2, 2, b3, 3, 4, b5, 5, b6, 6, b7, 7, and 1 again. This is the chromatic scale. It is all the notes in one octave. If you are not familiar with intervals, then please take a moment to compare the intervals used in both modes. You’ll find that they are the same. The difference is that C Ionian has only natural intervals on the white keys, which are the keys we are playing, while D Dorian has a b3 and a b7 on the white keys. This is due to the distance from our root note on 1 to the notes that we can play in our scale.

Let’s look at this on guitar as well. Below are just the notes of the C major scale. The black key notes have been omitted so we can see what happens between two relative modes, these modes share the exact same notes. Each fret of the guitar is a half-step, just like moving between all the notes on the piano. C Ionian starts on the third string, fifth fret. D Dorian starts two notes up on the third string, seventh fret. Notice how the intervals used are different but are in overlapping positions.

From Chromatic to Modal

Notice how C Ionian’s second-degree note is the same note as D Dorian’s root note on the diagram above. All the natural notes will match these two diagrams. I am listing the intervals used rather than the note names because we need to understand intervals first.

The big difference in these guitar diagrams is the distance from the root note of either C or D to another note from the C Major scale. Let’s compare these modes and use either of the diagrams above for the instrument that you play or one that is close to it (if possible).

C Ionian’s fourth degree is F. D Dorian uses F, but that note is a flattened third degree. The third degree of a scale or chord give you the quality of that scale or chord. Quality is incredibly important because it tells you if a chord is major or minor. The third degree is called a major third and the flattened third degree is called a minor third. Notice how C Ionian’s major third is E, while D Dorian’s minor third is F. These notes are diatonic to the C major scale of C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Diatonic means that they belong to that scale. If we tried to use C#, then we would have a non-diatonic note because it does not belong to the scale that we are using.

As we continue through the notes of C Ionian, we get to B as the major seventh. In D Dorian, B is the minor seventh. These two minor intervals are what makes Dorian distinct. It is a minor scale with a flattened seventh degree. There are two other minor modes that have these degrees, but they do not have a major sixth degree. So, when Aaron Lewis said he liked Dorian he was saying that he liked a minor scale with a major sixth degree. Try it out. Dorian is the Carlos Santana mode.

Memorizing the Modes

How do we learn and memorize all seven modes of the major scale? It’s a daunting task until we do two things: take our time and learn the modes in fifths. In another post I talked about the circle of fifths and how to construct it. Let’s put the C major scale in order by fifths to save some time. As we do this, I’ll label the degrees used in each mode, the notes used, and the quality of the mode (whether it is major, minor, or diminished). Keep in mind that these are in order by fifths, so the interval from F to C, C to G, G to D, and so on are all “perfect fifth” intervals. A flattened fifth degree interval is not a minor fifth. This would be called a “diminished fifth” and we’ll get to that shortly.

Look at the intervals used in the modes when we arrange them this way. Everything starts with 1 because you must start somewhere. Each of these modes has its own starting note. F Lydian starts on F while E Phrygian starts on E. The intervals named help you to understand what notes you are playing for quality. If you start counting through the chromatic scale (1, b2, 2, b3, 3, 4, b5, 5, b6, 6, b7, and 7) you will discover that all the intervals listed above will be either C, D, E, F, G, A, or B. That means that these modes are all relative: they use the same diatonic notes.

To memorize these intervals, we just need to know where to start. That would be on the fourth degree of Lydian or #4. All we need to do to get from Lydian to Ionian is flatten that #4 to get a natural 4. We continue to Mixolydian by flattening the 7 to become a b7. The pattern then continues like this: flatten 3, flatten 6, flatten 2, and flatten 5. Reviewing the whole pattern of flattening intervals has us start at #4 and then 7. Next, we flatten the degrees to the left of #4 and 7, which are 3 and 6. We then continue to the left of those degrees and flatten 2 and 5. So the total pattern of flattening is 4, 7, 3, 6, 2, and 5.

Continuing the pattern, we would then flatten the degree left of 2, but that is 1. This would give us b1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, and b7. We cannot have a b1. To correct this, we need to sharpen all the intervals. Doing so gives us 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, and 7 which is Lydian. The pattern lets us construct all the modes without having to count out whole-steps and half-steps.

I like to remember the modes by the altered intervals. Lydian is #4. Ionian is all natural intervals. Mixolydian is b7. Dorian is b3 b7. Aeolian is b3 b6 b7. Phrygian is b2 b3 b6 b7. Locrian is b2 b3 b5 b6 b7.

To really get this flattening pattern down grab some paper and start writing. Write out Lydian which only has a #4 for an altered interval. Now flatten Lydian’s 4 to get Ionian and flatten Ionian’s 7 to get Mixolydian. Stop there and come back in a bit. Now do it again to use recall so that you reinforce those starting points in your mind. When YOU are ready flatten Mixolydian’s 3 to get Dorian and flatten Dorian’s 6 to get Aeolian. Stop and use recall until you have those first five modes down. Finish off by flattening Aeolian’s 2 to get Phrygian and flatten Phrygian’s 5 to get Locrian. Continue to use recall and take a minute from time to time to write out all the modes and their degrees. Don’t worry about notes because once you know the degrees you will know the modes. Now we can apply them as one cohesive structure.

One Relative Family

Once we have these degrees down, we can play them in the order of the major scale. We’ll stick to the C major scale. Just know that this works in every key. If you are in the key of G then you have G, A, B, C, D, E, and F# as your notes. The modes would be in the same order and give you G Ionian, A Dorian, and so on.

Staying with the C major scale we can now play the key of C because it is the same thing as the C major scale. In this key we have the above relative modes, which are relative because all use the same notes. Notice the order of the qualities of the scales is now one major, two minors, two majors, one minor, and a diminished. When I tried to learn this pattern, I imagined a type of mirror between Phrygian and Lydian. On one side were two minor modes: Dorian and Phrygian. The other side has two major modes: Lydian and Mixolydian. Farther out on the minor side was one major mode: Ionian. On the side with two major modes was a minor mode: Aeolian. This let me imagine their placements as opposing groups divided by this “mirror”. On the outside of this was Locrian. This diminished chord was its own mirror as it comes after Aeolian and before Ionian, thus dividing up one full set of major and minor modes from the next.

Modes are Chords

These modes are not just scales. They are also chords. If you place a major triad, then you are using a root note, a major third interval, and a perfect fifth. From either of the lists of modes shown so far, we can see that all three major modes have a root (or first degree), a major third, and a perfect fifth. To make a minor triad we just flatten the third degree. Looking at our three minor modes we have a root, minor third, and a perfect fifth. A diminished triad is two consecutive minor thirds creating a chord that is a root, minor third, and a diminished fifth. Locrian fits this and is thus a diminished mode.

Major Modes as Chords

If we continue the pattern of 1, major or minor 3, and 5 we will use a major or minor 7. When the seventh degree is flattened, we call it a dominant seven because of the dominant function this creates when harmonizing structures. I’ll talk more about that in another post as that is its own topic. Notice how only Ionian and Lydian have a major seventh. This means that you can play either the Ionian mode or Lydian mode as a scale over a Maj7 chord. Mixolydian is its own entity because it is a dominant 7, or Dom7, chord structure. You can use a major chord here and it sounds great because it is diatonic to the mode, but if you try to play the major seventh note you will hear that it does not fit. In G Mixolydian the major seventh is F# and does not fit the C Major scale. To make an F# make sense with G as the root note or tonic we would have to use Ionian or Lydian. There are no other diatonic options.

Minor Modes as Chords

The minor modes do the same thing. A m7 is a minor chord with a dominant 7. This fits all three minor modes. Now what would you do if I asked you to play an “A Aeolian chord”? You could play Am or Am7 since both fit that mode. But if you wanted to jazz it up you could play Am7 #5. This #5 is the same note as the b6. Aeolian has a b6 so we can use it diatonically. The reason why this chord is called an Am7 #5 and not an Am7 b6 is because you always start with a chord built on the 1, b3 or 3, 5, b7 or 7. All we did was take the fifth and altered it rather than remove it and alter the sixth degree.

Let’s do the same with Dorian and Phrygian. A Dorian style chord could be a Dm6. This time we substitute the sixth degree in place of the fifth degree. This chord as a lot of tension because it is an inversion of the B diminished triad. An inversion is where you take the notes of a chord and rearrange them so that one of the other notes in the root. If I take my B diminished triad of B, D, F and change it to be D, B, D, F I get a Dm6 chord. I love this chord as a Dorian chord because it lets me resolve part of my song to Aeolian and not Ionian. Give a shot. Play Dm6 (D, B, D, F) and then Am7 (A, C, E, G) and you’ll get this sense of this tension and resolve.

We can do the same with Phrygian, but this time lets add some melody to it. Let’s start with an Em chord (E, B, E, G). Play that chord and then raise the second E note to be an F (E, B, F, G). This makes an Em b9. The F is the b2 chromatically, but it is called the b9 because this F that we are using is in the next consecutive octave. Try playing Em, Em b9, Em. The minor ninth interval is the same thing as the minor second interval except that it is in the next octave. We can use the b9 to make a great Phrygian sound due to the b2 is not part of Dorian or Aeolian. However, using the b2 or b9 creates its own type of tension that likes to resolve going from b2 to 1 or b9 to 1, and that just what we are doing with Em, Em b9, Em.

Is it Tonic or the Root?

There’s a lot of confusion on the internet as to what a tonic and a root is, so let me clear that up now with examples from the key of C. Lets say you are playing Am, Dm, G, C. Each of those chords has a root note: A, D, G, and C. In this progression you would resolve to C as it is where the progression ends. C would be tonic. This is where things can be confusing. If I am in the key of C, but play D Dorian, then D is tonic. D is where I resolve to. I am no longer resolving it C and this can feel odd sometimes because the major scale (or Ionian) is set up to allow us to easily resolve to C. To avoid this in D Dorian I would suggest not playing any C chords until you are comfortable with the mode. Another thing that will help is to know your chord functions. That is another topic that we’ll tackle another day. Now let’s try two progressions in the key of C.

In this progression of Am, Dm, G, and C we have A as a root, D as a root, G as a root, and C as both a root and tonic. C is the root of the c major chord. C is also where we resolve to. Let’s try it again with Dm7, G, Dm6, Am. D is the root of Dm7, G is the root of G major, D is the root of Dm6, and A is the root of Am as well as the tonic note we are resolving to.

Here's the notes I used for this second progression in case you’re just learning to play your instrument. These notes are from a guitar but fit almost any instrument. Try out different version of the chords if you like. You’ll likely find a variety of flavors or sounds.

Dm7: D A C F

G: G B D G D G

Dm6: D B D F

Am: A E A C E

Relative and Parallel Modes

We have been working with relative modes so far. All the notes for each mode have been the same. We’ve just started at a different note. But what if we started each mode on the same note, like C? We would then have parallel modes. A parallel mode will start on the same note rather than the next note in the parent scale. What doesn’t change are the intervals.

You will hear clear and gradual distinctions between the modes as play them in parallel. There are some great uses for doing this when using modal modulation. This another long-winded topic so for now just know that you can play a CMaj7 chord with C Ionian just as you normally would in the key of C. It all matches so it’s all diatonic. You could use an F# for a momentary melody with a CMaj7 since this chord is also diatonic to C Lydian. Doing so would cause you to be in the key of G briefly for a moment and would give an unexpected brightness to your melody.

There is a long list of ways to modulate, but you should stick to memorizing and using the degrees of the modes first. Start with Lydian’s #4 and flatten the degrees in the order we went over earlier: 4, 7, 3, 6, 2, 5. This will help you to construct the modes in fifths and can make it easier to learn all of them.

Below are some diagrams for piano and guitar organized in fifths. The piano diagrams are all in parallel to C so that you can see the changes between the modes. I’ve done the same for the guitar, but I did not label where to start. This is because guitar player use “moveable shapes”. For guitars, an A major chord’s shape can be moved along the neck to create major chords with other root notes. I want my guitar players to go to the third string and find C. That is where you would start to play any mode in C. If you want to play the mode in another tonic note, the just move the “shape”. I’ve only notated one octave per diagram so that it is easier to hear your tonic notes. Please note that I’ve place a star on the tonic note for each mode. I want YOU to count out the major or minor interval listed above each chart as you play each mode. Really try to pay attention to the notes that are a half-step apart from each other. These half-step notes are where the sound of each mode is anchored.

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps you to better understand the modes.

- Jay McNeill