modal theory

It's a "modal" thing, just think D Dorian and everything's cool, no worries." Ever hear that sort of description for the next tune your band is going to play and you don't know the tune, yet? Years ago I heard this from our alto player in the jazz quintet I was working with while at work at a jazz club in upstate N.Y. called "Lloyds", which the band affectionately referred to as "Roids." 

Anyway, on the stand, new tune, no chart, reasonably up tempo, what are ya gonna do? Turns out that D Dorian covered the whole thing, except the half step up, which for me as a guitar player is no big thing, as many of us are potentially chromatic by nature anyway. So, after work, I dig out the chart, begin to internalize the melody and begin my journey into the modal world. 

After discussing the modes with my college professor and a pass through the college library, the next thing I know I am immersed in a deep, mysteriously ancient topic that immediately began expanding my musical horizons and shed new light on all of the jazz and blues music I was playing at that time. Although I was quickly able to figure out my version of modal theory ( a week or so ), developing an understanding the essence of each of the modal groupings continues today, many, many moons later. Today, the search continues by trying to rediscover ancient modal melodies, looking for new ways to sub out for or with a modal color, pairing up different modes when writing and most recent, a deeper search of the harmony / chord progressions of each of the modes. Some of these modal colors are truly ancient, there is a lot of music in them, past, present and future. 

So why are the modes potentially important? Historically, the modes predate our current system of tonality. In American music, the modal colors are used many ways. As tonal centers for composing, the modes potentially provide 7 unique emotional environments to create within. Modal colors can also become substitutions or parent scales, when soloing over a particular harmony and perhaps as a thematic coloring in extended blowing sections using simply one chord. Depending on your style and artistic direction, which of the seven modes will become important is tough to say, but the theoretical understanding of them is relatively easy and this new information will perhaps help in shaping your big picture. Here are a few of the more common styles of American music and the modes generally used to create them. Example 1.

As the physical properties of tuning gradually improved over the centuries of the last millenium, the intial emergence of the keyboard instruments in the 1550's created a situation where the more popular modal colors of the day could be tempered and combined together. This equal tempered grouping of pitches could then be projected from a set number of points which were created as the equal division of the span of one octave. These tempered divisions became our 12 pitches within the chromatic scale, which in turn become the 12 tonal centers of the equal tempered system. In terms of the American music we love to play and listen to, our modern termed Ionian major / Aeolian minor division of tonality are by far and away the most popular of the 7 modes.

So, while previous to the emergence of equal temper most of the modes were available, the tempering or tuning of the pitches created the ability to project each of the modes from 12 distinct pitches of the chromatic scale, tremendously enlarging the melodic resources available. And with this advanced method of equal tuning and tonal organization, the ability to consistently create in tune chords, even when pairing up pitches from different instruments emerged. Quite revolutionary in it's day, it took a two hundred years or so for the new system to work out it's bugs, go into production and catch fire. By 1750 and the emergence and publication of J.S.Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier", equal temper had arrived to stay.

With this in mind, here’s a chart of what we have discussed above, namely, to view these 7 modes as extracted from within one group of pitches. Check out how cool and simple the theoretical organization of this modal / equal tempered system can be. Using the pitch C major as our tonal center. Example 2.

So in thinking C major, all of the 7 modes are available with just the white keys on a well tuned piano? Exactly. How? Why? Well, it is all based on the intervalic formula of each scale and how the keys of the piano are structured. Here is a picture of the pitches of C major at the piano keyboard. Example 3.

So, if we only use the white keys ... If we play the pitches from C to C, we always build the C Ionian mode, which creates the major tonal environment and is comprised of the intervals and pitches of the C major scale. Building from the second degree of the C major scale, the pitch D, we always build the D Dorian mode, which creates a minor tonality and is created by the pitches of the C major scale thinking of the pitches from D to D. Thinking of the pitches E to E, using only the pitches of the C major scale, i.e., the white keys, creates the intervalic configuration of the Phrygian mode. F to F creates the Lydian mode. G to G, Mixolydian. A to A, Aeolian. B to B, Locrian. Cool with this?

The totally cool thing about this equal tempered system of tonal organization is that we can project the above theory onto any of the remaining 11 pitches of the chromatic scale, creating tonal centers as we just did above for the pitch C, and achieve the exact same results. A thanks to equal temper, not only are we in tune throughout the entire 7 octave range of the piano, but all of the harmony / chords are in tune etc.

So perhaps from the above ideas one can sense that the theory to find the modes and their pitches is relatively easy. The real artistic task is to discover the emotional essence of each of the modes and be able to recreate and project their moods in the music we create. Personally, I find that this "search and discovery" is facilitated by examining where the half steps fall in each of the modal groupings. Cool? Here is the chart from example 2 above now notating the seven modes found within the C Ionian scale. Example 4.

Cool with this "mode within a mode" way of thinking? This is the way I dig the modal theory. It is really pretty straightforward. But, the deeper we go into the understanding the theory and its presentation in this text, by using this way of understanding the theory we potentially become more and more dependent on the major scale / Ionian mode becoming the center of our theoretical musical universe. My concern here is not to bias an artist whose artistic world revolves around other colors than the major tonality / Ionian mode. For instance, blues players and rockers rely heavily on the minor tonality, as their main melodic colors are so often centered in the minor pentatonic and blues scale / blue notes. 

If we understand the theory of music from a particular perspective, can it influence what we create? Maybe, and that is one of the giant concerns in how things are worded in this text. There is no right or wrong perspective, whatever works for the individual artist is best. To be free to choose our artistic elements is something we must always cherish, preserve and protect.

With this in mind, let's go back and begin again discovering the how and why of this modal theory magic. The following ideas simply look at and compare the intervalic structure of each of the seven church modes.

Using C Ionian, we discover the intervalic formula of the major scale. Example 5.

Cool that viewing the chart diagonally from top left to bottom right that the arpeggios emerge eh? Diagonally from top right to bottom left reveals rows of the same letter name. Lets reduce the size of the above chart and simply look for numerical patterns, using the above chart as a reference to clarify the pitches. Here is the reduced chart. Example 5a.

See the patterns emerge? I love when the theory does this. See how the half steps ( 1 / 2 ) angle downward from right to left? And how the formula for each successive mode moves the first interval to the end of the next formula? This creates a looping of the intervalic formula from which we can extract the seven different modes. The discerning eye will note that our formula for our Dorian mode corresponds to our Ionian formula with the exception that our first whole step interval of the Ionian mode is removed and replaced at the end. For the Phrygian formula, the two initial whole steps for the Ionian mode are snipped off and placed at the opposite end. Thus the essential initial half step defining the Phrygian color. Reposition this half step to the end and reveal the initial three consecutive whole steps of the Lydian group, creating its character whole tone color. Move the first whole step of the Lydian mode to the end to create the all important b7 of the Mixolydian, which when paired with it's major third creates our often historically misunderstood tritone, so essential to the tension within our dominant chord, the traffic cop of western harmony. The Aeolian intervals creating the exquisitely beautiful natural minor tonality, balancing the color of the major / Ionian environment. Last but surely not least, the Locrian mode and it's essential leading tone qualities, which diatonically contributes the all important half diminished chord and melodic color.

To review a bit. So, potentially a continuous, looping intervalic formula of whole steps and half steps from which we select various portions to create the various modes? The placement of the half steps for each group corresponding to the positioning of the half steps on the piano keyboard when using only the white keys? The ability to project the same interval theory from any of the other 11 pitches of the chromatic scale, necessitating the use of the black keys, as found on the piano? Cool with the black keys? Do they create a scale or mode themselves? That we have the ability to create modal harmony to support the melodic lines and modulate to other key centers, modes, colors etc. Simply way advanced eh? Cool so far?

As theorists, we can each create our own method of understanding the modes. When improvising, the ongoing thought process is often times more directed by emotion rather than logic. The idea here is to practice or woodshed logic and perform emotion. Pour moi, my thinking defaults to understanding the modes back to the major scale, but that is only because of the way I learned the theory. And truth be known, I think it was a "shortcut" that I sometimes regret taking today. Pour toi, if working with the intervalic formulas is better, simply adapt this theory to whatever colors are at the center of your musical universe. As artists, we look at the resources available and arrange them so that they're easily internalized and accessed. Gradually we design our own understanding of the elements, our likes and dislikes and create our art. By knowing the relationships between the elements, new avenues for expansion are potentially revealed.

Defaulting back to the major tonality, Ionian is always built on the first degree of the major scale, Dorian on Two, Phrygian on Three, Lydian on Four, Mixolydian on Five, Aeolian on Six, Locrian on Seven, the leading tone of the major scale group of pitches. Are you cool with this? What about E Dorian? To find, create, realize, execute and improvise within the minor tonal center of E Dorian, I simply think of it's parent scale. Within this perspective, Dorian is always built on Two, E is my starting pitch, so E is the second pitch of what major scale? The D major scale? Yep. So I explore the pitches of the D major scale with E as my tonal center. After a bit I sense the minor color emerging and off I go, singing my lines, executing them on my instrument and looking for coolness! Here is a chart looking at the pitches of the seven modes based on the pitch D. Example 5b.

Easy enough eh? Just one way to view the resources. This process of defaulting back to the pitches of the major scale to extract the modes is the way I decided to understand the process.

So how can we use the modes? Given the emotional environment of A minor 7 ( A -7 ), various minor modal groups for creating melodic ideas could include:

Here are musical realizations from the above chart. Example 6.

We can use a modal color to create an emotional environment for composition, searching out that modes unique color and flavor. Here we create the minor, Dorian environment. Example 7.

Look at John Coltrane's "Impressions" for a nice Dorian idea.

We can pair modes within one composition to contrast emotions and environments. Here we use the common pairing of C Ionian and A Aeolian, more commonly known as the major / relative minor pairing. Example 8.

Here is a listing of standard jazz tunes that use this important pairing of tonalities.

In regards to each of the modes creating a tonal environment, please realize that before the emergence of equal temperament, each of the modes excepting the Locrian mode was generally representative of a particular ethnic population on the European continent. With the "standardization" of the modes within equal temper, we can theoretically examine these groups of pitches from two important musical perspectives. The first is relatively simple, we can divide the modes into whether the create either the major or minor tonalities. Here is a chart creating this distinction of the seven modes available within equal temper. Example 9.

Easy enough eh? The second perspective is to examine each of the members of the two groups in terms of just how stable a tonal environment they create. Or in other words, which of the three modes that create the major tonal environment provide the most stability and sense of tonic or tonal center. This stability is based on the principles of the how the various intervals within the modes organically evolve from the naturally occurring overtone series. We can examine the minor modes as well for the same properties. Is it perhaps artistically true that a given mode's ability to create the strongest sense of stability also has the ability to create the strongest sense of tension or tonal gravity? With this in mind, lets examine the intervals of each of the modes and look for their strengths and weaknesses in regards to creating tonal stability. We'll do the major colors first.

Here is a chart of the pitches of the three modes that create the major tonal environment using C as the root. Example 9a.

We can see from the above chart that most of the pitches are identical and that it is the fourth and seventh degrees that contain the variations of pitch and interval above the root in the above groups of pitches. Lets compare the sound of these three groups of pitches. Example 9b.

In regards to tonal stability, although the Lydian mode is comprised of nearly identical pitches as the Ionian mode, the augmented fourth degree of the Lydian color is what diminishes it's stability. Why? Two reasons. Mainly in that the interval of an augmented fourth is among the most dissonant of the intervals. Here is the sound of the augmented fourth / tritone interval isolated against the root C. Example 9c.

So, in comparing the Ionian and Lydian modes, the Ionian emerges as a stronger tonic by nature of it's perfect fourth, and that the triad built on the fourth degree of the Ionian color is a major triad, as opposed to the diminished triad of the Lydian group. A second reasoning for potential Lydian instability as a functioning tonic is that the three initial whole steps of the Lydian mode suggest the whole tone color. The intervalic evenness of this unique group of pitches creates a tonal situation whereby no one pitch of the group emerges a tonic or tonal center. So perhaps even a hint of the whole tone color can detract from the overall sense of tonal stability. Example 9d.

In comparing the Ionian and Mixolydian modes, the pitches are identical excepting the seventh scale degree. Lets compare the tonal gravity of these two colors. Example 9e.

Even in this basic scalewise line, can you sense how the Ionian mode creates a greater sense of forward motion by nature of its leading tone seventh degree. The minor or blue seventh of the Mixolydian mode lessens this sense of tonal direction. The leading tone is perhaps the most important player in creating the sense of tonal direction.

Lets explore the minor modes and discover which of the four groups of pitches creates the strongest sense of the minor tonality. Is it reasonable to speculate at this point in exploring these colors that the relative minor Aeolian mode, of the Ionian / relative major group, will provide the strongest sense of the minor tonality? Here is a chart building the four minor modal groups from the root C. Example 10.

As we can see from the above chart, it is the second, fifth and sixth scale degrees that contain the variation of pitches between these four minor modal groups. Compare the sounds of these groups. Example 10a.

Assuming that the Aeolian color is the most stable due to its relationship to the Ionian mode, i.e., relative minor / relative major, lets compare this color with each of the other three groupings. Here we compare the Dorian color to the Aeolian sound. Example 10a.

Here the difference? The key factor is the major sixth of the Dorian color. Not only does it diatonically create a major triad on the fourth scale degree, but the half step up to Bb potentially creates a "false sense" of being a leading tone, diminishing the tonic quality of the root C. Thus, the Dorian is "not quite as minor" as the Aeolian mode. Please realize that this in no way detracts from the importance of the Dorian group, just that in terms of creating the most stable of the minor modal colors, the Dorian group potentially contains elements that lessen the tonic quality of the root or tonal center of this group of pitches. Cool with this?

Lets compare the Phrygian color to the Aeolian group. Here are their sounds, again using C as the root. Example 10b.

As we can see and hear, the only difference in pitch between these two groups is with the second scale degree. Being a half step above the tonic ( C to Db ), do we potentially get the sense of the root C becoming a leading tone to Db? If so, we definitely diminish the ability for the root C to function as a tonic. Couple this with the realization that the diatonic chord built on Two of the Phrygian color is major chord, and we continue to decrease the tonic function of the root C. Lest we forget the magic of the Phrygian color to create the "Spanish" atmosphere, where this tonic / flat Two is so totally essential to the color. Example 10c.

Comparing the Aeolian mode to the Locrian mode, two pitches are different. Here are the sounds. Example 10d.

Differences? First is the flat second scale degree, as just encountered with exploring the Phrygian color, and the fifth degree above the tonic, which in the case of the Locrian color is a diminished fifth above the root. Both of these pitches potentially create a sense of a "false" leading tone, creating a potential for multiple tonics, while the diminished fifth of the Locrian mode also decreases the ability for C to function as a tonic. Why? Well, the fifth degree is termed the dominant of the scale, upon which we create the dominant chord. Being the first partial in the overtone series, the perfect fifth dominant pitch, as found within the other six modes, is the closest related pitch to the tonic. When altered by half step, as in the Locrian mode, the resulting diminished fifth losses it's dominant abilities that characterize the interval of a perfect fifth, thus less stable as a tonal environment. Cool with this? Definitely splitting hairs a bit, but this theory knowledge just might be useful to someone, somewhere at sometime. Perhaps to create a unique sounding music that does not rely on the tonic / perfect fifth dominant functioning so common in all of the styles of American and European classical music.

So why is this knowledge of modes / tonal environment potentially important artistically for the creative artist? Well, basically in that there is the potential to lose something of the ethnic flavor, historical value and emotional moods that each of the modes create. So much of our music is Ionian / Aeolian based that the other modes are perhaps overlooked as potential tonal environments. So as theorists, we simply explore the music and choose which elements will best aurally portray our artistic statement. The theoretical exploration of the relative stability of the seven modes as discussed above hopefully becomes food for thought for the creative artist, provide a basis to better understand modal music when encountered, and provide alternative emotional environments to explore and create within.

Where to start the modal shedding? Perhaps look for the different modes in the tunes you play. Maybe start taking apart the major scales and deriving the modal color. Perhaps take each of the seven modal formulas, create an idea, then transpose it through the cycle of fifths. Maybe repeat this format through all seven formulas. Find a modal color you dig, explore and write your own tune. Look to the workbook section for printable written exercises to strengthen your modal knowledge and abilities. Mode on!

Where to next?

review new ideas

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Sir Winston Churchill