Music Theory: The Modes Of The Major Scale

Modes are the last missing piece in our diatonic pie. 

Modes are a mystery for many players, viewed as obscure jazzy scales that have no practical application in popular music.  But this is just not true!  Modes are very easy to understand and apply.

Put simply, not only can we build chords off of any note in a scale but we can build new scales as well. 

For example, the key of C major has no sharps or flats:

C D E F G A B C

What if we used those same notes, but started on the note D?

D E F G A B C D 

Or on F?

F G A B C D E F

When we do this, we are playing a mode of the major scale. 

If a scale starts with a D, then you have a D something scale. If you have a scale that starts with an F, then you have an F something scale. 

Each mode of the major scale has a specific name, with specific intervals, and therefore a specific, distinctive sound.

The sound is different because you are starting the scale on different intervals. Some of these sound very consonant, while others sound very dissonant. 

Some have a major sound while others have a minor sound - just like the chords we build on these same intervals.

The names of the seven modes of the major scale and their intervals are as follows:

I - Ionian (Major scale) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

II - Dorian - 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 

III - Phrygian - 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 

IV - Lydian - 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 

V - Mixolydian - 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

VI - Aeolian (Minor scale) - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

VII - Locrian - 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7

If you noticed, the natural minor scale is the mode built off the sixth degree of the major scale. 

While it is easy to always relate modes to the major scale they are derived from, this is a common stumbling block for people trying to take this scale off of the page and make actual music. Because of this, we are going to learn the modes as individual scales and not just how they relate to their ionian derivative. We will go through the individual details and applications of each of these modes in the following lessons.  This is important because, if you always relate back to the major scale, then you are always needing an extra step in your thought process, which will only slow you down.

One last but very important thought: The only way to distinguish the difference between different modes in the major scale is within context! 

If you play a C major chord and play an F lydian scale over top of it, it is still going to sound like C major because you are in a C major context! But, if you play an F lydian scale over an F major chord you will hear the lydian sound. You will be playing in an F context. 

Even though all the notes are the same, the tonality doesn't change on top unless the context on the bottom changes.

Jam Tracks:

1.  F major vamp

2.  D major vamp

3.  A minor vamp

4.  E minor vamp