Modes and Majors
In the Major Scale section we looked at the Major Scale and in the Modes section we looked at the different Modes of the C Major (or C Ionian) Scale. In this section we will look at how Modes relate to the Major Scale. In order to do this, let's remind ourselves of the degrees within the Major Scale
| Degree | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII |
| Name | Tonic | Supertonic | Mediant | Subdominant | Dominant | Submediant | Leading Tone |
We can use this information to construct a table for each of the 7 modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygain, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
Before we looked at the different Modes of the C Major (Ionian) Scale and the chords associated with them.
| Root | Mode | Notes | Triad | 7th |
| C | Ionian | C, D, E, F, G, A, B | C (C,E,G) | CΔ7 (C,E,G,B) |
| D | Dorian | D, E, F, G, A, B, C | Dm (D,F,A) | Dm7 (D,F,A,C) |
| E | Phrygian | E, F, G, A, B, C, D | Em (E,G,B) | Em7 (E,G,B,D) |
| F | Lydian | F, G, A, B, C, D, E | F (F,A,C) | FΔ7 (F,A,C,E) |
| G | Mixolydian | G, A, B, C, D, E, F | G (G,B,D) | G7 (G,B,D,F) |
| A | Aeolian | A, B, C, D, E, F, G | Am (A,C,E) | Am7 (A,C,E,G) |
| B | Locrian | B, C, D, E, F, G, A | Bø (B,D,F) | Bē (B,D,F,A) |
However, we are now going to look at only the modes with C as their Root. Here they are, with associated chords...
| Root | Mode | Notes | Triad | 7th |
| C | Lydian | C, D, E, F#, G, A, B | C (C, E, G) | CΔ7 (C, E, G, B) |
| C | Ionian | C, D, E, F, G, A, B | C (C, E, G) | CΔ7 (C, E, G, B) |
| C | Mixolydian | C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb | C (C, E, G) | C7 (C, E, G, Bb) |
| C | Dorian | C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb | Cm (C, Eb, G) | Cm7 (C, Eb, G, Bb) |
| C | Aeolian | C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb | Cm (C, Eb, G) | Cm7 (C, Eb, G, Bb) |
| C | Phrygian | C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb | Cm (C, Eb, G) | Cm7 (C, Eb, G, Bb) |
| C | Locrian | C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb | Cø (C,Eb,Gb) | Cē (C,Eb,Gb,Bb) |
The mathematicians amongst you will immediately notice a pattern, if we continue this pattern, we would modulate to a new key, like so...
| Root | Mode | Notes | Triad | 7th |
| C | Locrian | C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb | Cø (C,Eb,Gb) | Cē (C,Eb,Gb,Bb) |
| B | Lydian | B, C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A# | B (B, D#, F#) | BΔ7 (B, D#, F#, A#) |
| B | Ionian | B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A# | B (B, D#, F#) | BΔ7 (B, D#, F#, A#) |
So, what about applying this to other keys, well if we use our Degrees to describe the Modes, things become clearer (and more usable)...
Mode |
Degree | ||||||
| Lydian | I | II | III | IV# | V | VI | VII |
| Ionian | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII |
| Mixolydian | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VIIb |
| Dorian | I | II | IIIb | IV | V | VI | VIIb |
| Aeolian | I | II | IIIb | IV | V | VIb | VIIb |
| Phrygian | I | IIb | IIIb | IV | V | VIb | VIIb |
| Locrian | I | IIb | IIIb | IV | Vb | VIb | VIIb |
Notice that the Lydian and Mixolydian are the most closely realted to the Ionian (Major Scale), whereas the Dorian and Phrygian are more closely related to the Aeolian (Minor Scale). Let's look at this relationship in more detail with a couple of examples:
Taking C Major as our Key, we can see that we can easily obtain the Lydian and Mixolydian Modes just by sharpening the F to an F# (Lydian) or flattening the B to a Bb (Mixolydian)
Mode |
Degree | ||||||
| Lydian | C | D | E | F# | G | A | B |
| Ionian | C | D | E | F | G | A | B |
| Mixolydian | C | D | E | F | G | A | Bb |
To keep things fairly simples, let's have a look at the Relative Minor of C, which is A Minor (Aeolian Mode), we can just as easily obtain the Minor Modes of Dorian and Phrygian by sharpening the F to F# (Dorian) or flattening the B to a Bb (Phrygian).
Mode |
Degree | ||||||
| Dorian | A | B | C | D | E | F# | G |
| Aeolian | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| Phrygian | A | Bb | C | D | E | F | G |
This is often the easiest path to Modal playing, as you only have to remember two changes to cover six of the seven modes.
The Locrian is a different beast altogther, being a Diminished Mode, I will cover this in a future update. In the meantime, below is the fingering I use to cycle through each mode, learning how to cycle through the modes will improve your ability to access them in your own playing. I have used dots, instead of a specific root notes, so you can apply the pattens anywhere on your fretboard. (The dots represent where to put your fingers and the lines are strings and frets).
LYDIAN (I, II, III, IV#, V, VI, VII)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|----|-----|----|----|-----|
|----|-----|----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
IONIAN (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|----|-----|----|----|-----|
|----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
MIXOLYDIAN (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIIb)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|----|----|-----|----|-----|
|----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
DORIAN (I, II, IIIb, IV, V, VI, VIIb)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
AEOLIAN (I, II, IIIb, IV, V, VIb, VIIb)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|----|
|-----|----|-----|----|----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
PHRYGIAN (I, IIb, IIIb, IV, V, VIb, VIIb)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|----|
|-----|----|----|-----|----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
LOCRIAN (I, IIb, IIIb, IV, Vb, VIb, VIIb)
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|----|-----|----|-----|
|-----|----|----|-----|----|
|-----|----|----|-----|----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|