The Modes
The Pentatonic scales will always work but you can add two extra notes to introduce new colours into your playing. Most modes fit nicely over either a Major Pentatonic or Minor Pentatonic scale so learning these first gives you a framework to hang these extra notes on.
As we go through the modes in the order presented in this app only one note changes between them and this changes the whole feeling of the scale. We gradually go from a sweet, happy and magical sound through to sad, exotic and damn right evil - with every flattened note introducing a bit more tension and drama.
| Lydian | Light and airy with a bit of mystery from the raised 4th. |
|---|---|
| Ionian | The Natural Major scale - happy and triumphant. |
| Mixolydian | Still Major in tonality but a little bit darker with the flattened 7th. Happy, but not too happy. |
| Dorian | Introduces the Minor tonality with the flattened 3rd, dark but retains a little brightness with the major 6th. |
| Aeolian | The Natural Minor scale - dark and sad, a staple in rock music. |
| Phrygian | Dark and exotic. |
| Locrian | Extra dark as now even the fifth has been flattened - making it diminished, hard to use. |
Perhaps it’s worth noting that the pattern would wrap around, if we allowed the root note to change, and the only difference between the sweetest sounding mode (lydian) and the darkest (locrian) is still just one note - only it’s now the root note that has been flattened. Even though all other notes remain the same our perspective of them has now changed as everything relates to the new root note. Maybe there’s a deeper lesson in this and we are all just one root note away from understanding one another…