Diatonic Modes

The answer to the question presented in the last article is modes. A mode can be thought of as a specific form of a scale, or a certain scale played starting on a different note. The first and most crucial mode that most musicians already now is Ionian, also known as the major scale.

For now, the modes that’ll be looked at are only the 7 diatonic ones. A diatonic scale contains 5 full tones and 2 semitones. In short, it means that a scale is based on the standard major and minor scales. So a major scale consists of 7 notes, therefore it has 7 modes, one for each note. G major will be used as an example to explain each mode. The modes in order are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. G Ionian is the standard G major scale.

Next is A Dorian. The notes it contains are:

A B C D E F# G

Compared to A major the A major scale which is

A B C# D# E F# G#

A Dorian can be thought of as a major scale with the 3^rd and 7^th notes lowered a half-step. Or it can be considered a minor scale with a raised 6^th since A minor contains

A B C D E F G

B Phrygian contains the notes

B C D E F# G A

B major is composed of

B C# D# E F# G# A#

So a Phrygian scale is a major scale with the a lowered 2^nd 3^rd 6^th and 7^th. Since the 3^rd, 6^th, and the 7^thnd. are both lowered, it can be considered a minor scale with a raised with lowered 2^nd.

C Lydian has the following notes

C D E F# G A B

Compared to the C major scale which contains

C D E F G A B

Lydian is a major scale with a raised 4^th.

D Mixolydian contains the following notes

D E F# G A B C

It only differs from D Major by one note which is the 7^th which is flattened in the Mixolydian mode

E Aeolian is the E minor scale which is a major scale with a flattened 3^rd, 6^th, and 7^th. It’s notes are

E B C D E F# G

The last mode is Locrian. In this case, F# Locrian goes as follows

F# G A B C D E

Compared to the F# major scale, which is

F# G# A# B C# D# E#(F)

So a Locrian scale can be considered as a Major scale with a lowered 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th. Since the 3^rd, 6^th, and 7^th are lowered, the scale could be considered as a minor scale with a lowered 2^nd and 5^th. An even easier way to think about is the following is to look at it as a Phrygian scale (because of lowering the 2^nd along with the other notes) with a lowered 5^th.

All modes should be derived from the major scale of the same root note. However, as a shortcut, some of the modes mentioned can be derived easily from the minor scale (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Phrygian) are considered minor-sounding modes, and are best played in minor context. Experimenting with the modes is the best way to figure out the way sound, and when to apply each one.