Lesson with Will Kirk

Willy,

Modes and such...

Will start soon.

Basically I'm pretty well informed on building the standard scales and chords and such.

But I know practically nothing about modes and building them,so I guess that'd be the best place to start

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Basically I'm pretty well informed on building the standard scales and chords and such. But I know practically nothing about modes and building them,so I guess that'd be the best place to start

Cool,

Modes:

Take, for example, the C Major scale (no flats, or sharps). There's 7 notes, each of which can be a starting point for a new mode. New mode, made up of the same notes as C Major.

C D E F G A B
D E F G A B C
E F G A B C D
etc.

They are named as such (using modes of F for reference), along with their jazz chord symbols:

I - ionian - FMaj7
ii - dorian - Gmin7
iii - phrygian - Amin7 ...[ Amin7(b9) ]
IV - lydian - BbMaj7(#11)
V - mixolydian - C7
vi - aeolian - Dmin7 ...[ Dmin7(b6) ]
viii - locrian - Eø7 ...[ Emin7(b5) ]

===============================

Also, modes of the ascending melodic-minor scale are common:

C D Eb F G A B

i - minor-major - Cmin-maj7 (minor third, major seventh)
ii - dorian b2 - Dmin7(b9)
III - lydian augmented - EbMaj7(#5)
IV - lydian dominant - F7(#11)
V - mixolydian b6 - G7(b6)
vi - locrian #2 - Aø7
vii - altered - B7alt

===============================

Does this make sense?

I'll clarify when I have a bit more time...

Addendum:

Consideration of modes can take two aproaches.

1) as above, the 'parent scale' method. I.e. You derive Eb Lydian from Bb Major.

2) by considering alterations to the scale, one can derive similar results. I.e. You may derive Eb Lydian by raising the 4th note a half-step.



This shows the modes of C Major, with the relative key signatures to demonstrate the alterations.

For some it's easier to remember Aeolian = 6th mode; for others, to recall that Aeolian = b3, b6, b7. To each his own. I find the first method to be more intuitive for realtime improvisation.

Alright

Well what I think I see right off is that each mode starts with it's respective Scale Degree according to C major

Like to make a Dorian Mode in C I simply start on the supertonic and use the notes depending on the key signature

Am I on the right track?

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Well what I think I see right off is that each mode starts with it's respective Scale Degree according to C major

Like to make a Dorian Mode in C I simply start on the supertonic and use the notes depending on the key signature

Am I on the right track?

Exactly, we're just moving around the 'bottom'...

Ah I see

So I had another question, if I decide to use the E Phrygian Mode in the key of Dmajor

would it look like

E F# G A B C# D?

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

...if I decide to use the E Phrygian Mode in the key of Dmajor

would it look like

E F# G A B C# D?

That's the E Dorian mode. ....E Phrygian is the 3rd mode of C Major, and thus has no sharps/flats.

So each Mode name changes depending on the key signature as well?

I mean, if the E Dorian is in the key of Dmajor, and the E Phrygian is in the key of Cmajor then do they change for every different key sig?

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

So each Mode name changes depending on the key signature as well?

I mean, if the E Dorian is in the key of Dmajor, and the E Phrygian is in the key of Cmajor then do they change for every different key sig?

Sort of. The key being used for that mode will dictate which mode it is...You may have E Phrygian being used in a piece in the key of D Major....the key signature has little relevance to determining the mode.

Kind of a strange concept...we'll check out some tunes in a bit.