Lars Lentz Audio™

Modes can add interest and really shape a musical piece so knowing the modes and what each is noted for is a good thing. I come back to this post quite often when I am composing so I can choose a mode.

First, some good articles on musical modes:

Music Modes – How to Enrich Your Songs with Modal Color

The Magic Behind Musical Modes

Piano Scales

Putting it All Together: The Mode Wrap-up

Hearing the Unique Sound of Each Mode

Adding Texture with Archaic Modes

Here are how I characterize different musical modes:

I put a capital “M” in front of the ones that are “Major”-sounding, and a lower-case “m” for ones that sound “minor.”

For example, any of the ones with lower-case m, if you play the scale over a minor chord, they will sound good. And do the opposite for the capital M ones.

• (M) Ionian or Major – Bright and joyful.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Ionian and Dorian Modes
• (m) Aeolian or Minor – Sad and oppressive. Quite the downer. Use for super sad stuff.
  • Playing in Parallel: The Minor Modes
• (m) Dorian – A minor-type of scale that is slightly sad but very hopeful. Like the minor scale but with a slight difference that is the raised 6th note (the Dorian 6th). Although it is mostly minor, it has an uplifting feel to it when played.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Ionian and Dorian Modes
• (m) Phrygian – Dark and tension-filled. I’ve heard it works for heavy metal, flamenco, and jazz music, but I don’t know for sure. It has an oriental and Spanish feel to it as well. It is kind of foreboding in its feel.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Phrygian Mode
• (M) Lydian – Mystical and mainly used in jazz. It is a major scale with a raised 4th. It has a mysterious sound that is also uplifting at the same time.
  • The Lydian Mode: How to use it to write better songs.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Lydian Mode
  • The Lydian Mode – How to use the movie mode to build pretty harmonies.
  • Lydian Mode Chord Progressions
• (M) Mixolydian – Blues, rock, jazz, and funk use this one. Similar to the major scale in feel, but with a bit of a difference. It really sounds good with many different types of songs. To me it has a just a twinge of sadness or negativity to it because it is exactly like the major scale except for the 7th note of the scale is flat, and that is that “tiny bit of sadness” that many songs need.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Mixolydian Mode
• (m) Locrian – Unstable and tense is the Locrian scale’s forte. It has a dissonance to it but is not as sad as the minor mode.
  • Breaking Down the Barriers: The Locrian Mode

Updated: 18-April-2019