I use this to memorise the order of the modes. 1. I Ionian 2. do Dorian 3. prefer Phrygian 4. light Lydian 5. music Mixolydian 6. after Aeolian 7. lunch Locrian If you want to know the notes for the D Phrygian mode for example , then look out for the major scale that has D as its 3rd note (3=Phrygian). In this case D is the 3rd note of the Bb major scale. So basically D Phrygian is Bb starting on the note D which becomes the tonic for this mode. For C Lydian it is the G major scale which has C as the 4th note. C Lydian is the G major scale starting on C (the F# is from the G major scale) or you can look at C Lydian as the 4th mode of the G major scale. It's the same concept with any minor scale. Every minor scale starts out on the 6th note of the major scale (6=Aeolian mode). For example: the 6th note of the Eb major scale ist C. So playing the Eb major scale starting on C gives you the C min scale.
Frederik Stephano you dont really add modes to a song. No matter what you play, its a mode. If you familiarize yourself with the sound of each mode. Like Phyrigian sounds like egyptian music, or lydian sounds minor or dark. Its just another way of going about scales. Modes are like moods, there are doorways to key changes through modal thinking, but key changes are not too common in contemporary music. So dont fret too much.
Just focus on remembering the important ones to start with (i.e. forget about the aeolian and ionian - minor and major modes - you already know them. And forget about the locrian, no one uses it). Just try to remember the useful ones: the dorian (dark but optimistic) the mixolydian (cheesy sound) the lydian (bright) the phrygian (eastern)
Hey Izzy, you're right, I've used C as a fixed root for each mode - for me, that's the only way anyone is going to learn these modes - by noticing which notes are sharpenned or flattened. A lot of teachers will just say Dorian is D - D white notes, Phrygian is E - E white notes. But that isn't going to stick, no ones going to really learn the modes that way. Hope this video helped, stay tuned for a video on the melodic minor modes, coming soon! Julian
+Josef Inigo Arr thanks so much Josef - I really appreciate your kind words :) You might also like my recent video called '4 types of minor scale' which is very similar format
Oh..., hi !!! I will see / hear & analyze it later on... Thanks for your given energy and creation of a class of musical followers. Feedback will follow... Take care ...
mate, you've been more helpful to me as a guitarist than all the guitar tutorials I've been watching lately. They always make it so enigmatic, but your tutorial is very informative and I can translate what you've shown me to my fretboard. Thank you.
You're very welcome Alastair - so pleased to hear this helped. Reading these comments is making me want to make another video on modes, I think I could say some more about them. Stay tuned :)
Thanks liteoner! The trick is to line all modes up from the same note (and not just say D - D white notes is dorian etc), and also to focus on the chords just as much as the notes in the scale.
Excellent examples - "Somebody I Used to Know" really features that minor 6th in the melody. when he sings 'cut... me off', which makes it clearly in the aeolian mode, as opposed to the dorian and other minor modes. Thanks for giving it some thought!
Just discovered, thanks to Julian, that the main theme of Back To The Future is written in Lydian mode. Never knew how to play, sounded so complicated. Now it's a piece of cake
I am a guitar player and I've watched tons of guitar tutorials on youtube. Your lessons are by far the best I've found yet. Your exemples are very useful as templates for understanding and remembering the sound of the modes and scales. Pure gold! Thank you man!
Thanks so much Marc - really appreciate you saying that. I'm actually going to do a follow up video on the modes because I have a few more things I want to say.
Finally! I've waited my whole life for someone to actually make sense of modes for me - and you did! In a nice comprised educational piece of less than 15 min. even! Thank you! (The "'trick" was to stay on the same root note and identify the characteristic intervals that distinguish each particular mode from one another). Thank you galore!
+jazztutorial - Job well done. I always check out music tutorials of all types, and am always irritated by how poorly they are made - I don't care if you know as much about music as John Williams or Miles Davis, even if you are a good teacher too, if you can't succinctly edit it together in a video without going off on tangents, nobody cares. You have done a great job of presenting your ideas fluidly and I can't say enough about how nice that is. Can't wait to check out your others! Keep it up!!
You're the second person to ask for that exact same thing, so yes, I will get it in to the next few videos for sure. Thanks for the feedback! Enjoy these modes
Listen to each chord - which chord sounds like the resolved chord - the chord that could end the piece on and sound finished? Whichever chord sounds like the only resolved chord is probably the 1 chord (the root chord of the scale the music is in). E.g. if the B major chord sounds like you could end the piece on it - the scale will be some sort of B scale. Then work out the mode based on the notes used in the music in relation to the root note (e.g. B). Does that make any sense?
Yes - the 7 modes are all derived from the notes of the major scale - some teachers just say 'D - D = dorian, E - E = phrygian', etc. But when you try to learn it that way though you don't notice which notes differ from 1 mode to another. That's why I've used a fixed root (C) for every mode. That way you spot differences between each mode, because they're starting on the same note. 'Lydian is just major with a #4', 'Mixolydian is just major with a b7', 'Dorian is just minor with a major 6th'
I think the dorian mode sounds so nice to lots of people because it sort of builds up tension when you're playing the notes of the typical minor scale, then suddenly once you hit that major 6th all that tension is released. Idk how correct I am but it's just my take on things.
Hi Chadwick, Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' is just standard minor (aeolian), but it has a chromatic passing note it the main riff - say it's in C minor, it goes something like C Eb G Gb F. The Gb is the chromatic passing note, outside the minor scale the piece is in the rest of the time. I'm including metal, and all forms of music under 'popular music'. The only time you might find locrian mode is in a modern piece of classical music - it won't sound appealing to the heart though!
You say Mixolydian has a cheesy sound but I've actually found that most songs that are in mixo are actually beautifully epic. Examples: Studio Killers - Eros&Apollo and Ode To The Bouncer Fractal - Sanctum Au5 - Atlantis
Excellent example, Peter Gunn, it isn't major or minor, but it's still hard to definitively say which mode because it slips around - the main bassline riff goes: E E F# E G E G# G - for a moment it outlines E mixolydian because it has a major 3rd (G#) at the end, and you can also sense the minor 7th somewhere in the chords/backing. The Peter Gunn is actually mainly outlining the 'Major-Blues Scale' though. If you're interested in that I did a video on it here: youtube . com /watch?v=s7GipRWfabo
I am 65 years old and have spent a life in recreational music making. You just taught me something that I have heard about of all my life. Thanks to you, I now understand What mode is the Beatle's tune "Norwegian Wood"?
I just listened to Norwegian Wood and I think the verse is in E Mixolydian, then it switches to E Dorian before returning back to E Mixolydian.The E Mixolydian uses E major and D major. The E Dorian uses E minor and A major before the F#minor (ii) and B major to E major. Brilliant stuff, that is!
The phrygian I think of it as b3 and just memorize which notes are different from a standard minor scale. The altered scale though I do think of as the 7th mode of the melodic minor. It sounds better when you play C melodic minor over B7 alt. I used to try to play B altered scale over B7alt, but it always sounded strange because I was emphasizing the 1 3 5 7 degrees of B alt, which isn't how the scale should be used. It actually sounds correct when you play C melodic minor, emphasizing C Eb G A
@@arcaetype Glad someone said something. I was about to speak on the chorus goofing that up. Adam Neely put out a vid recently featuring 5 musicians and they made 1 min compositions using only the Locrian mode *possibly to have more examples and it is a fun challenge.*
Sure I know what you mean - the phrygian sus scale mentioned in the Mark Levine is a different scale to the one I'm talking about. His has a major 6th. The phrygian mode I mention in this video is all the white notes from E to E. So it has a b2, b3, b6, b7th. However I also mentioned that it's common to alter the phrygian and give it a major 3rd. A lot of the pop music examples I can think of make it a major 3rd. 'Naughty Girl' by Beyonce is a good example. Does that make sense?
Great instruction / examples! Here are some more, and a simple way to think about it from a pop music perspective (composing). Examples: Bryan Adams - Run to you - Dorian mode Lorde - Royals - Mixolydian mode . These are the two most common modes in pop music generally, except for the normal major/minor scales. Concerning creating different vibes in songs one can, a bit simplified, think about it like this: . - Pure minor key, normal mode/scale. Sad vibe. - Dorian mode, major key. Fairly sad vibe. - Mixolydian mode, major key. Fairly happy vibe. - Pure major key, normal mode/scale. Happy vibe. . A certain lyric often fits best with one of these vibes.
Oftentimes, I find dorian even more sad than pure minor. That might just be because I get bored of hearing major and minor so much, that it doesn't do as much for me.
I see what you mean... I would say it depends on the specific song/sound/arrangement/melody. For example, Scarborough Fair (Simon & Garfunkel) is Dorian, and a good example of your point I think... But for example "My Sweet Lord" (George Harrison), also Dorian, I think clearly has a happier vibe than normal pure minor songs.
Yeah I know what you mean, those kind of filler chords, just bridging the gap between the important ones. I covered a bit of this in my video: MOVING CHORDS IN PARALLEL (you can youtube search it). But basically, say I'm playing a C minor 9 voicing (C Eb G Bb D) and I want to get to F minor 9. Well,to make the journey more elaborate,I could build that same voicing off C, then D,then Eb, then F. I would just use my ear to decide which journey sounds best, and it doesn't have to fit in the scale
or I've often heard of it said as switching between Dorian and mixolydian depending on the chord of the blues progression since all the chords are dominant,or implied to be, which means you would be stepping out side the key naturally. Also, the pentatonic works so well,especially in blues, because it excludes any of those pesky half steps that create any given mode.
Sure - here are the scales followed by the characteristic chords: C ionian - C maj, F maj, G maj. D dorian - D min, G maj, E min. E phrygian - E min, F maj. F lydian - F maj, G maj. G mixolydian - G maj, C maj, F maj. A aeolian - A min, D min, E min. B locrian - none!
Thanks eblue7, I'd agree with that. major / minor for the verse, but the chorus has that major IV chord - outlining the dorian scale. There's also a few key changes, modulating up a note towards the end. Thanks for the comment!
Phrygian is used a lot in metal, just one note different to the locrian. Phrygian has the natural 5th which is really what a scale needs to sound good. Locrian has a flat 5th which stops it functioning like the other scales do
You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment, I love hearing this. Glad you're learning about the theory now, I think it enhances a musicians playing and musical awareness and allows you to appreciate music on a deeper level, with a better perspective also. A lot of computer games have great music, and modes get used a lot in my game playing experience. Also changing time signatures is common too. In no time I'm sure you will be able to recognize each mode by ear with ease! Thanks again
Here is my bucket list of modes/scales I want to use to write music: -Natural Minor w/ Harmonic Minor parts (easy) -Dorian (it sounds nice) -Mixolydian b6 (beautiful spiritual/wondurus feel) -Lydian (reminds me of iconic Pixar themes) -Neapolitan Minor Scale (looks promising) -Locrian (as a challenge)
Thanks for the encouragement Gihan - I'm pushing myself to appear on camera for all my future videos - I'm not comfortable doing it yet, but it should make the videos more human and personable! Thanks again! Julian
Nicolas! Thanks so much for this amazing comment, this was so great for me to read. Really pleased these videos are helping you get back into piano, I'm happy for you, it all comes back. Julian
I think Muse and Björk are the only ones that get off on the Lochrian Mode. There will never be another You Tuber like Julian for teaching Mi music theory. He explains things with so much Sol. I doubt that he's in it for the Do. Well you needn't worry if he's offended, we're just friends.
This is one of the better modes videos I have seen so far. Most are wrong or confusing. Would have been better if you had emphasized the intervals more. You did when giving examples and talking about characteristic notes and you indirectly did when talking about sharpening and flattening. But they should have been in the video under the notes and you should have emphasized that everything is about what those intervals are.
Ooh good one. You're right, that is the altered phrygian mode - basically the phrygian with a major 3rd - C Db E F G Ab Bb (you can hear the major 3rd in the first chord)
I believe what you're calling the 'altered phrygian' mode is more commonly known as the double-harmonic or Arabic scale (although I was first introduced to it as a "Persian" scale, but there is another "Persian" scale that seems more common in theory books). It's very close to one of the simpler Arabic maqams -- a system of modes with quarter-note tunings. Not exactly the same (because some notes are a quarter off), but close enough to seem 'middle eastern' and still sound 'in tune' to Western ears.
That was very professional and well done; easy to understand and use. It unlocks the basic workings of music by explaining the underpinnings. Seeing and hearing the demonstration of each mode is more useful to me than merely reading the notes. It all has a mathematical explanation, but in my fifty years of playing, I've mostly used my musical ear and intuition...... Once it all fits together in your head, the music flows almost automatically. I always enjoy a technical vindication of what do; it makes it easier to explain to my students, some of whom are theory based.
Great lesson. The other half of the modes story is where the modes follow you as you solo over chords. 2-5-1 in C is Dm, G7 and C. Solo with only the notes of C Major scale and the modes pass under you as Dorian, Mixolydian and Ionian. 2-5-1 in A minor is Bm7b5, E7 and A minor. Play only the notes of the A minor scale (same as C Major) and the modes pass under you as Locrian, Phrygian (don't worry that the 5 chord is a Dom 7) and the Aeolian. Check out "Autumn Leaves" in A minor. (Almost) all the chords are from the A minor chord scale. Try forgetting the chords and solo in Am (C Major). Btw, This is the main use of the Locrian mode. Check out the RealChords RUclips channel for backing tracks and soloing tips. Cheers.
I know it seems like it would be simpler to learn the modes that way, just as white note scales, but the only way to really learn the modes is to line them all up using a fixed root (C) so that you can see the differences between each mode. That way you are forced to learn each mode by noticing which accidentals appear in each mode, e.g. major 3rd, minor 7th, major 6th, etc. The white note scales approach actually stops people ever learning the differences between each mode.
Yes - the 'characteristic chords' are the chords that capture the essence of the mode. Say you want to play C lydian - C D E F# G A B. If you start playing C major and E minor chords, even if you thought you were playing C lydian, you're not actually creating the lydian sound. You're actually playing E minor (E aeolian mode). So it's important to play the right chords to go with each mode.
You're very welcome. The way to learn them is using a fixed root for all of them - here I use C. That way you can clearly see the sharps and flats for each. The way a lot of people teach is F - F white notes, D - D white notes etc. but that way you never notice which notes are changing. Really glad you learnt from this
Hi PlugAndSay, Most pop songs are in the major or minor modes (ionian and aeolian) - not the mixolydian. Only a few songs like the Ghostbusters' theme, and Phil Collin's 'Sussudio' are in the mixolydian mode. I've got a video coming soon on the 4 pop chords, this will explain all!
You're very welcome. The key I think is to learn each mode with the same fixed root note - here I used C. That way you notice visually which notes are different, instead of simply thinking D-D white notes = Dorian, E-E white notes = Phrygian etc. That never sticks. Thanks so much for the comment!
Thanks Matt! Most people just call these scales 'the modes' because these are the most commonly used modes. Any scale can generate modes, so I call these the 'church modes' - but this is also slightly vague, because there are older scales also called 'church modes'. Dorian mode is great for electronic music. There's a track by Cosmic Gate called 'Body of Conflict'. The verse is dorian, but the chorus is aolian (natural minor). It's effective to switch between dorian and aolian within a song.
Exactly! Great example. A few others I can think of are Beyonce 'Naughty Girl'. Snoop Dogg 'Lay Low'. Fat Joe 'Lean Back'. Pretty common in rap and RnB. Thanks for pointing out Hella Good!
Okay, I got a little carried away thinking of songs in Mixolydian, for at least part of the time. I decided not to included too many blues-based songs, as a zillion of them use mixolydian during the I chord sections. Also, a lot of Bluesy songs blur the major 3rd and minor 3rd, so some of these are borderline dorian. What great ones am I forgetting? BEATLES Hard Days Night (verse) Day Tripper (verse and guitar riff) I'm a loser (verse) Within without you Ballad of John and Yoko You can't do that ticket to ride (verse) Norwegian Wood (not the minor section) STONES Let's spend the Night Together (or maybe it just sits on V7 for a long time). I can't get no Satisfaction The Last Time Others All night Long - Lionel Richie Beat goes on, Sonny and Cher Bitter Sweet Symphony (basically this is The Last Time) Bohemian Rhapsody ("so you think you can stone me", section) Funky town, main riff Freeway Jam - Jeff Beck (main theme) Good Vibrations ('chorus' parts) Johnny B. Goode Material Girl Mrs. Robinson - various parts, especially the interludes The Mule (Deep Purple) Instrumental intro Last train to Clarksville Old Joe Clark (bluegrass) Pink Cadillac Spingsteen Ramblin Man (most noticeable in chorus) Truckin' - Grateful Dead Rockin robin Rock around the Clock Rock and Roll Music - Chuck Berry She Blinded me with Science - Thomas Dolby She Moves in Mysterious ways - U2 Tequila (sort of) Whip it - DEVO Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Melody never actually uses 3, but underlying chord is major) You really got me (moreso on Van Halen version--D L Roth sings the 3rds closer to major).
PLEASE HELP --- Why do you first say the modes use all the same notes with the C Major scale... and then suddenly these modes use flats and sharps and whatever... WHY? What am I missing? Please help...! Thank you
Nice! I'm with you on that one, I think Dorian can be way more interesting. You can also switch between the 2 subtly. E.g. write a verse to your song in C dorian mode, then switch to C aeolian mode for the chorus. Over the C dorian you could use C minor and F major chords, but over the C aeolian you could switch to C minor, Ab major, F minor chords.
That's a good way to think of them too. The order I chose to use in this video was listing the modes from brightest (the most sharp notes) down to darkest (most flattened notes). So starting with the lydian - each mode I list flattens just one note at a time: Lydian - Ionian (b4) - Mixolydian (b7) - Dorian (b3) - Aeolian (b6) - Phrygian (b2) - Locrian (b5).
Hi PlugAndSay - yes, I recognize these modes by their overall sound - the main 4 (lydian, mixolydian, dorian, phrygian) have their own unique characters - once you know how they sound (and feel) you can't really mistake them for one another.
Hi James, thanks so much for this uplifting comment, it means a lot for me to hear. I've done some other good videos on scales recently, and I will be covering the melodic minor modes soon also, which should be equally interesting, stay tuned! Julian
The altered 3rd (major instead of minor) for the Phrygian mode becomes, then, a C Phrygian dominant scale (used a lot in Jewish and Gypsy music) or a F harmonic minor scale. 🙂🎼
Thanks Farrokh, I've got plenty of other videos covering scales that you might like, as a guitarist, including the altered scale, pentatonic scales, and a video called 'Jazz Scales'. Hope you continue to enjoy the videos!
You're welcome, glad this helps. Using the right chords to go with each mode is a big part of creating a modal sound. I've rarely hear that mentioned. I'm going to cover the melodic minor modes in a video soon, stay tuned!
Thanks for pointing this out. It's important. I'm just reading up on it. I understand about the 8 church modes you mentioned, I've seen them described as the Gregorian church modes. I've also read about the modes I mention in this video as the 'modern church modes'. What do you think would be the best title for the video? I was trying to think of a better title as it is. Loved your singing videos by the way. They're really nice, lovely camera shot as well.
Thanks Kiyta! Those are some great examples, I'm glad you can identify these modes by ear now. And thanks for the complement, I'm really pleased you're learning from my videos!
I like to make up songs, but I don't know much about music. However, I do know I'm sick of Ionian! This video is magnificent! Knowledgeable professor with superb teaching skills! Excuse me, I'm going to write something Phrygian now!
Thanks for posting! Glad to hear this helped, and that it made things interesting. You might like my cycle of 5ths video also, that's been a popular one: /watch?v=Sjqy_vKXmT8
Thanks so much! I have been getting some really encouraging comments lately, like this one. I love reading this, and it's what propels me to keep making them better and better. I'm trying to really refine the teaching style now. That's great you're learning the other way around (not the wrong way round though). In my opinion the theory is easier to grasp than the ear training, so you've probably done a lot of the hard work already!
Thanks so much David! Really happy to hear this helped you out, I hope I got the point across pretty clearly. These modes are great to know about, and you can start to hear them used in popular music
Agree with Jose Ii play guitar and learned modes from guitar teacher and your lesson was by far better 2 thumbs up! I like Satriani for guitar as he uses Lydian for extreme major sound a lot, I prefer to play Dorian as it mixes major minor nicely ( your Mom has good taste...). Once I learned to "hear" the modes, music really opened up to me.
I use this to memorise the order of the modes.
1. I Ionian
2. do Dorian
3. prefer Phrygian
4. light Lydian
5. music Mixolydian
6. after Aeolian
7. lunch Locrian
If you want to know the notes for the D Phrygian mode for example , then look out for the major scale that has D as its 3rd note (3=Phrygian). In this case D is the 3rd note of the Bb major scale. So basically D Phrygian is Bb starting on the note D which becomes the tonic for this mode. For C Lydian it is the G major scale which has C as the 4th note. C Lydian is the G major scale starting on C (the F# is from the G major scale) or you can look at C Lydian as the 4th mode of the G major scale. It's the same concept with any minor scale. Every minor scale starts out on the 6th note of the major scale (6=Aeolian mode). For example: the 6th note of the Eb major scale ist C. So playing the Eb major scale starting on C gives you the C min scale.
My psychic senses tell me you are German
dude, I'm still confuse how to add modes to a song. :(
Frederik Stephano you dont really add modes to a song. No matter what you play, its a mode. If you familiarize yourself with the sound of each mode. Like Phyrigian sounds like egyptian music, or lydian sounds minor or dark. Its just another way of going about scales. Modes are like moods, there are doorways to key changes through modal thinking, but key changes are not too common in contemporary music. So dont fret too much.
Dude, you just helped me know exactly what modes are. No other mode tutorial has this info, even this one :'(
Ryan Berman I don't know if you intentionally were being clever with the "don't fret too much" or not, but I appreciated the pun nonetheless
Just focus on remembering the important ones to start with (i.e. forget about the aeolian and ionian - minor and major modes - you already know them. And forget about the locrian, no one uses it).
Just try to remember the useful ones:
the dorian (dark but optimistic)
the mixolydian (cheesy sound)
the lydian (bright)
the phrygian (eastern)
Hey Izzy, you're right, I've used C as a fixed root for each mode - for me, that's the only way anyone is going to learn these modes - by noticing which notes are sharpenned or flattened. A lot of teachers will just say Dorian is D - D white notes, Phrygian is E - E white notes. But that isn't going to stick, no ones going to really learn the modes that way.
Hope this video helped, stay tuned for a video on the melodic minor modes, coming soon!
Julian
indeed.. thank you a lot!
Fully agree....that's the sticking point everybody has..........just learn the modes in one key/scale then apply it to others once you know them
Extremely useful contents .Great/clear exposition , keeps enthusiasm thru all the video.Thanks dude.
+Josef Inigo Arr thanks so much Josef - I really appreciate your kind words :)
You might also like my recent video called '4 types of minor scale' which is very similar format
Oh..., hi !!!
I will see / hear & analyze it later on...
Thanks for your given energy and creation of a class of musical followers.
Feedback will follow...
Take care ...
mate, you've been more helpful to me as a guitarist than all the guitar tutorials I've been watching lately. They always make it so enigmatic, but your tutorial is very informative and I can translate what you've shown me to my fretboard. Thank you.
You're very welcome Alastair - so pleased to hear this helped. Reading these comments is making me want to make another video on modes, I think I could say some more about them. Stay tuned :)
After so many unhelpful videos watched on this... FINALLY! THANK YOU! :)
Thanks liteoner! The trick is to line all modes up from the same note (and not just say D - D white notes is dorian etc), and also to focus on the chords just as much as the notes in the scale.
Excellent examples - "Somebody I Used to Know" really features that minor 6th in the melody. when he sings 'cut... me off', which makes it clearly in the aeolian mode, as opposed to the dorian and other minor modes. Thanks for giving it some thought!
For some reason listening to the Aeolian mode just after listening to the Dorian mode sounds really nice to me. It gives me chills.
Excellent example Peter! A couple of other dorian mode songs I spotted this week were:
Pink Flyoyd - Another Brick in the Wall
Beegees - Staying Alive
Just discovered, thanks to Julian, that the main theme of Back To The Future is written in Lydian mode. Never knew how to play, sounded so complicated. Now it's a piece of cake
I am a guitar player and I've watched tons of guitar tutorials on youtube. Your lessons are by far the best I've found yet. Your exemples are very useful as templates for understanding and remembering the sound of the modes and scales. Pure gold! Thank you man!
"There's not much you can do with the locrian mode." FUCKING HILARIOUS!!!
Best video on youtube of explaining all the main modes of music. Well done.
Thanks so much Marc - really appreciate you saying that. I'm actually going to do a follow up video on the modes because I have a few more things I want to say.
I think I gotta agree with you on that.
Finally! I've waited my whole life for someone to actually make sense of modes for me - and you did! In a nice comprised educational piece of less than 15 min. even! Thank you! (The "'trick" was to stay on the same root note and identify the characteristic intervals that distinguish each particular mode from one another). Thank you galore!
So pleased you enjoyed this, and you can hear these different sounds now. Just looking up the Serj Tankian now
"Army of me" by Bjork uses Locrian to my knowledge. Fantastic video, thanks!
+jazztutorial - Job well done. I always check out music tutorials of all types, and am always irritated by how poorly they are made - I don't care if you know as much about music as John Williams or Miles Davis, even if you are a good teacher too, if you can't succinctly edit it together in a video without going off on tangents, nobody cares. You have done a great job of presenting your ideas fluidly and I can't say enough about how nice that is. Can't wait to check out your others! Keep it up!!
Ryan, thank you so much for saying this! I really appreciate it. The motto I follow is 'if in doubt, leave it out'.
You're the second person to ask for that exact same thing, so yes, I will get it in to the next few videos for sure. Thanks for the feedback! Enjoy these modes
You're welcome Heather - glad this helped!
Listen to each chord - which chord sounds like the resolved chord - the chord that could end the piece on and sound finished? Whichever chord sounds like the only resolved chord is probably the 1 chord (the root chord of the scale the music is in). E.g. if the B major chord sounds like you could end the piece on it - the scale will be some sort of B scale. Then work out the mode based on the notes used in the music in relation to the root note (e.g. B). Does that make any sense?
I'm so glad to hear this Wouter - I remember the same feeling when I first learnt about the modes. Really glad this helped
Yes - the 7 modes are all derived from the notes of the major scale - some teachers just say 'D - D = dorian, E - E = phrygian', etc. But when you try to learn it that way though you don't notice which notes differ from 1 mode to another. That's why I've used a fixed root (C) for every mode. That way you spot differences between each mode, because they're starting on the same note. 'Lydian is just major with a #4', 'Mixolydian is just major with a b7', 'Dorian is just minor with a major 6th'
I think the dorian mode sounds so nice to lots of people because it sort of builds up tension when you're playing the notes of the typical minor scale, then suddenly once you hit that major 6th all that tension is released. Idk how correct I am but it's just my take on things.
Hi Chadwick, Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' is just standard minor (aeolian), but it has a chromatic passing note it the main riff - say it's in C minor, it goes something like C Eb G Gb F. The Gb is the chromatic passing note, outside the minor scale the piece is in the rest of the time.
I'm including metal, and all forms of music under 'popular music'. The only time you might find locrian mode is in a modern piece of classical music - it won't sound appealing to the heart though!
You say Mixolydian has a cheesy sound but I've actually found that most songs that are in mixo are actually beautifully epic.
Examples:
Studio Killers - Eros&Apollo and Ode To The Bouncer
Fractal - Sanctum
Au5 - Atlantis
Lorde - Royals
It’s a hammy mode and sometimes to make things epic you just got to ham it up
Excellent example, Peter Gunn, it isn't major or minor, but it's still hard to definitively say which mode because it slips around - the main bassline riff goes:
E E F# E G E G# G - for a moment it outlines E mixolydian because it has a major 3rd (G#) at the end, and you can also sense the minor 7th somewhere in the chords/backing. The Peter Gunn is actually mainly outlining the 'Major-Blues Scale' though. If you're interested in that I did a video on it here:
youtube . com /watch?v=s7GipRWfabo
I am 65 years old and have spent a life in recreational music making. You just taught me something that I have heard about of all my life. Thanks to you, I now understand
What mode is the Beatle's tune "Norwegian Wood"?
I just listened to Norwegian Wood and I think the verse is in E Mixolydian, then it switches to E Dorian before returning back to E Mixolydian.The E Mixolydian uses E major and D major. The E Dorian uses E minor and A major before the F#minor (ii) and B major to E major. Brilliant stuff, that is!
Yet the Beatles will say publicly they didn’t understand music theory
The phrygian I think of it as b3 and just memorize which notes are different from a standard minor scale. The altered scale though I do think of as the 7th mode of the melodic minor. It sounds better when you play C melodic minor over B7 alt. I used to try to play B altered scale over B7alt, but it always sounded strange because I was emphasizing the 1 3 5 7 degrees of B alt, which isn't how the scale should be used. It actually sounds correct when you play C melodic minor, emphasizing C Eb G A
"Army of Me" by Björk is in locrian mode
For the first measure
@@arcaetype Glad someone said something. I was about to speak on the chorus goofing that up. Adam Neely put out a vid recently featuring 5 musicians and they made 1 min compositions using only the Locrian mode *possibly to have more examples and it is a fun challenge.*
Sure I know what you mean - the phrygian sus scale mentioned in the Mark Levine is a different scale to the one I'm talking about. His has a major 6th.
The phrygian mode I mention in this video is all the white notes from E to E. So it has a b2, b3, b6, b7th. However I also mentioned that it's common to alter the phrygian and give it a major 3rd. A lot of the pop music examples I can think of make it a major 3rd. 'Naughty Girl' by Beyonce is a good example.
Does that make sense?
Great instruction / examples! Here are some more, and a simple way to think about it from a pop music perspective (composing). Examples:
Bryan Adams - Run to you - Dorian mode
Lorde - Royals - Mixolydian mode
.
These are the two most common modes in pop music generally, except for the normal major/minor scales. Concerning creating different vibes in songs one can, a bit simplified, think about it like this:
.
- Pure minor key, normal mode/scale. Sad vibe.
- Dorian mode, major key. Fairly sad vibe.
- Mixolydian mode, major key. Fairly happy vibe.
- Pure major key, normal mode/scale. Happy vibe.
.
A certain lyric often fits best with one of these vibes.
Oftentimes, I find dorian even more sad than pure minor. That might just be because I get bored of hearing major and minor so much, that it doesn't do as much for me.
I see what you mean... I would say it depends on the specific song/sound/arrangement/melody. For example, Scarborough Fair (Simon
& Garfunkel) is Dorian, and a good example of your point I think...
But for example "My Sweet Lord" (George Harrison), also Dorian, I think clearly has a happier vibe than normal pure minor songs.
@@kylestyyle987 Dorian is a minor mode...it has a minor third
Yeah I know what you mean, those kind of filler chords, just bridging the gap between the important ones.
I covered a bit of this in my video:
MOVING CHORDS IN PARALLEL (you can youtube search it).
But basically, say I'm playing a C minor 9 voicing (C Eb G Bb D) and I want to get to F minor 9. Well,to make the journey more elaborate,I could build that same voicing off C, then D,then Eb, then F. I would just use my ear to decide which journey sounds best, and it doesn't have to fit in the scale
when you where doing the Mixolydian scale the examples you used had two sharps and the scale only had one why is this?
That was only only the blues because he add the blue notes, the blues scale
or I've often heard of it said as switching between Dorian and mixolydian depending on the chord of the blues progression since all the chords are dominant,or implied to be, which means you would be stepping out side the key naturally. Also, the pentatonic works so well,especially in blues, because it excludes any of those pesky half steps that create any given mode.
Sure - here are the scales followed by the characteristic chords:
C ionian - C maj, F maj, G maj.
D dorian - D min, G maj, E min.
E phrygian - E min, F maj.
F lydian - F maj, G maj.
G mixolydian - G maj, C maj, F maj.
A aeolian - A min, D min, E min.
B locrian - none!
Me encanta esta excelente :D
Thanks eblue7, I'd agree with that. major / minor for the verse, but the chorus has that major IV chord - outlining the dorian scale. There's also a few key changes, modulating up a note towards the end. Thanks for the comment!
If you want to reach the scales/modes quickly:
Lydian mode: 2:16
Ionian mode: 3:45
Mixolydian mode: 4:28
Dorian mode: 5:50
Aeolian mode: 8:15
Phrygian mode: 9:44
Locrian mode (ah, well...): 11:17
2:16 3:45 4:28 5:50 8:15 9:44 11:17
Phrygian is used a lot in metal, just one note different to the locrian. Phrygian has the natural 5th which is really what a scale needs to sound good. Locrian has a flat 5th which stops it functioning like the other scales do
Not only the best on the web but also presented in proper English!! Well done!
You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment, I love hearing this.
Glad you're learning about the theory now, I think it enhances a musicians playing and musical awareness and allows you to appreciate music on a deeper level, with a better perspective also.
A lot of computer games have great music, and modes get used a lot in my game playing experience. Also changing time signatures is common too.
In no time I'm sure you will be able to recognize each mode by ear with ease! Thanks again
I love hearing this, Medina, thanks so much for saying so! Really pleased this helped you!
You're right, I guess a lot of teachers just tell you about the mode, but don't point out musical examples that everyone is familiar with.
Here is my bucket list of modes/scales I want to use to write music:
-Natural Minor w/ Harmonic Minor parts (easy)
-Dorian (it sounds nice)
-Mixolydian b6 (beautiful spiritual/wondurus feel)
-Lydian (reminds me of iconic Pixar themes)
-Neapolitan Minor Scale (looks promising)
-Locrian (as a challenge)
I wouldn't recommend deciding to write in a certain scale. Just play what happens in your head and write it down.
That was 'Mad World' by Gary Jules. I also did a video on how to play that, go to:
/watch?v=06M8EZuEybk
Excellent, excellent example! Perfect. Yes Norwegian Wood is mixolydian mode. Thanks for responding.
I agree, hope you can hear the modes though and the chords.
Thanks for the encouragement Gihan - I'm pushing myself to appear on camera for all my future videos - I'm not comfortable doing it yet, but it should make the videos more human and personable!
Thanks again!
Julian
You're welcome Tsethar! Glad this one made sense and helped you.
Nicolas! Thanks so much for this amazing comment, this was so great for me to read. Really pleased these videos are helping you get back into piano, I'm happy for you, it all comes back.
Julian
Thank you, I appreciate it! I'll be announcing my new website on music theory soon
You're welcome Gene! Glad this helped!
I think Muse and Björk are the only ones that get off on the Lochrian Mode.
There will never be another You Tuber like Julian for teaching Mi music theory. He explains things with so much Sol. I doubt that he's in it for the Do. Well you needn't worry if he's offended, we're just friends.
Thanks Conn6m! Means a lot to hear this from you - glad you enjoyed it!
This is one of the better modes videos I have seen so far. Most are wrong or confusing. Would have been better if you had emphasized the intervals more. You did when giving examples and talking about characteristic notes and you indirectly did when talking about sharpening and flattening. But they should have been in the video under the notes and you should have emphasized that everything is about what those intervals are.
Ok I listened to it, cool track btw. It's in the Aeolian mode, (natural minor scale).
Ooh good one. You're right, that is the altered phrygian mode - basically the phrygian with a major 3rd - C Db E F G Ab Bb (you can hear the major 3rd in the first chord)
I believe what you're calling the 'altered phrygian' mode is more commonly known as the double-harmonic or Arabic scale (although I was first introduced to it as a "Persian" scale, but there is another "Persian" scale that seems more common in theory books). It's very close to one of the simpler Arabic maqams -- a system of modes with quarter-note tunings. Not exactly the same (because some notes are a quarter off), but close enough to seem 'middle eastern' and still sound 'in tune' to Western ears.
That was very professional and well done; easy to understand and use. It unlocks the basic workings of music by explaining the underpinnings. Seeing and hearing the demonstration of each mode is more useful to me than merely reading the notes. It all has a mathematical explanation, but in my fifty years of playing, I've mostly used my musical ear and intuition...... Once it all fits together in your head, the music flows almost automatically. I always enjoy a technical vindication of what do; it makes it easier to explain to my students, some of whom are theory based.
Great lesson. The other half of the modes story is where the modes follow you as you solo over chords. 2-5-1 in C is Dm, G7 and C. Solo with only the notes of C Major scale and the modes pass under you as Dorian, Mixolydian and Ionian. 2-5-1 in A minor is Bm7b5, E7 and A minor. Play only the notes of the A minor scale (same as C Major) and the modes pass under you as Locrian, Phrygian (don't worry that the 5 chord is a Dom 7) and the Aeolian. Check out "Autumn Leaves" in A minor. (Almost) all the chords are from the A minor chord scale. Try forgetting the chords and solo in Am (C Major). Btw, This is the main use of the Locrian mode. Check out the RealChords RUclips channel for backing tracks and soloing tips. Cheers.
+kicsimoe that was probably the best burn I've seen on all of youtube, well written man.
Nice, so you're a mixolydian kind of guy! Glad this helped
Smooth mann, thank you! So glad you liked this one
I know it seems like it would be simpler to learn the modes that way, just as white note scales, but the only way to really learn the modes is to line them all up using a fixed root (C) so that you can see the differences between each mode. That way you are forced to learn each mode by noticing which accidentals appear in each mode, e.g. major 3rd, minor 7th, major 6th, etc.
The white note scales approach actually stops people ever learning the differences between each mode.
Yes - the 'characteristic chords' are the chords that capture the essence of the mode. Say you want to play C lydian - C D E F# G A B. If you start playing C major and E minor chords, even if you thought you were playing C lydian, you're not actually creating the lydian sound. You're actually playing E minor (E aeolian mode). So it's important to play the right chords to go with each mode.
You're very welcome. The way to learn them is using a fixed root for all of them - here I use C. That way you can clearly see the sharps and flats for each. The way a lot of people teach is F - F white notes, D - D white notes etc. but that way you never notice which notes are changing.
Really glad you learnt from this
Hi PlugAndSay,
Most pop songs are in the major or minor modes (ionian and aeolian) - not the mixolydian. Only a few songs like the Ghostbusters' theme, and Phil Collin's 'Sussudio' are in the mixolydian mode. I've got a video coming soon on the 4 pop chords, this will explain all!
You're very welcome. The key I think is to learn each mode with the same fixed root note - here I used C. That way you notice visually which notes are different, instead of simply thinking D-D white notes = Dorian, E-E white notes = Phrygian etc. That never sticks.
Thanks so much for the comment!
Jason and The Argonauts by XTC uses Lydian mode
Thanks Matt! Most people just call these scales 'the modes' because these are the most commonly used modes. Any scale can generate modes, so I call these the 'church modes' - but this is also slightly vague, because there are older scales also called 'church modes'.
Dorian mode is great for electronic music. There's a track by Cosmic Gate called 'Body of Conflict'. The verse is dorian, but the chorus is aolian (natural minor). It's effective to switch between dorian and aolian within a song.
Exactly! Great example. A few others I can think of are Beyonce 'Naughty Girl'. Snoop Dogg 'Lay Low'. Fat Joe 'Lean Back'. Pretty common in rap and RnB.
Thanks for pointing out Hella Good!
In the tittle appears Phrygian two times: MODES EXPLAINED IN 13 MINUTES | Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Phrygian...
1. I noticed that too! XD
2. Phrygian must be his favorite. Either that, or he thinks Phrygian is Locrian...
Okay, I got a little carried away thinking of songs in Mixolydian, for at least part of the time. I decided not to included too many blues-based songs, as a zillion of them use mixolydian during the I chord sections. Also, a lot of Bluesy songs blur the major 3rd and minor 3rd, so some of these are borderline dorian.
What great ones am I forgetting?
BEATLES
Hard Days Night (verse)
Day Tripper (verse and guitar riff)
I'm a loser (verse)
Within without you
Ballad of John and Yoko
You can't do that
ticket to ride (verse)
Norwegian Wood (not the minor section)
STONES
Let's spend the Night Together (or maybe it just sits on V7 for a long time).
I can't get no Satisfaction
The Last Time
Others
All night Long - Lionel Richie
Beat goes on, Sonny and Cher
Bitter Sweet Symphony (basically this is The Last Time)
Bohemian Rhapsody ("so you think you can stone me", section)
Funky town, main riff
Freeway Jam - Jeff Beck (main theme)
Good Vibrations ('chorus' parts)
Johnny B. Goode
Material Girl
Mrs. Robinson - various parts, especially the interludes
The Mule (Deep Purple) Instrumental intro
Last train to Clarksville
Old Joe Clark (bluegrass)
Pink Cadillac Spingsteen
Ramblin Man (most noticeable in chorus)
Truckin' - Grateful Dead
Rockin robin
Rock around the Clock
Rock and Roll Music - Chuck Berry
She Blinded me with Science - Thomas Dolby
She Moves in Mysterious ways - U2
Tequila (sort of)
Whip it - DEVO
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Melody never actually uses 3, but underlying chord is major)
You really got me (moreso on Van Halen version--D L Roth sings the 3rds closer to major).
Yep I agree, Joe Satriani explores these modes.
Great video! I'm a guitarist and this really helped me understand the modes theoretically! Thanks for making it so easy to comprehend.
PLEASE HELP --- Why do you first say the modes use all the same notes with the C Major scale... and then suddenly these modes use flats and sharps and whatever... WHY? What am I missing? Please help...! Thank you
Nice! I'm with you on that one, I think Dorian can be way more interesting. You can also switch between the 2 subtly. E.g. write a verse to your song in C dorian mode, then switch to C aeolian mode for the chorus. Over the C dorian you could use C minor and F major chords, but over the C aeolian you could switch to C minor, Ab major, F minor chords.
That's a good way to think of them too. The order I chose to use in this video was listing the modes from brightest (the most sharp notes) down to darkest (most flattened notes).
So starting with the lydian - each mode I list flattens just one note at a time:
Lydian - Ionian (b4) - Mixolydian (b7) - Dorian (b3) - Aeolian (b6) - Phrygian (b2) - Locrian (b5).
Hi PlugAndSay - yes, I recognize these modes by their overall sound - the main 4 (lydian, mixolydian, dorian, phrygian) have their own unique characters - once you know how they sound (and feel) you can't really mistake them for one another.
Thanks Kofi! So much. That is my goal, if I'm going to make a video, is to really explain it thoroughly... one and for all!
Hi James, thanks so much for this uplifting comment, it means a lot for me to hear. I've done some other good videos on scales recently, and I will be covering the melodic minor modes soon also, which should be equally interesting, stay tuned!
Julian
The altered 3rd (major instead of minor) for the Phrygian mode becomes, then, a C Phrygian dominant scale (used a lot in Jewish and Gypsy music) or a F harmonic minor scale. 🙂🎼
I'm talking about the 'natural minor scale' - A to A all white notes. Or in C - C natural minor is C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Thanks Farrokh, I've got plenty of other videos covering scales that you might like, as a guitarist, including the altered scale, pentatonic scales, and a video called 'Jazz Scales'. Hope you continue to enjoy the videos!
You're welcome, glad this helps. Using the right chords to go with each mode is a big part of creating a modal sound. I've rarely hear that mentioned. I'm going to cover the melodic minor modes in a video soon, stay tuned!
Thanks for pointing this out. It's important. I'm just reading up on it. I understand about the 8 church modes you mentioned, I've seen them described as the Gregorian church modes. I've also read about the modes I mention in this video as the 'modern church modes'. What do you think would be the best title for the video? I was trying to think of a better title as it is.
Loved your singing videos by the way. They're really nice, lovely camera shot as well.
Thanks Kiyta! Those are some great examples, I'm glad you can identify these modes by ear now. And thanks for the complement, I'm really pleased you're learning from my videos!
Nice, thanks for this. I never tried it, going to try it out now!
You're welcome Michael, thanks for the comments!
Thanks 21 Division! Really glad this one helped you - I appreciate the comment :)
I like to make up songs, but I don't know much about music. However, I do know I'm sick of Ionian! This video is magnificent! Knowledgeable professor with superb teaching skills!
Excuse me, I'm going to write something Phrygian now!
Major sounds boring to me. IDK if I've just heard too much of it or what. I really like minor and phrygian
Comment of the week! Thanks so much Kristal - this really made my day! :)
Thanks Elintasokas! Glad to hear this helped you. Which modes were you using in particular?
Thanks for posting! Glad to hear this helped, and that it made things interesting. You might like my cycle of 5ths video also, that's been a popular one:
/watch?v=Sjqy_vKXmT8
Thanks so much! I have been getting some really encouraging comments lately, like this one. I love reading this, and it's what propels me to keep making them better and better. I'm trying to really refine the teaching style now.
That's great you're learning the other way around (not the wrong way round though). In my opinion the theory is easier to grasp than the ear training, so you've probably done a lot of the hard work already!
Thanks alot friend I finally got to understand these modes :D
Thanks so much David! Really happy to hear this helped you out, I hope I got the point across pretty clearly. These modes are great to know about, and you can start to hear them used in popular music
Five year ago, but whats old is always new again with good Karma and fine music education. A gift ...Thank you
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Thanks , your videos like always great...
Sorry but unless you’re already a musical specialist this ISNT at all easy to understand.
it's pretty advanced, but if you know a few things here and there then you should get it, even tho it takes time to follow his fingers lmao
Agree with Jose Ii play guitar and learned modes from guitar teacher and your lesson was by far better 2 thumbs up! I like Satriani for guitar as he uses Lydian for extreme major sound a lot, I prefer to play Dorian as it mixes major minor nicely ( your Mom has good taste...). Once I learned to "hear" the modes, music really opened up to me.
Thanks J Lucky! I always notice your youtube name!