For me the problem isn't that "we always use C Major". The problem is that we go C Ionian, D Dorian, etc. In my opinion, the way to teach the modes is stay with your nominated tonic note: C Ionian, C Dorian, C Phrygian, etc. This way, you truly get to hear the different qualities of each mode, plus you also get to hone in on those notes which make each mode different. So I appluad this video.
The answer would be to recognize where the half and whole steps are placed, or rather which degrees are lowered or raised in comparison with the ionian, major, scale.
@@TherealShabbadang Exactly: the "shift one note a half step" only really works for major and major pentatonic (or for that matter minor and minor pentatonic)
Here's the thing that took me AGES to get my head around about the modes as a (pretty bad) guitar player. When I started out improvising, I realised that generally songs are "in keys". So I'd play licks from, say, an E blues scale or an E major pentatonic scale or whatever, but I would use that scale over the WHOLE CHORD SEQUENCE. Like - I would think of the song (or normally just the chords that you're improvising over) as being in "E pentatonic". And you can kinda get away with that thinking. But when I first started trying to understand modes, I didn't get that you generally play in a certain mode JUST FOR A LITTLE BIT - like, over a chord or two, and then you might switch to other modes over other chords in the progression. So you wouldn't really describe an entire song or solo as "being in E Lydian" or whatever, but instead you'd use that mode for maybe just a couple of bars. Then maybe you'd use F# Dorian for the next bar (depending on the chord), followed by a bar of B Mixolydian, or whatever. So a song isn't really "in a mode" in the same way that it's "in a key". Once I could separate those two concepts, everything made a lot more sense. And yeah - Phrygian is totally ballsy :) Great video, Aimee!
Some songs really are "in the modes", they just tend to be rarer than the ones in the popular tonalities of major and perhaps minor. Plenty of pop songs in aeolian (Adele - Hello), dorian (Gary Jules - Mad World), mixolydian (Coldplay - Clocks). Much fewer in lydian, phrygian, and almost none in locrian.
Congrats to the student who asked the question, and to you for being so approachable that they felt able to ask you. Sometimes many students hesitate to ask a particular question, but really help the whole class by asking it.
This is a great video! It really helped deepen my knowledge on modes and where they fit into improvisation. I think the initial thing that really made it click for me was when my music theory professor framed it in terms of the church modes either being minorish or majorish. Basically that each of the 7 modes could be broken down to a major or (natural) minor scale with modifications. Lydian would be Major w/ a raised 4th, Ionian is Major! Mixolydian is Major with a lowered 7th, Dorian is Minor with a raised 6th, Aeolian is Minor! Phrygian is minor with a lowered 2nd, Locrian is Minor with a lowered 2nd and lowered 5th. This instantly made it way easier to peck out the modes for me instead of trying to do the mental gymnastics of thinking that Ab Lydian is the fourth mode of Eb and tracing back to Eb to find the notes. Instead I would simply play the Ab Major scale and # the 4th!
Dear Aimee, thank you for putting a "face" to these modes; and going into how it affects the human soul. I knew all these things solely by ear (back in the day), and used them to color and shade the songs (sparingly, though). Now that I am retired, I hope to have the time to digest all these wonderful things you have shared. God bless you, for caring enough for us folks! ☺
This has been a frustration of mine for years as a music teacher. Everyone seems to be confused about modes and it mostly stems from them being taught to just play C major but start on the different degrees. That's a fine way to help memorize the patterns, but it is far from practical, especially because people always play them sequentially (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, etc) so your ear just keeps hearing C as the key center and it winds up just sounding like a scale exercise. You really need to do what you did here to understand the individual characteristics of each mode. Play them with the understanding that they are their own keys! F# dorian is NOT just E starting on the second note, it's a wholly unique key on it's own. You didn't go this far in the video, but the next step for me is to start thinking about the other chords in the modes starting with the 1 to 5 progression in each mode. You really start getting a sense for the flavor of the modes when you hear how the other chords relate to the key center in the different modes. Anyway, excellent explanation as always, Aimee! Thanks!
I too always thought the chord and the chord progressions has much to do w/ playing modal than playing modal. Too much to think about. I like Allen Holdsworth visualization of scales, basically as one organic structure that you can do whatever you want with, especially while employing chromaticism.
@@jimhughes1070 The question of "when" is mostly preference. If you think of the modes as a bucket of notes you can pull from, then it becomes clearer. If you want the notes to strictly match the progression you are playing in, find all the different notes in the progression and match that to a mode that contains all those notes. E.g If you are in G and the progression is G-F-C-G, then G Mixolydian has you covered. If you want to play some "outside" notes, go with a mode that includes notes that aren't in the underlying chords, or notes that imply different harmonies, or borrow from other scales, just like how playing minor pentatonic runs fits well over major chords in bluesy styles because it borrows from minor harmonies. Hope that helps a bit, and of course this is all just advice from one person. Everyone is going to have their own take on it.
Phrygian mode is exotic, mysterious and sometimes eerie. Growing up with Greek music, I heard it a lot and it’s still my favorite mode. It’s in eastern music, flamenco, surf guitar and metal. What a range for one mode! Aimee, you make me want to take out my keyboard and try it again. Thank you.
Wonderful Presentation of Music MODES. I am learning both Piano & guitar. This IS my Lesson of the year(s). Thank You Aimee SO So much. I have worked HARD to be here to Understand to this Point 5 years in the making from nothing,
I’ve been teaching music for years, and trying to figure out how to explain the modes. This is by far one of the best explanations I’ve ever heard or making them practical. Well done Aimee!
'Locrian's your buddy'...love that! From the UK I've gotta say that you've produced a great video lesson...I've been following Rick Beato for a while now and you have the same,great teaching style! 😁👍
Aimee knows music and she knows what she is talking with. As i play the piano and am interested in jazz i will have to check out the rest of her videos and watch this one again.
As someone who's barely getting started with keyboards... This sounds like a fantastic way of warming up. A few tweaks to beginner excercises and you've got modal studies
WOW! After playing piano for 50 years or so (whoops, I'm revealing my age HaHa!) You have helped me finally understand how the heck to play around with the modes! You're the best Aimee, I wish you had been my piano teacher when I was growing up! XO
Hi Aimee, thank you again for your very generous spirit. Much here to absorb! 21:46 I love this chart. I’ve seen the top half, but your sorting by type of seventh chord on the tonic of the mode is fresh and helpful. I see a lot of comments questioning why modes are named the way they are, and why they are useful vs just thinking in the relative major or minor scale. For those folks, here’s my understanding, maybe it will help. All of the modes are named after the note that is their tonic or “home” note (the 1 in this chart). Two of these modes are the classical major and minor scales (Ionian and Aeolian, respectively). Looking at the collection of modes all together, they fall into a pattern of light to dark as several commenters noted. My version of this is that if Ionian is the “standard” major scale, the Lydian is a little brighter or “more major” and the Mixolydian is a little darker or “less major” while Aeolian is the ‘standard’ minor, the Dorian is a little “less minor” and the Phrygian is a little “more minor” as evidenced by the sharp or flats relative to the parallel major scale. The Locrian is the “diminished” or “super minor” mode. As to how they are used, everything we play has a melodic and a harmonic aspect. When we compose we often think of melodies within a harmonic progression like ii-IV-V-I. If we play the same melody and harmonic progression in a different mode, it changes flavor because of the added or reduced major or minor qualities of the mode. Modal jazz, especially, but other genres as well, playfully move from one mode or scale to another using a chord that is present in both the current and the subsequent mode or scale as a pivot point in the piece. In all this, keep in mind that we are simply being playful in a classical music sandbox that is constrained by selecting 7 (diatonic) sounds out of 12 potential (chromatic) sounds or notes to use at a given moment. Playing in a nonstandard mode (i.e., not major or minor) or moving among modes allows us to expand our sandbox to add variety and flavor to our music. It’s all just play.
I've travels down the rabbit hole of mode video's and lessons for years. You learn a little bit more each time. It's the teachers perspective that's the real treat. Thank you for the great video.
Gees, I would give this video 10 thumbs up if I could. Amazing to have a lesson that leaves you floating near the ceiling with inspiration. You ma'am, are a star 💫
What a great way to approach modes, and I need to rewatch this as it's helping my brain start to make real sense of it all. Love the style too, thanks.
Brava! I've probably watched 100 of your videos and this is the winner. You did a masterful job of both explaining and illustrating just what the modes are and how to use them, in a way that I haven't seen before. Everything clicked for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much! I watched a couple videos on modes, but they only taughe me how to construct them and how each of them sound like! What I really wanted to understand was how I can make use of them when improvising or composing, which you made very clear!
I think people get confused because so many teach modes and not talk about what is the sound of that mode. Like Dorian is a minor with a natural 6th. What chords would you use over it. If you're comping in Dorian what triads are you using to imply the dorian sound. What is the formula for a Dorian mode so you can build one from scratch and not think in shifting a major scale around. Really get into the sound of the mode and both chordally and melodically. Then apply that to all the modes. Then move on to the modes of the Melodic Minor the other scale with very useful modes for modern music. Music is sound and should always be taught from a sound perspective and avoid formula and tricks like shifting a scale around. Shifting a scale is helpful when trying to create fingering for scale, but not helpful for learning the sound.
Another Toortog sighting? What would Peter and Adam think? Hehe, kidding! Toortog, I think the same way and it's taken me years to realize that you need to really HEAR your theory in order to make music with it. That means you have to re conceptualize everything into a medium that you can sing and hear, both on your instrument and away from it. The primacy of sound helps us internalize tunes as well--at least it is with my own studies. Memorizing and recalling chord names never quite worked for me when I played jam sessions, so I'd bury my head in the Real Books. In the last couple of months, I've totally changed how I learn tunes. I sing the melody. I sing the root movement. I sing the thirds. I learn the lyrics as much as I can. Sound sticks better than sight. Makes sense because it is music we are talking about, after all. Unfortunately, this type of dialogue always seems to get me into trouble. I guess it ain't worth it if you always play it safe, eh? Aimee knows where it's at. Maybe Adam will bring her on for a Guided Practice Session? Wait, did that already happen?
@@pickinstone Before I switch over to piano from guitar I spent a couple years getting hang on the Steve Coleman conference calls talking about all kinds of music and music history and on and on. He talked a lot about things he learned from the early Jazz masters from talk to as many as he could. One of the main things I got out of it that ears was everything to them and part of why they didn't tend to answer questions verbally they would play you answers. The one of the things Coleman talked about that really stuck with me was how the old master didn't talk about scales and such they would talk about pitch collections. The reason was as soon as you say major, minor, dorian, and so on, you are now limiting how you think by thing "what major lines or chords do I know". By not putting putting the label major on and just looking at something as a collection of pitches you use your ear and think what can I do with these notes. Every thing needs to be learn from the sound first then later learn there is a label for it.
Perfect timing on this video. I've been focusing on the modes as a means to really understand the banjo fingerboard for a while now, but it's always seemed like a sterile exercise. Playing through them on the piano as you did really makes *hearing* them and *feeling* them much easier. Plus, using the key of G for your explanation makes every banjo player happy.
Thank you, having just discovered you a few months ago, you have been really helping me with my jazz and understanding of chord structures, between you and Corey Hall for ragtime music, I have been learning much keep up the good work.
This was a very informative video! In music theory class, our instructor tried to explain the modes with some kind of weird chart that I can no longer remember. It was not at all intuitive, and as a result, most of the students were confused by his explanation. Fortunately, one of the jazz players in the class explained the various modes the way you did in this video, and it all made sense. It's so much easier to think about modes in the way you explained it. But no one explained to us when to use the various modes. That was indeed very helpful, especially when comes to using the locrian mode. Thanks again Professor Aimee!
Wow, you are really helping me understand modes for the first time! I've looked at many videos, but they just don't explain it simply. I never got taught this when I had lessons. Thank you so much, Amiee, you are a legend and a generous teacher.
That should have been how much I appreciate your talent and you as a person. Not just a great teacher but a great disposition. Sorry for the previous text, I pressed send by mistake while trying to correct some stuff. Wishing the best for you and your family in this New Year.
This is one of the clearest explanations, especially coming from someone who plays more classical music. The way you compare each mode to the starting point's major key is super-helpful. I went to Berklee and the modes would always trip me up. Hence my move to more classical playing. Thanks for the great video!
You are an excellent teacher, Aimee! Love your emphasis not just on theory, but on how theory relates to feel and emotion. For me, theory and technique are the vehicle- soul is the goal. Thank you for your wonderful, inspiring videos.
You are so gifted and brilliant. Thank you for this sensible explanation and demonstration on modes. It's been a while since I've visited your channel because I've been focusing on learning the guitar fret board, and we just started learning about modes on the guitar. On another note (pardon that), I can't wait to ask my 9 yo granddaughter to watch your video on modes, and discuss it with her at the piano! Keep on doing what you do, and thank you!
I’m going to have to watch this over and over and also work on this myself to make use of it. I think that the reason this is not taught thoroughly (beyond the basics) in music school (I have a bachelor of music degree), is because it IS time consuming to learn; we have all we can do to get everything else right! But it’s a shame because so much emotion can be derived from the modes. I’ve always wanted to dig into them and haven’t. Listening to this, I actually do not know how one could be a great film composer without knowing these well. Because of the fact that so much emotion can be derived. I love the focus on reflecting on how each mode feels! I’m super appreciative of this video and it is exciting to find something that will help me learn and engage with this!
I do love when you play and sing, but these lessons are what makes your channel so good. Another "A HA!" moment watching this. I know what modes are, but this simple demonstration of how to apply them is a bit of a game changer for me. Don't get those too often, so thanks, Aimee, for doing these videos.
Modes are about feeling and emotion...why play Phrygian? to emote a sneaky dark feeling...what to party -- play Mixolydian ! etc. From there its about the "tone center" and "the note of interest" For example, when playing Lydian, feature the #4 as the note of interest.
i have been particularly hung up on Phrygian and using the flat 2nd a lot in my improvs but not really sounding great.. I am a beginner at piano so maybe not able to bring out the feeling as I would want it to.. I am trying to do a spread voicing on my left hand and trying to play some licks on my right using the notes of phrygian
Finally someone explains this in a practical real world way! Thank you. I could never get my head around modes before. I have tended to shy away from using them or thinking about them, but now I'm gonna give it a try!
I'm subscribed, im astonished!! im a producer and a musician who has to rely on his ear due to having some learning difficulties but its taken me on a journey im grateful for but I've just learned more here than i have in 20 yrs, im really blown away, thank you
You can also look at these modes like from “light to dark” in which the lydian mode is the brightest because of the raised forth and the locrian mode the darkerst because all these flattened notes which create more tension…
Exactly, that's a super important point. People who are interested in this aspect should check out the New Jazz lesson on this. It's pedagogical perfection. Aimee Nolte is no slacker of course.
This is one of those "technically true" details which people reference with modes, that I think ends up contributing to the confusion. The concern in this video is "How do I *use* modes" - so the "lighter to dark" concept ends up being interpreted as a choice you can make in practice, in the moment, while you're improvising. What ends up happening is people (usually guitarists), playing over a progression in C Major...and deciding to take it "darker" by playing up and down an E Phrygian scale. And then darker still by playing B Locrian. But...it doesn't *sound* darker! The modes-confused person first needs to understand tonality and that we're really comparing C Major to C Dorian to C Minor, etc...and not the C-to-C, D-to-D, E-to-E stuff. And critically: if you're playing over a C Major progression, cranking the "darker" lever usually isn't really a valid move, sound-wise. Wrong tool applied at entirely the wrong time.
@@gpwaltz Indeed! And in fact, if you change to, say, E major and then B major instead of the modes diatonic to C, you actually brighten the atmosphere by sharpening notes!
Just scratching the surface here. Frank Gambale had a DVD about 30 years ago entitled "Modes: No more mystery". I started learning this stuff before I knew they were called modes over 50 years ago. After hearing musicians saying Dorian this and that, I eventually checked out a book (on scales) from the library. Hopefully, this will soon become old hat for everyone watching this video.
Tasty and inspiring. I play e-guitar and haven't seen any guitar guru explaining modes in such a persistent emotional way .... Modes are musical moods ... Keep up the good job!
This video really helped me to understand modes in a new light and as a practical tool that I can utilize! This is honestly so cool thank you so much for this video! Things are clicking and gears are turning in my head.
Hello Aimee, this was an extraordinary explanation and practical view of the modes. Thank you so much for your knowledge, your methodology and your clarity. Keep the good work!
Fantastic stuff on the modes. I never truly understood myself for the longest time, and have always wanted to incorporate it, but didn't know how. This helped. Got the juices flowing with this tutorial.
Modal 🎼🎶🎵 Theory's Spiritual & Extremely Fun To Understand Yet Within Proper Context Of Study Application Of Performance Practice--Great Good Job Aimee!!
Thank you so much. I like your approach to teaching. Your tone of voice is warm and welcoming. Thank you for this video. I will be going on your website and ordering everything you have available. Hope to get to do an in person class with you one day.
What many people fail to understand about modes is where they originate from. And the answer is that they come from taking the pattern of whole and half notes, which in the Major scale is WWHWWWH (Whole and Half steps) starting from the root note, and changing where you start and stop on that pattern. That is Ionian mode. Next is Dorian mode. Which is WHWWWHW. Same pattern just shifted over by one. Shift it over again by one more, and you're in Phrygian mode. Every shift of the pattern takes you to another mode.
I don't know that much about 'theory', but , I heard Frank Gambale saying, 'instead of 'modes', I call them 'moods''.Somehow, it helps! It seems to me that each 'mode' introduces you to a different 'mood ' (intervals?).Then I got interested into more 'modal' music (Indian,Japanese, Zappa), and it made sens. Modes,in a way, are like a journey. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Well it seems now you do know "theory" because you ventured into Indian and Japanese and of coarse there is German. (told in theory class), but to make things simple always go back to basics.
Thanks Aimee for a terrific and inspiring lesson. My big takeaway is that I need to try harder to make music with the modes. I’m a guitar player and I know how to play the scales for each of the modes. But they are just scales. Your explorations of those scales showed me how I need to do the same thing in order to truly understand the sounds of the different modes and to learn how to incorporate them into solos. It will be a great way for me to bridge the mechanics of playing mode scales to the goal using modes to make music.
You've got it. I recommend checking out Signal Studio here on RUclips. Jake Lizzio has some great example videos where he uses a particular mode to compose, and the examples really showcase the flavour of the mode in a big way.
hi Aimee or musicians, what do you mean by it's a world of difference over dorian and phrygian mode at @11:37? I thought Aimme was playing in two different keys?
Modality is bar none my favorite topic in music theory, and I love seeing my favorite music RUclipsrs tackle the subject! For the longest time I didn't understand the modes, except for "major" and "minor" and "Celtic." But when I finally did begin to learn, it was like opening a portal to a secret world. To several secret worlds! Whole realms of musical possibility outside major and minor, each with their own order and logic, both harmonically and melodically. I'm a big fan of teaching the modes not in their actual modal order, but in terms of "bright to dark" beginning with Lydian and constantly flatting each note in the scale in a special order till you get to Locrian. That's what helped me learn. To me it was super helpful to understand that Dorian's true "neighbors" aren't Ionian and Phrygian, but Mixolydian and Aeolian. Even today I'm still learning about the harmonic possibilities, which is one reason why I never tire of watching videos about the modes. I loved your thoughts on Locrian, which is a tricky mode to work with. The feeling of magic doesn't end there! Beyond the seven modes of major are the modes of harmonic minor, melodic minor, and non-Western scales. Dozens of viable possibilities, and thousands of permutations! And that's just within our twelve-tone equal temperament system. The total possibilities are infinite. That excites me in a way that's getting harder for me as I get older!
I think that the real problem with understanding/utilizing the modes is NOT that people don't understand the CONTENT of the modes. That is explained sufficiently by the realization that the each scale step in the major scale leads to a different harmonic ordering of the same set of tones. The problem as I see it is that we are NOT taught that the mode is a different set of relationships to a particular TONIC. The modes should be understood in relationship to the TONIC! A Dorian mode in D is NOT just a shift within the C Major scale, which does in fact describe the tonal content and order, but is a different set of relationships to the tonic "D." The POINT of a mode is that it's a different color palette in relationship to a tonic! Practice the mode over a tonic drone and LISTEN to how the tones refer back to the tonic! That is the point of a mode, the relationship to the tonic, NOT knowing what tones make up the mode. You MUST teach yourself the relationship to the tonic in order to effectively utilize the modes compositionally or improvisationally! 😀
For me the problem isn't that "we always use C Major". The problem is that we go C Ionian, D Dorian, etc. In my opinion, the way to teach the modes is stay with your nominated tonic note: C Ionian, C Dorian, C Phrygian, etc. This way, you truly get to hear the different qualities of each mode, plus you also get to hone in on those notes which make each mode different. So I appluad this video.
Exactly this.
Agreed!
The answer would be to recognize where the half and whole steps are placed, or rather which degrees are lowered or raised in comparison with the ionian, major, scale.
@@TherealShabbadang Exactly: the "shift one note a half step" only really works for major and major pentatonic (or for that matter minor and minor pentatonic)
Exactly. For the first few days i kept wondering, if we are deriving it from the C major scale, why do we call it D dorian and not C dorian
Here's the thing that took me AGES to get my head around about the modes as a (pretty bad) guitar player. When I started out improvising, I realised that generally songs are "in keys". So I'd play licks from, say, an E blues scale or an E major pentatonic scale or whatever, but I would use that scale over the WHOLE CHORD SEQUENCE. Like - I would think of the song (or normally just the chords that you're improvising over) as being in "E pentatonic". And you can kinda get away with that thinking. But when I first started trying to understand modes, I didn't get that you generally play in a certain mode JUST FOR A LITTLE BIT - like, over a chord or two, and then you might switch to other modes over other chords in the progression. So you wouldn't really describe an entire song or solo as "being in E Lydian" or whatever, but instead you'd use that mode for maybe just a couple of bars. Then maybe you'd use F# Dorian for the next bar (depending on the chord), followed by a bar of B Mixolydian, or whatever. So a song isn't really "in a mode" in the same way that it's "in a key". Once I could separate those two concepts, everything made a lot more sense. And yeah - Phrygian is totally ballsy :) Great video, Aimee!
^ this comment is more helpful than most popular music theory videos on yt
Some songs really are "in the modes", they just tend to be rarer than the ones in the popular tonalities of major and perhaps minor. Plenty of pop songs in aeolian (Adele - Hello), dorian (Gary Jules - Mad World), mixolydian (Coldplay - Clocks). Much fewer in lydian, phrygian, and almost none in locrian.
@@camtaylormusic there’s some truth in this
Great comment
Ssss
Dms
Congrats to the student who asked the question, and to you for being so approachable that they felt able to ask you. Sometimes many students hesitate to ask a particular question, but really help the whole class by asking it.
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This was super helpful! Thank you!
Really well done Aimee. Modes are such a difficult concept to articulate and you did the best job I’ve seen.
I love this video, Thank you!
Thanks!
This is a great video! It really helped deepen my knowledge on modes and where they fit into improvisation. I think the initial thing that really made it click for me was when my music theory professor framed it in terms of the church modes either being minorish or majorish. Basically that each of the 7 modes could be broken down to a major or (natural) minor scale with modifications.
Lydian would be Major w/ a raised 4th,
Ionian is Major!
Mixolydian is Major with a lowered 7th,
Dorian is Minor with a raised 6th,
Aeolian is Minor!
Phrygian is minor with a lowered 2nd,
Locrian is Minor with a lowered 2nd and lowered 5th.
This instantly made it way easier to peck out the modes for me instead of trying to do the mental gymnastics of thinking that Ab Lydian is the fourth mode of Eb and tracing back to Eb to find the notes. Instead I would simply play the Ab Major scale and # the 4th!
Thank you Aimee. I see the light now !
Dear Aimee, thank you for putting a "face" to these modes; and going into how it affects the human soul. I knew all these things solely by ear (back in the day), and used them to color and shade the songs (sparingly, though). Now that I am retired, I hope to have the time to digest all these wonderful things you have shared. God bless you, for caring enough for us folks! ☺
You have a really soothing sounding voice , it makes listening and concentration a lot easier
I've watched a number of videos on the modes. Your is the best.
This has been a frustration of mine for years as a music teacher. Everyone seems to be confused about modes and it mostly stems from them being taught to just play C major but start on the different degrees. That's a fine way to help memorize the patterns, but it is far from practical, especially because people always play them sequentially (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, etc) so your ear just keeps hearing C as the key center and it winds up just sounding like a scale exercise. You really need to do what you did here to understand the individual characteristics of each mode. Play them with the understanding that they are their own keys! F# dorian is NOT just E starting on the second note, it's a wholly unique key on it's own. You didn't go this far in the video, but the next step for me is to start thinking about the other chords in the modes starting with the 1 to 5 progression in each mode. You really start getting a sense for the flavor of the modes when you hear how the other chords relate to the key center in the different modes.
Anyway, excellent explanation as always, Aimee! Thanks!
I too always thought the chord and the chord progressions has much to do w/ playing modal than playing modal. Too much to think about. I like Allen Holdsworth visualization of scales, basically as one organic structure that you can do whatever you want with, especially while employing chromaticism.
Bullshit! If you play Dm7-G7-Cmaj7, *nobody* hears "dorian", "mixolydian" and last "Ionian". *Everybody* hears C-major.
Dang... Started reading your post and thought you were going to explain when to use a mode😭... 😢😢... I guess the search continues😂
@@jimhughes1070 The question of "when" is mostly preference. If you think of the modes as a bucket of notes you can pull from, then it becomes clearer. If you want the notes to strictly match the progression you are playing in, find all the different notes in the progression and match that to a mode that contains all those notes. E.g If you are in G and the progression is G-F-C-G, then G Mixolydian has you covered. If you want to play some "outside" notes, go with a mode that includes notes that aren't in the underlying chords, or notes that imply different harmonies, or borrow from other scales, just like how playing minor pentatonic runs fits well over major chords in bluesy styles because it borrows from minor harmonies. Hope that helps a bit, and of course this is all just advice from one person. Everyone is going to have their own take on it.
@@ErikNonIdle hey! thank you very very much!!! Like shining a light in a dark room! 🤣🙏... Love and happiness to you and yours!! 🙏
Phrygian mode is exotic, mysterious and sometimes eerie. Growing up with Greek music, I heard it a lot and it’s still my favorite mode. It’s in eastern music, flamenco, surf guitar and metal. What a range for one mode! Aimee, you make me want to take out my keyboard and try it again. Thank you.
What about the double harmonic scales? Sometimes songs using those are mislabeled as Phrygian or Phrygian dominant.
This is brilliant! It's taken me years to begin to understand the modes but this clarified it all for me in 4 minutes! Genius!
'That's what they're for... each of them [modes] have their own mood'. Wonderful explanation, Aimee.
Wonderful Presentation of Music MODES. I am learning both Piano & guitar. This IS my Lesson of the year(s). Thank You Aimee SO So much. I have worked HARD to be here to Understand to this Point 5 years in the making from nothing,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I’ve been teaching music for years, and trying to figure out how to explain the modes. This is by far one of the best explanations I’ve ever heard or making them practical. Well done Aimee!
It took me many years to learn what you just described in 5 minutes and you are the first I ever seen on here teach this thank you 😊
'Locrian's your buddy'...love that! From the UK I've gotta say that you've produced a great video lesson...I've been following Rick Beato for a while now and you have the same,great teaching style! 😁👍
Aimee knows music and she knows what she is talking with. As i play the piano and am interested in jazz i will have to check out the rest of her videos and watch this one again.
As someone who's barely getting started with keyboards... This sounds like a fantastic way of warming up. A few tweaks to beginner excercises and you've got modal studies
WOW! After playing piano for 50 years or so (whoops, I'm revealing my age HaHa!) You have helped me finally understand how the heck to play around with the modes! You're the best Aimee, I wish you had been my piano teacher when I was growing up! XO
I mega loved this video OMG genius
As You explain it = crystal clear. Then I realize that it's years ahead of ME. Love that "SPLIT SCREEN" view. So great to watch as well as listen.
Hi Aimee, thank you again for your very generous spirit. Much here to absorb!
21:46 I love this chart. I’ve seen the top half, but your sorting by type of seventh chord on the tonic of the mode is fresh and helpful.
I see a lot of comments questioning why modes are named the way they are, and why they are useful vs just thinking in the relative major or minor scale. For those folks, here’s my understanding, maybe it will help.
All of the modes are named after the note that is their tonic or “home” note (the 1 in this chart). Two of these modes are the classical major and minor scales (Ionian and Aeolian, respectively). Looking at the collection of modes all together, they fall into a pattern of light to dark as several commenters noted. My version of this is that if Ionian is the “standard” major scale, the Lydian is a little brighter or “more major” and the Mixolydian is a little darker or “less major” while Aeolian is the ‘standard’ minor, the Dorian is a little “less minor” and the Phrygian is a little “more minor” as evidenced by the sharp or flats relative to the parallel major scale. The Locrian is the “diminished” or “super minor” mode.
As to how they are used, everything we play has a melodic and a harmonic aspect. When we compose we often think of melodies within a harmonic progression like ii-IV-V-I. If we play the same melody and harmonic progression in a different mode, it changes flavor because of the added or reduced major or minor qualities of the mode.
Modal jazz, especially, but other genres as well, playfully move from one mode or scale to another using a chord that is present in both the current and the subsequent mode or scale as a pivot point in the piece.
In all this, keep in mind that we are simply being playful in a classical music sandbox that is constrained by selecting 7 (diatonic) sounds out of 12 potential (chromatic) sounds or notes to use at a given moment. Playing in a nonstandard mode (i.e., not major or minor) or moving among modes allows us to expand our sandbox to add variety and flavor to our music. It’s all just play.
I've travels down the rabbit hole of mode video's and lessons for years. You learn a little bit more each time. It's the teachers perspective that's the real treat. Thank you for the great video.
Gees, I would give this video 10 thumbs up if I could. Amazing to have a lesson that leaves you floating near the ceiling with inspiration. You ma'am, are a star 💫
What a great way to approach modes, and I need to rewatch this as it's helping my brain start to make real sense of it all. Love the style too, thanks.
Brava! I've probably watched 100 of your videos and this is the winner. You did a masterful job of both explaining and illustrating just what the modes are and how to use them, in a way that I haven't seen before. Everything clicked for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much! I watched a couple videos on modes, but they only taughe me how to construct them and how each of them sound like! What I really wanted to understand was how I can make use of them when improvising or composing, which you made very clear!
Thanks for a very straightforward explanation of something many of us struggle to understand 👍🏻
I think people get confused because so many teach modes and not talk about what is the sound of that mode. Like Dorian is a minor with a natural 6th. What chords would you use over it. If you're comping in Dorian what triads are you using to imply the dorian sound. What is the formula for a Dorian mode so you can build one from scratch and not think in shifting a major scale around. Really get into the sound of the mode and both chordally and melodically. Then apply that to all the modes. Then move on to the modes of the Melodic Minor the other scale with very useful modes for modern music.
Music is sound and should always be taught from a sound perspective and avoid formula and tricks like shifting a scale around. Shifting a scale is helpful when trying to create fingering for scale, but not helpful for learning the sound.
Another Toortog sighting? What would Peter and Adam think? Hehe, kidding! Toortog, I think the same way and it's taken me years to realize that you need to really HEAR your theory in order to make music with it. That means you have to re conceptualize everything into a medium that you can sing and hear, both on your instrument and away from it. The primacy of sound helps us internalize tunes as well--at least it is with my own studies. Memorizing and recalling chord names never quite worked for me when I played jam sessions, so I'd bury my head in the Real Books. In the last couple of months, I've totally changed how I learn tunes. I sing the melody. I sing the root movement. I sing the thirds. I learn the lyrics as much as I can. Sound sticks better than sight. Makes sense because it is music we are talking about, after all.
Unfortunately, this type of dialogue always seems to get me into trouble. I guess it ain't worth it if you always play it safe, eh? Aimee knows where it's at. Maybe Adam will bring her on for a Guided Practice Session? Wait, did that already happen?
@@pickinstone Before I switch over to piano from guitar I spent a couple years getting hang on the Steve Coleman conference calls talking about all kinds of music and music history and on and on. He talked a lot about things he learned from the early Jazz masters from talk to as many as he could. One of the main things I got out of it that ears was everything to them and part of why they didn't tend to answer questions verbally they would play you answers. The one of the things Coleman talked about that really stuck with me was how the old master didn't talk about scales and such they would talk about pitch collections. The reason was as soon as you say major, minor, dorian, and so on, you are now limiting how you think by thing "what major lines or chords do I know". By not putting putting the label major on and just looking at something as a collection of pitches you use your ear and think what can I do with these notes.
Every thing needs to be learn from the sound first then later learn there is a label for it.
True
I always knew you are a very good teacher. Thanks from Chile
That is precisely the video I was looking for. Glad you made it! One of my friends will be thrilled as well. Wonderful job, as usual 😊
Perfect timing on this video. I've been focusing on the modes as a means to really understand the banjo fingerboard for a while now, but it's always seemed like a sterile exercise. Playing through them on the piano as you did really makes *hearing* them and *feeling* them much easier. Plus, using the key of G for your explanation makes every banjo player happy.
This is a cracking video. Much appreciated.
Thank you, having just discovered you a few months ago, you have been really helping me with my jazz and understanding of chord structures, between you and Corey Hall for ragtime music, I have been learning much keep up the good work.
Wow Aimee - I could seriously watch every one of your videos and learn something new. You are an amazing teacher! Thank you for all you do!
This was a very informative video! In music theory class, our instructor tried to explain the modes with some kind of weird chart that I can no longer remember. It was not at all intuitive, and as a result, most of the students were confused by his explanation. Fortunately, one of the jazz players in the class explained the various modes the way you did in this video, and it all made sense. It's so much easier to think about modes in the way you explained it. But no one explained to us when to use the various modes. That was indeed very helpful, especially when comes to using the locrian mode. Thanks again Professor Aimee!
Wow, you are really helping me understand modes for the first time! I've looked at many videos, but they just don't explain it simply. I never got taught this when I had lessons. Thank you so much, Amiee, you are a legend and a generous teacher.
I just want you to know appreciate your talent and your disposition as a persin
That should have been how much I appreciate your talent and you as a person. Not just a great teacher but a great disposition. Sorry for the previous text, I pressed send by mistake while trying to correct some stuff. Wishing the best for you and your family in this New Year.
That was the most concisely informative and inspirational explanation of the modes I've ever heard. Thanks!
I’m so happy one of your videos popped up on TikTok! Thanks for posting this.
Noone ever mentions Freddie Hubbard! He has always been one my favorite trumpet players. You have some great videos.
This is one of the clearest explanations, especially coming from someone who plays more classical music. The way you compare each mode to the starting point's major key is super-helpful. I went to Berklee and the modes would always trip me up. Hence my move to more classical playing. Thanks for the great video!
The absolute best explanation on modes I’ve seen
Smarter every day with this fantastic musician. Thanks for letting us pick your brain.
You are an excellent teacher, Aimee! Love your emphasis not just on theory, but on how theory relates to feel and emotion. For me, theory and technique are the vehicle- soul is the goal. Thank you for your wonderful, inspiring videos.
You are so gifted and brilliant. Thank you for this sensible explanation and demonstration on modes. It's been a while since I've visited your channel because I've been focusing on learning the guitar fret board, and we just started learning about modes on the guitar. On another note (pardon that), I can't wait to ask my 9 yo granddaughter to watch your video on modes, and discuss it with her at the piano! Keep on doing what you do, and thank you!
I've been trying to understand this over forty years. Thank you for your understandable explanation I feel so much better enlightened!
You are truly a gifted teacher Aimee!
I’m going to have to watch this over and over and also work on this myself to make use of it. I think that the reason this is not taught thoroughly (beyond the basics) in music school (I have a bachelor of music degree), is because it IS time consuming to learn; we have all we can do to get everything else right! But it’s a shame because so much emotion can be derived from the modes. I’ve always wanted to dig into them and haven’t. Listening to this, I actually do not know how one could be a great film composer without knowing these well. Because of the fact that so much emotion can be derived. I love the focus on reflecting on how each mode feels! I’m super appreciative of this video and it is exciting to find something that will help me learn and engage with this!
I do love when you play and sing, but these lessons are what makes your channel so good. Another "A HA!" moment watching this. I know what modes are, but this simple demonstration of how to apply them is a bit of a game changer for me. Don't get those too often, so thanks, Aimee, for doing these videos.
Thankyou Aimee for helping me to make more sence out of the modes.
That was a very peaceful 23 minutes with you Amie! Thanks for your time and expertise! Still a difficult concept to wrap one’s head around!🙏🏻
Modes are about feeling and emotion...why play Phrygian? to emote a sneaky dark feeling...what to party -- play Mixolydian ! etc. From there its about the "tone center" and "the note of interest" For example, when playing Lydian, feature the #4 as the note of interest.
Hi sir - anywhere can I get to learn about the "feel" of the modes and hereby derive the "tone center(s)" from it?
i have been particularly hung up on Phrygian and using the flat 2nd a lot in my improvs but not really sounding great.. I am a beginner at piano so maybe not able to bring out the feeling as I would want it to.. I am trying to do a spread voicing on my left hand and trying to play some licks on my right using the notes of phrygian
Finally someone explains this in a practical real world way! Thank you. I could never get my head around modes before. I have tended to shy away from using them or thinking about them, but now I'm gonna give it a try!
What an "eye opening" revelation! This is wonderfully explained. It really isn't that complicated. Thank you Aimee!
Thanks, Aimee! I'm beginning to understand.
Wow Aimee, you are a great teacher and pianist! I found your channel today and subscribed. I play guitar. Thank you for this video.
A great explanation Aimee.
I'm subscribed, im astonished!! im a producer and a musician who has to rely on his ear due to having some learning difficulties but its taken me on a journey im grateful for but I've just learned more here than i have in 20 yrs, im really blown away, thank you
You can also look at these modes like from “light to dark” in which the lydian mode is the brightest because of the raised forth and the locrian mode the darkerst because all these flattened notes which create more tension…
This is how I always think of them.
Exactly, that's a super important point. People who are interested in this aspect should check out the New Jazz lesson on this. It's pedagogical perfection. Aimee Nolte is no slacker of course.
This is one of those "technically true" details which people reference with modes, that I think ends up contributing to the confusion. The concern in this video is "How do I *use* modes" - so the "lighter to dark" concept ends up being interpreted as a choice you can make in practice, in the moment, while you're improvising.
What ends up happening is people (usually guitarists), playing over a progression in C Major...and deciding to take it "darker" by playing up and down an E Phrygian scale. And then darker still by playing B Locrian. But...it doesn't *sound* darker!
The modes-confused person first needs to understand tonality and that we're really comparing C Major to C Dorian to C Minor, etc...and not the C-to-C, D-to-D, E-to-E stuff. And critically: if you're playing over a C Major progression, cranking the "darker" lever usually isn't really a valid move, sound-wise. Wrong tool applied at entirely the wrong time.
@@gpwaltz Indeed! And in fact, if you change to, say, E major and then B major instead of the modes diatonic to C, you actually brighten the atmosphere by sharpening notes!
@@gpwaltz It’s also worth noting that light-to-dark is a very linear concept that doesn’t always apply linearly due to modulatory spaces.
you are an excellent teacher. thank you.
Thank you, I understand now and I'll try to put some of my style into to create some cool stuff I never would of thought of. Thank you!
This video unlocked something in my brain. It's so obvious now! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Thank you so much Aimee!!
A great way 'jazz's up your solos!
I love your explanation!!! I have never understood how to use the modes. Thank you for your great videos!
Just scratching the surface here. Frank Gambale had a DVD about 30 years ago entitled "Modes: No more mystery". I started learning this stuff before I knew they were called modes over 50 years ago. After hearing musicians saying Dorian this and that, I eventually checked out a book (on scales) from the library. Hopefully, this will soon become old hat for everyone watching this video.
Tasty and inspiring. I play e-guitar and haven't seen any guitar guru explaining modes in such a persistent emotional way .... Modes are musical moods ... Keep up the good job!
This video really helped me to understand modes in a new light and as a practical tool that I can utilize! This is honestly so cool thank you so much for this video! Things are clicking and gears are turning in my head.
Lovely introduction to the modes, Aimee.
Hello Aimee, this was an extraordinary explanation and practical view of the modes. Thank you so much for your knowledge, your methodology and your clarity. Keep the good work!
Thank you Aimee. You are the best!
Fantastic stuff on the modes. I never truly understood myself for the longest time, and have always wanted to incorporate it, but didn't know how. This helped. Got the juices flowing with this tutorial.
OMG! I think I finally understand! Thank-you!
Glad it helped!
This was excellent. Thanks.
Modal 🎼🎶🎵 Theory's Spiritual & Extremely Fun To Understand Yet Within Proper Context Of Study Application Of Performance Practice--Great Good Job Aimee!!
What a great explanation, it opens up how note choice and timing combine emotional expression with a touch of thinking.
Thank you so much. I like your approach to teaching. Your tone of voice is warm and welcoming. Thank you for this video. I will be going on your website and ordering everything you have available. Hope to get to do an in person class with you one day.
Thank you so much Rufus. If you would like all of my PDFs, send me an email and I’ll give them all to you for $50. aimeenolte@yahoo.com
Thank_you, Aimee. I will have to watch over and more. Really clear.
What many people fail to understand about modes is where they originate from. And the answer is that they come from taking the pattern of whole and half notes, which in the Major scale is WWHWWWH (Whole and Half steps) starting from the root note, and changing where you start and stop on that pattern. That is Ionian mode. Next is Dorian mode. Which is WHWWWHW. Same pattern just shifted over by one. Shift it over again by one more, and you're in Phrygian mode. Every shift of the pattern takes you to another mode.
I don't know that much about 'theory', but , I heard Frank Gambale saying, 'instead of 'modes', I call them 'moods''.Somehow, it helps! It seems to me that each 'mode' introduces you to a different 'mood ' (intervals?).Then I got interested into more 'modal' music (Indian,Japanese, Zappa), and it made sens. Modes,in a way, are like a journey. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Well it seems now you do know "theory" because you ventured into Indian and Japanese and of coarse there is German. (told in theory class), but to make things simple always go back to basics.
Thanks Aimee for a terrific and inspiring lesson. My big takeaway is that I need to try harder to make music with the modes. I’m a guitar player and I know how to play the scales for each of the modes. But they are just scales. Your explorations of those scales showed me how I need to do the same thing in order to truly understand the sounds of the different modes and to learn how to incorporate them into solos. It will be a great way for me to bridge the mechanics of playing mode scales to the goal using modes to make music.
You've got it. I recommend checking out Signal Studio here on RUclips. Jake Lizzio has some great example videos where he uses a particular mode to compose, and the examples really showcase the flavour of the mode in a big way.
Great video and the best explanation of modes that I've ever seen - thanks lots!
Beautiful video. A real eye opener, thank you.
This is an excellent video and beautifully presented. Thanks Aimee!
hi Aimee or musicians, what do you mean by it's a world of difference over dorian and phrygian mode at @11:37? I thought Aimme was playing in two different keys?
Great video on modes Aimee. One of my favorite mode lesson on RUclips. Thanks 😊👍💓
It's a year later, but I just want to say that this *finally* helped me understand modes. Thank you, Aimee!
I’ve struggled to understand the use cases for modes in improv/composition for years! This video really helped clear it up for me. Thank you!
Modality is bar none my favorite topic in music theory, and I love seeing my favorite music RUclipsrs tackle the subject! For the longest time I didn't understand the modes, except for "major" and "minor" and "Celtic." But when I finally did begin to learn, it was like opening a portal to a secret world. To several secret worlds! Whole realms of musical possibility outside major and minor, each with their own order and logic, both harmonically and melodically.
I'm a big fan of teaching the modes not in their actual modal order, but in terms of "bright to dark" beginning with Lydian and constantly flatting each note in the scale in a special order till you get to Locrian. That's what helped me learn. To me it was super helpful to understand that Dorian's true "neighbors" aren't Ionian and Phrygian, but Mixolydian and Aeolian. Even today I'm still learning about the harmonic possibilities, which is one reason why I never tire of watching videos about the modes. I loved your thoughts on Locrian, which is a tricky mode to work with.
The feeling of magic doesn't end there! Beyond the seven modes of major are the modes of harmonic minor, melodic minor, and non-Western scales. Dozens of viable possibilities, and thousands of permutations! And that's just within our twelve-tone equal temperament system. The total possibilities are infinite. That excites me in a way that's getting harder for me as I get older!
great lesson on actually feeling and responding to the defining intervals of each mode on an emotional and imaginative level.
17:40 Oh i loved ❤️ that sudden surprise of heart's song alone👍
This Is the BEST explanation which I have heard! I FINALLY feel like I get it.
I think that the real problem with understanding/utilizing the modes is NOT that people don't understand the CONTENT of the modes. That is explained sufficiently by the realization that the each scale step in the major scale leads to a different harmonic ordering of the same set of tones. The problem as I see it is that we are NOT taught that the mode is a different set of relationships to a particular TONIC. The modes should be understood in relationship to the TONIC! A Dorian mode in D is NOT just a shift within the C Major scale, which does in fact describe the tonal content and order, but is a different set of relationships to the tonic "D." The POINT of a mode is that it's a different color palette in relationship to a tonic! Practice the mode over a tonic drone and LISTEN to how the tones refer back to the tonic! That is the point of a mode, the relationship to the tonic, NOT knowing what tones make up the mode. You MUST teach yourself the relationship to the tonic in order to effectively utilize the modes compositionally or improvisationally! 😀
You're such a delight to listen to. Keep up the great work. ❤
More helpful than all the chapters on modes in my jazz harmony books combined. Thanks Aimee
Hey. You have a serious gift for teaching. Thanks for this.