À La Mode

Remember to “View The Post” to get all the graphics!

In music, a mode is a type of scale.

Did you know that the word “scale” comes from the Italian word “scala”, which means “ladder”?

When you climb a ladder, you take it one rung at a time. I’ve never seen anyone miss out a rung as they climb. Not only that, but you pretty much never climb up a ladder without, eventually, climbing down again! So it is with scales. Up you go, one step at a time, and then down you come again, also one step at a time, finishing up exactly where you started. Ladder = scala = scale.

Modes are simply a different design of the ladder. The ladder still needs to take you up high, and then bring you safely back down to where you started, but the design of the rungs, and the spacing between them, isn’t the same as with your common-or-garden major and minor scales.

Here’s the exercise I want you to try:

First play C major scale. It’s all on the white notes:

C D E F G A B C

Now play the same scale again, beginning and ending on D. Still all on the white notes:

D E F G A B C D

This is no longer a major scale. It’s not a minor scale either. It’s a mode.

How about starting on E – but still all on the white notes:

E F G A B C D E

This is also a mode.

Do the same thing several more times, beginning on F, G, A and B. Each time you must use only the white notes. Go up, and then come down again (of course!) All of them are modes.

So why are these modes and not scales? And what’s the difference?

It’s the gap between the rungs of the ladder. The gap, in other words, between the notes you play. Although they are all white notes, some are closer together than others, and we know this because of the black notes. Although we’re not playing them, it’s the black notes that define our ladder.

Here’s a picture of a keyboard:

As you can see, most of the white notes are separated by a black note. Between C and D there’s a black note. Between D and E there’s a black note. But between E and F there’s no black note, and between B and C there’s no black note either.

This means that our B-C rungs and our E-F rungs are closer together than the others. We call these smaller gaps SEMITONES. The larger gaps, where there’s a black note between two white ones, are called TONES.

Look again at the C major scale: C D E F G A B C

The gaps between the notes are sometimes tones and sometimes semitones. There are two semitone gaps (E-F and B-C) and five tone gaps (C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A and A-B).

All the modes also have two semitone gaps and five tone gaps, but they come in different places along the ladder.

The chart below shows you all the modes you can make, starting on a different white note each time. The tones (marked T) and semitones (marked S) come in different places each time. Remember that tones and semitones are GAPS between notes. That’s why T and S are shown in between the white note names. S for semitone is always between E and F and between B and C, because these white notes don’t have a black note separating them.

The top mode in the chart, Mode 1, is actually the C major scale!

It’s these different patterns of tones and semitones which makes all the modes sound different from one another. I’ve numbered them, calling them Modes 1 to 7, but the modes actually have names. Really cool ones!

Mode 1, C major scale, is also called the Ionian Mode.

Mode 2 is the Dorian Mode.

Mode 3 is the Phrygian Mode.

Mode 4 is the Lydian Mode.

Mode 5 is the Mixolydian Mode.

Mode 6 is the Aeolian Mode.

Mode 7 is the Locrian Mode.

These names originally came from Ancient Greek tribes, but the Greeks used them in a different way. Their modes were not scale patterns of tones and semitones, but were indications of mood and emotional state. In the Middle Ages, Europeans adopted the Ancient Greek names, applying them to scale patterns, especially in the context of plainchant. During the Renaissance, a further re-interpretation occurred, and by now the original Greek modes were unrecognisable! But the names persisted…

Here’s a summary of the original meanings of the mode names:

Name	Origin	Original Meaning	Modern Use
Ionian	Greek Ionia	Not used in ancient music	Major scale
Dorian	Greek Dorians	A serious character	Minor with raised 6th
Phrygian	Greek Phrygia	Passionate, wild mood	Minor with lowered 2nd
Lydian	Greek Lydia	Light, happy character	Major with raised 4th
Mixolydian	Greek Mixolydia	Mournful, soft mood	Major with lowered 7th
Aeolian	Greek Aeolia	Not in ancient usage	Natural minor scale
Locrian	Rarely used	No historical Greek match	Diminished mode (unstable)

Play the modes and see if you agree with the emotional state the Greeks associated with each name. Is the Mixolydian mode mournful? Is the Phrygian mode passionate? What emotional state would you give to the three modes that have no genuine Greek equivalent (the Ionian, the Aeolian and the Locrian)?

One last point to make. We began with C major scale (the Ionian mode). We could have started with any major scale, and the modes would have followed from that major scale in the same way, starting on a different letter each time.

So if we’d started on D, for example, we’d have begun with D major scale. We’d have called it “the Ionian mode on D”. D major scale uses two black notes, F sharp (F#) and C sharp (C#). This means that all our modes also need F sharp and C sharp, but the pattern of tones and semitones will be the same for each mode as it is in the table above.

If you’re confident with other keys, try working out all seven modes, based on your chosen major scale. You can start absolutely anywhere, so long as it’s a major scale. The modes which follow will have the same names and patterns every time.

Here’s the example in D major:

I’m sure you’ll agree that these modes, with their evocative names, are definitely elegant, stylish and sophisticated!

Have fun being à la mode with your music!

Humoresque = a whimsical or fanciful piece of music. Be whimsical, be fanciful, but play in time!