Taking the mystery out of modes
Among many musicians, modes have a reputation as mysterious and hard to understand, but if you understand the major/ minor relationship, then you’re already halfway to understanding modes. You may even have used modes in your music without realising it. Our tutorial below lays it all out for you, but let’s look at some examples you may have heard.
The first mode is Ionian, beginning on the first note of the major scale – yep, it is the major scale! Typically upbeat and positive in vibe, but it doesn’t have to be – Adele’s Someone Like You could hardly be described as a joy-fest, for example, but it’s very much in A major.
The Dorian mode is similar to the good-old natural minor, except the sixth is major instead of minor, giving a melancholy sound. Probably the most famous example of a Dorian-based song is Scarborough Fair, and you can also hear it in Tears for Fears’ Mad World, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
The Phrygian mode’s first two notes are just a semitone apart. It has a distinctive flavour associated with Spanish music such as flamenco… but did you know that the Knight Rider theme tune is also in Phrygian?
Next, the ethereal and spacey Lydian mode. 80s guitar rock shred-heads loved to explore modes, and Joe Satriani noodled the heck out of this one on Flying In A Blue Dream.
The Mixolydian mode is like a major scale with a minor seventh – Guns ’n’ Roses Sweet Child o’ Mine uses it during the verses.
Aeolian is the natural minor scale by another name – you’ve heard this one plenty of times!
Locrian is the least-used mode of all, as it sounds kind of disconnected, tense and unresolved. This scale can be heard in the verses of Bjork’s Army of Me, Judas Priest’s Painkiller, and The Strokes’ Juicebox, though most of these do not use all the notes in the scale.