Church modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and more

What a mode is

A mode arises when we start and end a scale on a degree other than its root. Play only the white keys from C to C and you get the major scale; play the same white keys from D to D and you get the Dorian mode. The tones are identical, but a new home tone creates a new pattern of semitones - and with it a new mood.

The seven modes of the major scale

• Ionian (degree 1) - this is the ordinary major scale. Bright.
• Dorian (2) - minor, but with a raised 6th. Sophisticated, jazzy.
• Phrygian (3) - minor with a flattened 2nd. Spanish, dark.
• Lydian (4) - major with a raised 4th. Dreamy, floating.
• Mixolydian (5) - major with a flattened 7th. Rocky, bluesy.
• Aeolian (6) - this is the natural minor scale. Wistful.
• Locrian (7) - diminished, unstable. The least used.

The characteristic tone of each mode

Each mode has one characteristic tone that sets it apart from ordinary major or minor. For Dorian it is the raised 6th, for Mixolydian the flattened 7th, for Lydian the raised 4th. That single tone is the 'flavour' of the mode - emphasise it to make it sound modal.

How to use them

Modes are not just theory: Mixolydian drives countless rock and blues riffs, Dorian is at home in funk and jazz, and Lydian gives film music that wonderful, open sound. The easiest way to feel them is to let a single bass note or chord ring and solo in the matching mode.