Introduction

Modes have been used in music for centuries and continue to play an important role in modern music, including jazz and popular styles.

This page explores where modes come from and how they are used.

You do not need to understand modes to play most music, but they can be very useful—especially for improvisation and understanding different musical styles.

The Modes (Medieval Church Modes)

Medieval church music was based on one of eight scales or modes. Certain of the modes were used for joyful music, others for meditative chant and still others to tell sad stories. All of these modes were built from the notes in the C major scale (white keys on the piano). 

For example, different modes began on different notes within the same set of pitches:

• The first mode used D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
• The third mode used E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E
• The fifth mode went from F to F
• The seventh mode went from G to G

These odd numbered modes were called the authentic modes. Created from each of the authentic modes was a plagal mode. The plagal mode was related to the authentic mode in that it used the same notes and ended on the same “finalis” (final note), but the range of the melody was different.

For example, in Gregorian Chant (medieval church music), the melody stayed within about an octave. So, if you were singing a Chant in the first mode, you could only use one octave of notes and they would have to be D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D.

However, that could be changed slightly by using the second mode (a plagal mode related to the first). The second mode would use the same series of notes, but instead of going from D to D, you would have a range of A to A … BUT you have to end on D (the finalis).

Naming of the Modes

Most liturgical texts (church texts) refer to the modes by number, but somewhere along the line, the music theorists confused the medieval church modes with the Greek scales and the modes ended up being referred to by the Greek names.

The modes are most often called:

Mode I	Dorian	D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D — finalis D
Mode II	Hypodorian	A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A — finalis D
Mode III	Phrygian	E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E — finalis E
Mode IV	Hypophrygian	B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B — finalis E
Mode V	Lydian	F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F — finalis F
Mode VI	Hypolydian	C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C — finalis F
Mode VII	Mixolydian	G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G — finalis G
Mode VIII	Hypomixolydian	D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D — finalis G

Expansion of the System

In the 16th century, the eight-mode system of the Gregorian Chant was expanded to include four more modes – two beginning on A and two beginning on C. In their authentic form, these closely resemble our major and minor scales!

Mode IX	Aeolian	A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A — finalis A
Mode X	Hypoaeolian	E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E — finalis A
Mode XI	Ionian	C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C — finalis C
Mode XII	Hypoionian	G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G — finalis C

Notice that the medieval & middle ages musicians skipped the mode that begins on B – they just didn’t like the way it sounded; the fifth above the finalis was a diminished fifth instead of a perfect fifth and that was illegal in their music! 

Later, modern composers added the 13th & 14th modes based on the B:

Mode XIII	Locrian	B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B — finalis is B
Mode XIV	Hypolocrian	F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F — finalis is B

The Modern Modes

Modern composers often use the modes to create a particular feel to their music, but we don’t have any octave restrictions on our music! So now when composers refer to the modes, it is usually only the authentic modes or:

Ionian (major)	C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
Dorian	D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
Phrygian	E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E
Lydian	F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F
Mixolydian	G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Aeolian (minor)	A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A
Locrian	B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B

Each mode starts on a different note of a major scale. 

All use the same key signature of a major scale.

A Handy Way to Remember the Modes

A common way to remember the order of the modes is with the pneumonic:

I Don’t Particularly Like My Alien Leader

Why Modes Matter Today

This is not just ancient history.

Quite the contrary! Modern composers use the modes frequently in their writing and jazz musicians use the modal scales to improvise with!

Dorian & Mixolydian Scales

Dorian Scales

A dorian scale is the scale that begins on the second step of the major scale and keeps the major scale key signature. e.g. d dorian is related to C major and has no sharps and flats, but it starts on D.

Another way to think of the d dorian scale (and this is how many jazz players think of it) is:

It is a D major scale, but you lower the 3rd and 7th scale steps.

D major has F# and C# (the 3rd and 7th), so lowering them a half step gives you the dorian sound.

Either thought process gets you to the same result. 

Key signatures are the same as the related major scale, or whatever sharps or flats show up in the scale. 

Note the lower case notation – dorian scales are kind of minor sounding with the flat third, so we usually use a lower case letter: d dorian, eb dorian, f# dorian, etc.

Dorian in Jazz

Jazz players use the dorian scales to improvise on minor seventh chords when they are built on the second note of the scale. 

Example:
Dm7 in the key of C → use d dorian

Dm7 chord tones:
D, F, A, C

Dorian scale:
D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D

THAT’S why these scales are important to jazzers! 

They also practice many types of scales, in all keys, every day!!!

Examples

If you would like to listen to some jazz tunes based in the dorian mode, check out:

• “So What” – Miles Davis
• “Impressions” – John Coltrane
• “Little Sunflower” – Freddie Hubbard
• “Thriller” – Michael Jackson
• “Scarborough Fair”

Here is Scarborough Fair written in g dorian. Notice that it is written as if it were in the key of F, but it starts and ends on G.

Mixolydian Scales

A mixolydian scale is the scale that begins on the fifth step of the major scale and keeps the major scale key signature. e.g. g mixolydian is related to C major and has no sharps and flats, but it starts on G.

Another way to think of the G mixolydian scale (and this is how a lot of jazz players think of it), is:

It is a G major scale, but you lower the 7th scale step. 

G major has F# and that is the 7th step, so it is lowered a half step.

Either thought process gets you to the same result. 

Key signatures are the same as the related major scale, or whatever sharps or flats show up in the scale. 

Note the upper case notation – mixolydian scales are kind of major sounding until you get to the seventh, so we use upper case letters: G mixolydian, Eb mixolydian, B mixolydian.

Mixolydian in Jazz

Jazz players use the mixolydian scales to improvise on dominant seventh chords. If you outline the chord, you can see that the mixolydian scale fits right into it!

Example:
G7 → use G mixolydian

G7 chord tones:
G, B, D, F

G mixolydian:
G, A, B, C, D, E, F

Examples

Some songs in Mixolydian mode are:

• “All Blues” – Miles Davis
• “Norwegian Wood” – The Beatles
• Traditional folk songs such as “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”

Here is the Appalachian folk song, Black is the Color of my True Love’s Hair, in D mixolydian. Notice that the key signature is one sharp (often G major), but it ends on and centers around the D, thus making it D mixolydian.

Closing

Modes are one way of organizing musical ideas that has been used for centuries.

You may not need to think about modes directly when playing, but they offer another way to understand how music is structured—and become especially useful in improvisation and listening.

Sources

Information for this page was taken from the following sources:

• Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music, second edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1972. pp 165-168.
• Grout, Donald Jay. A History of Western Music, revised. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1973. pp 27-34 and 56-59.
• “The Origins of Plainsong.” Art and Humanities. Glencoe Division of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company. p41.