The modes
A mode is a scale that uses a familiar set of notes but treats a different one as home. You already know two modes without calling them that: the major scale is the Ionian mode, and the natural minor is the Aeolian mode. There are five more.
Seven homes, one set of notes
Take the notes of C major — C D E F G A B — and start (and end) on each one in turn. Same seven notes every time; a different note has gravity; a different scale.
| Mode | From | The scale | = major/minor, with… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | C | C D E F G A B | the major scale |
| Dorian | D | D E F G A B C | minor, ♯6 |
| Phrygian | E | E F G A B C D | minor, ♭2 |
| Lydian | F | F G A B C D E | major, ♯4 |
| Mixolydian | G | G A B C D E F | major, ♭7 |
| Aeolian | A | A B C D E F G | the natural minor |
| Locrian | B | B C D E F G A | diminished, ♭2 and ♭5 |
Hear it — all white notes, different worlds
The characteristic note
Each mode has one note that sets it apart from the plain major or minor:
- Lydian — the ♯4 (the "floating" note)
- Mixolydian — the ♭7
- Dorian — the ♯6 (bright, for a minor mode)
- Phrygian — the ♭2 (dark, Spanish)
- Locrian — the ♭5 (no stable home at all)
Order them by brightness and each step flattens one more note: Lydian → Ionian → Mixolydian → Dorian → Aeolian → Phrygian → Locrian.
Try it
Try
Play a one-octave G major scale, then play the exact same fingering but flatten every F to F natural (low 2 on the D string, and the top note if you go there). You've turned G major into G Mixolydian. Play them back to back. One note, and the mode changes from "major" to "folk major."
The usual mistake
Thinking a mode changes the notes. It doesn't — it changes which note is home. D Dorian and C major have identical notes; they're different music because the ear is anchored somewhere else. It's the relative-key idea (same notes, different tonic) — except with a mode you stay on the unusual home and build the whole tune around it.