Modes and their assosiated feelings.

[f'nar f'nar]

Hey everyone. The other day whilst I was writing music I happened upon a comment by a songwriter who said that in order for him to convey an emotion through a song, knowlege of modes is a key factor. Now I know my modes pretty well, Ionian through Locrian and everything but this artist seemed to imply that different modes had different emotions. It made sense to me but now I find it hard to write a song as I'm constantly thinking about what chord or pattern best suits my song, wheras before I would just play and write down what I had.

My question here is: What modes convey which emotions? Or at least, are meant to.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

Hey everyone. The other day whilst I was writing music I happened upon a comment by a songwriter who said that in order for him to convey an emotion through a song, knowlege of modes is a key factor. Now I know my modes pretty well, Ionian through Locrian and everything but this artist seemed to imply that different modes had different emotions. It made sense to me but now I find it hard to write a song as I'm constantly thinking about what chord or pattern best suits my song, wheras before I would just play and write down what I had.

My question here is: What modes convey which emotions? Or at least, are meant to.

If you get into traditional harmony and theory they had moods and colors associated with modes and keys. I would say it all a matter of playing them and seeing what you hear, feel. Like many say Phryigan has a Spanish sound. It's all going to depend on what notes of the mode you emphasize and your ear. What a mode sounds like to a Rock player is going to be different to a Coltrane fan who listens to Sheets of Sound. It's all personal.

[dlloyd]

Yep, as Steve says, you have to hear it for your self.

It works with the minor scales as well... some of the modes of the harmonic minor for instance are very characteristic of certain styles of music... try this...

Take the Phrygian mode and sharpen the third (so it's major...).

r, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7

(This is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor.)

Play around with it for a while... where does it take you?