What do modes sound like?

[Bass]

Is anyone able to give me a general description of what modes sound like?

For example, I understand that one mode sounds a little like country, another like metal, another like surf,rock, far east, etc... Am I on the right track here? Is it possible to fill in the blanks?

Ionian = _____
Dorian = _____
Phrygian = _____
Lydian = _____
Mixolydian = _____
Aeolian = _____
Locrian = _____

[dlloyd]

Originally Posted by Bass

Is anyone able to give me a general description of what modes sound like?

For example, I understand that one mode sounds a little like country, another like metal, another like surf,rock, far east, etc... Am I on the right track here? Is it possible to fill in the blanks?

Well, they all have their own distinctive flavour, but a lot of it depends on how you implement them.

Ionian = Happy... lots of simpler Western music.
Dorian = Minor, but not too dark. Lots of jazzy blues (or bluesy jazz), Santana
Phrygian = Spanish, Flamenco
Lydian = Dreamy.
Mixolydian = Blues, celtic, country
Aeolian = Minor, sadder simple western music.
Locrian = Dark, mean.

[Ed Fuqua]

D minor is the saddest of all keys...

[Ed Fuqua]

Sigh.

No, you're not really on the right track. You can pretty much make any kind of music using any mode. I mean, everything you wrote down is, to all intents and purposes, the major scale. You're just starting on a different degree of the scale, right?

[Throckmorten]

They all sound Greek to me

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally Posted by Bass

Is anyone able to give me a general description of what modes sound like?

For example, I understand that one mode sounds a little like country, another like metal, another like surf,rock, far east, etc... Am I on the right track here? Is it possible to fill in the blanks?

Ionian = _____
Dorian = _____
Phrygian = _____
Lydian = _____
Mixolydian = _____
Aeolian = _____
Locrian = _____

I'm really not trying to be a smartass, but ... rather than asking someone to put in words what the modes sound like (which, to paraphrase the old cliche, would be kind of like dancing to say what the Guggenheim Museum looks like), why not just play them yourself and see what they sound like to you? Your ear will tell you quickly what an Internet denizen could spend hundreds of words failing to do.

To do this, try starting each mode from the same starting note. If it's E, then:

E ionian: E F# G# A B C# D# E
E lydian: E F# G# A# B C# D# E
E mixolydian: E F# G# A B C# D E
E dorian: E F# G A B C# D E
E aeolian: E F# G A B C D E
E phrygian: E F G A B C D E
E locrian: E F G A Bb C D E

Play them up, play them down, mix them all around, play them in thirds (E-G, F-A, etc), sixths, whatever. They all have different flavors, but as has been said, you're not restricted to making specific types of music with any of them. Ionian can be sad, dorian joyous, etc.

[lemur821]

We can't say what they sound like any more than we can describe what blue looks like.

[Mark Wilson]

Originally Posted by Throckmorten

They all sound Greek to me

lol Am I the only one who found it funny?

:P

-Mark

[dlloyd]

Originally Posted by lemur821

We can't say what they sound like any more than we can describe what blue looks like.

I would disagree.

[steveb98]

It really doesn't mean much what other think you need to play them and see for yourself. Actually if you check a Classical/Traditional theory book the Classical master felt there were colors and moods associated with the modes.

In general
Ionian is the major scale you grew up with.
Dorian is a minor mode and is the default minor scale for Jazz.
Phrygian is a minor mode and has a Spanish flavor to it.
Lydian is a major mode and used a lot for TV themes the raise 4th grabs peoples attention.
Mixolydian is a major mode and is the scale you hear in Blues on 7th chords.
Aeolian is the Relative Minor and the standard minor scale for composition.
Locrian is a minor mode and not used very much because it is makes for a very altered sound.

I assume you know how to play a two octave major scale. Well modes are the major scale starting and stopping on different degrees. So take your C major scale, but instead of starting and stopping on C start and stop on D. When you do that you have played the Dorian mode. Get that under your fingers. Now play a D minor chord and then play the scale and listen to the sound. You can continues on for all the modes this way. Play a C major scale starting and stopping on E, your're now playing the Phyrigian mode.

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally Posted by steveb98

Well modes are the major scale starting and stopping on different degrees. So take your C major scale, but instead of starting and stopping on C start and stop on D. When you do that you have played the Dorian mode. Get that under your fingers. Now play a D minor chord and then play the scale and listen to the sound. You can continues on for all the modes this way. Play a C major scale starting and stopping on E, your're now playing the Phyrigian mode.

With respect, I don't think that really gives you the best idea of the difference between the modes, becuase you're working with exactly the same pitches. The question people can, and often do, ask is, what's the difference if the pitches are all the same? That's why IMO it's better to deal with the modes from the same starting point for the purposes of getting the different sounds in your head.

[Bass]

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

...IMO it's better to deal with the modes from the same starting point for the purposes of getting the different sounds in your head.

Aha! Thanks for the terriffic descriptions.

I've been running through "Pac-man's sure fire scale method" and these seem like different modes in the same key. But the flavour of the mode isn't really jumping out at me. I was beginning to think my ears are faulty.

I'll back up and try again starting on the same note to see if I can hear the colour.

[ryco]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

lol Am I the only one who found it funny?:P-Mark

I found it hellarious as well!! It's like I say about classical - it's all Grieg to me

Modes sound like scales

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by dlloyd

I would disagree.

Which is why you explained them so completely, right? The best anyone can manage is to give examples of contexts in which you might hear them or lame adjectives like "happy", "sad", and "dark". I suppose you could go with a technical description "like a major scale with a flatted seventh". That's enough for some people to figure out what you mean.

[metalguy2]

Phrygian can also be used for darker sounding metal..... Locrian as well...

[tappingtrance]

I like that!

Originally Posted by Throckmorten

They all sound Greek to me

[tappingtrance]

You know no one has mentioned the chords that appear in the modes, the relationship of say a bVII going to one in Mixolydian, the 1 to bii in phyrgian etc. that is really the way to understand the modes in addition to general characteristics, check out the quality of the chords and the scale degree on which it appears for comparison between the modes.

[slybass3000]

Originally Posted by Throckmorten

They all sound Greek to me

Me too I love that one!

SB

[Clay_Bass]

Everyone Ive ever talked to has told me to practice all the modes starting on the same note instead of going through the modes of say c major. This will give you more of an idea what they sound like alone instead of where they are in a c major scale. Also to those of you who said its not a good idea to think of modes as a certain sound, why are you bothering to lean modes? To convey feeling and emotion in your solos and more generally in your music.

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally Posted by Clay_Bass

Also to those of you who said its not a good idea to think of modes as a certain sound, why are you bothering to lean modes? To convey feeling and emotion in your solos and more generally in your music.

I think you're missing the point of those comments. The idea isn't that the modes don't sound different, it's that those different sounds can't be reduced to a simplistic formula like ionian=happy etcetera.