Febs I really
DO appreciate the effort you took to point that out and I get it... but the way you phrased it came close to making a circuit breaker pop in my head and smoke come out my ears.
So first I want to thank you for the explanation! But I think this is a perfect opportunity to point out what seems to be a huge flaw in the way that music is taught to beginners... and I'm sure it's the main reason that so many people give up on learning theory or, worse, playing altogether. How many people do each and every one of us know who said "I always wanted to learn to play
BUT..."
I'm at that in between zone... I get the concepts but the terms still make me blink or have to think pretty hard at times.
I'm about at the level of a PhD in something totally different than music and one of the hardest things for me to do in the last five or so years is when I need to sit down and explain things to someone who has no background at all in the subject. In that topic, it's as if I can't even relate to people who are at a beginners level anymore. The subject of my expertise isn't family friendly so I won't go into it here but the subject isn't' what's important...
what is important is that the experts and teachers need to remember how to explain things and relate to people who wouldn't know a Dorian from a Delorian.
So please humor me for a moment as I go on a rant about this.
WARNING: Begin rant...
Isn't it simpler to say that the same four notes forming the given chord can appear in different keys?
As a result, where the chord is within the key (ii or V or whatever) will be different in each key, changing it's function at the time.
What I'm finding is that theory is maddeningly confusing only because it's practically lawyer-speak.
Latin speak:
In the key of CMaj you play the I chord of C7 in Ionian mode and you play the ii Chord of Dm7 in Dorian mode. If you were in they key of F then Dm7 is now the vi chord and played in Aeolian mode, while in Bb you will find that Dm7 is played in Phrygian mode and is considered to be the iii chord.
The above
confuses the living daylights out of people who are trying to learn this stuff and it's the number one reason
people get frustrated and quit trying to learn theory.
Instead, put it in normal person speak... like this:
Modes seem to be confusing but they're actually only confusing because they're harder to explain than they are to use. Using them isn't hard, explaining them takes a lawyer.
First thing to know is that even though the key has a mode, the "mode" isn't set in stone because when people talk about modes they often aren't referring to the mode in relation to the root of the key. They're talking about the mode in relation to the root of the chord, when that chord is played within a specific key. Beginners often seem to think that the mode is set in stone once the key is decided and this leads to all sorts of confusion.
A mode is nothing more than the sequence of whole and half steps in the key, AKA tones and semitones, when you start out from the root of whatever chord is being used at the moment. That last part in italics is critical to the whole idea of modes!
When people say that a key is in a certain mode, they're talking about the sequence of whole and half steps in the scale when you start out from the root of the key itself.
But if you start from another note, such as the second chord of the scale, you get a different sequence of whole and half steps because you're starting from the second note of the key and shoving the first one to the back of the bus. IE:
CDEFGAB is the good old C Major scale. it's sequence is WWhWWWh. The sequence of steps is called a "mode" and that particular sequence is called the "Ionian" mode.
Now... let's say we were told by some Latin lawyer speaking music brainiac that they wanted us to stay within that key but play "in Dorian mode". What the heck does that mean, anyway?? It's terms like this that make the brain smoke.... but never fear.
Dorian mode is a different sequence of steps, right? It's actually WhWWWhW.
Okay... so all we need to do is take the first note of the key and shove it to the back of the bus, then check the series of steps and see what sequence it is. If it's not the sequence we need then take the next note and shove it to the back of the bus and check again until we get the sequence we need.
The key of CMaj is CDEFGAB and the steps are WWhWWWh. Since that sequence is known to be Ionian, we're not there yet. So we shove the C to the back of the bus, and it takes it's W with it, like so:
DEFGAB-C... this gives us:
WhWWWh-W... hey, that's the right sequence for the Dorian mode!
So when you're in the key of C Major and you're playing in Dorian mode, it means you're playing the notes of the C Major scale but the root of the chord being used at the moment is going to be whatever one that results in WhWWWhW... which is Dm7.
The tricky part is that when you look at Dm7 itself, it won't always be Dorian. Remember, the mode is the sequence of steps when you look at the notes of the key, starting off from the chord of the moment.
If we play that same Dm7 in the key of F (F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E) then you start with the D... which gives us a sequence of D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C.
Well that gives us a sequence of WhWWhWW... which Latin speaking music theory zealots have defined as the Aeolian mode.
Why is all this important? Well, it IS important but it's easier to understand than it is to explain. Here's the real deal:
When you change the sequence of notes and play through with feeling, you get various emotional impressions. Some are happy, some are somber, some are angry, some are introspective and some are sassy. Long ago the Latin speaking gurus figured out that the emotional impression you got wasn't related to the key itself but, instead, was related to the sequence of the steps when you play the notes of the key starting out from the root of whatever chord you were using at the moment in your harmony.
Since emotion is so important in music, they studied this trend and put it under a microscope. They looked at all the little details that make it work and caused these sequences (modes) to create each emotion and then they did something horrible... they tried to explain it all with words.
If you feel it, you can do it. It's based in feelings... the long explanations and confusing terms are really nothing more than all the words people try to use to explain why it all works.
Here's the kicker... it takes a long time to explain all this to someone and get that person to the point that they understand it. However, once they get it, you don't need to explain that you want to play something with a less jumpy feel, and maybe have it feel a little more subdued.
You just say that you want to play in a certain mode, and the person understands already that the mode you want has a certain feel... so now they know what sort of feeling you're going for.
Once you get it the first time and the light bulb goes on over your head, all the complicated terms aren't such a pain.
Just remember that the terms are FAR more complicated than the ideas that the terms represent. Don't get frustrated by the big words. Focus on the ideas and concepts.
Then it all falls into place
Sorry, I went off a LOT longer than I wanted to but I think this pretty much sums up the frustration that many of us feel when it comes to theory.
It wouldn't be so bad but it
IS bad... it's bad because many beginners get so confused and frustrated that they often walk away from music altogether and it's not because they can't get the concepts or that they can't play. It's because the explanations frustrate and confuse people so badly that they just can't deal with it anymore and often go play a video game instead. I know that's what I did for over 20 years and that's sad... because I love to play and now that I've caught on to the ideas and concepts, I'm cranking along with my arpeggios and having a blast!
Most end up quitting and never learning to play, and that's sad. Then we have so many others who can play by ear but never learned to read music because the explanations frustrated them to the point that they tossed the theory books in the trash.
But at least they didn't quit playing.
