I remember seeing a thread which explained this a while back but the search for it comes up blank. What I mean is how the modes sound, Ionian (Major) is happy, Aeolian (Minor) is melancholic, this I know but what about Dorian, Lochrian, and all the rest?
Well, I've always tended to group the modes into three "camps": Major: Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian Minor: Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian Diminished/m7b5: Locrian Then I work from there to be more specific: Ionian sounds major, kinda plain, but good. Lydian is a "brighter" major, because of the raised 4th. Mixolydian is a "darker" major because of the lowered 7th. Aeolian is the natural minor scale, and like Ionian, it can be kind of plain sounding. Dorian is a brighter sounding minor, with a raised 6th; Phrygian is interesting because the lowered 2nd gives it an "Arabic" feel. Locrian is it's own special thing, minor, but more than minor because of the lowered 5th degree. I will also relate each mode to a chord built on it: Ionian: maj13 Dorian: min7#13 Phrygian: min7 b9 b13 Lydian: maj7#11 Mixolydian: (dominant)7 Aeolian: min7 b13 Locrian: min7 b5 b9 b13 I don't know if that helps any, but I hear chords at "flavors", and relate modes to them.
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