Music modes: the seven modes explained

A mode is a version of a scale that starts on a different note of the same set. If you play the white keys of the piano from C to C, you get the C major scale. If you play the white keys from D to D, you get a different scale with a different sound: that is D Dorian. There are seven white-key starting points, so there are seven modes.

The seven modes

Each mode has a Greek-sounding name that reached us through medieval church music. They are listed here in order, from the first degree of the major scale to the seventh.

Two modes are the ones you already know: Ionian is the major scale, and Aeolian is the natural minor scale. The five others are the new ones, and each has one special note that sets it apart.

Bright modes and dark modes

Modes with a major third are called major-sounding: Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian. Modes with a minor third are minor-sounding: Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian and Locrian. Within each group you can order the modes from brightest to darkest by counting how many notes are lowered compared with the major scale.

Two ways to find a mode

The first way is the white-key method: start on a different white key and play to the same note an octave up. This is a good way to hear the modes, but it only gives you modes in the key of C.

The second is the parallel method, which compares each mode with the major or minor scale on the same tonic. C Dorian is C D E♭ F G A B♭, which is C natural minor with the sixth raised. C Lydian is C D E F♯ G A B, which is C major with the fourth raised. This method lets you build any mode on any note.

Modes and chords

Each mode is used with certain chords. Mixolydian goes with dominant seventh chords, and Dorian goes with minor seventh chords. Lydian goes with major seventh chords, and Phrygian with minor chords in a dark, Spanish-sounding setting. Jazz players choose a mode to match each chord as they improvise.

Where to start

Pick the mode that is closest to what you already know. If you know major, learn Lydian and Mixolydian, which change only one note. If you know minor, learn Dorian and Phrygian, which also change one note each. Then try Aeolian and Locrian.

Common questions about modes

Are modes the same as keys? No. A key has a tonic and a set of chords, and a mode is a particular arrangement of the scale around a tonic. A piece in D Dorian uses the same notes as C major, but D is the home note, so the piece feels like it is in D.

Do you need to learn all seven? Not at once. The most useful ones to start with are Dorian and Mixolydian, which turn up in folk, rock and jazz, followed by Lydian. Aeolian is natural minor, and Ionian is major, so you already know both.

• Ionian is the major scale, Aeolian is the natural minor scale.
• Dorian and Mixolydian are the most common modes in folk and rock.
• Lydian is the brightest, and Locrian the darkest.

One more thing to try

Choose one mode a week. Play it up and down, play a drone on its tonic, and make up a short tune. Compare it with the major or minor scale on the same note and say aloud which note changed. After seven weeks you will know the sound of all seven, which is more useful than memorizing the names.

The first mode, Ionian, is the major scale. A page for it is coming later, but the major scales page covers it in full.

The seven modes from C

Check yourself

Related pages

• Dorian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Phrygian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Lydian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Mixolydian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Aeolian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Locrian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Major scales: how they work in all 12 keys