Modes of The Major Scale
The number of scales available to improvising musicians continues to expand. As modern techniques and musical constructions appear, jazz players find the ones they can put into compositions or use as material for melodic exploration. Prominent examples are the seven modes of the diatonic major scale and added-note scales.
| I | Ionian mode | C D E F G A B C | (associated with C Major 7 chord) |
| ii | Dorian mode | C D E♭ F G A B♭ C | (associated with C-6 or C-7 13 chord) |
| iii | Phrygian mode | C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C | (associated with Csus4 ♭9) |
| IV | Lydian mode | C D E F♯ G A B C | (associated with C Maj7 ♯11 chord) |
| V | Mixolydian mode | C D E F G A B♭ C | (associated with C7 chord) |
| vi | Aeolian mode | C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C | (associated with C-7 ♭13 chord) |
| viiø | Locrian mode | C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C | (associated with C-7♭5 chord) |
Compare each of the modes to the major scale for clues as to the subtle differences between them. Ionian is based on the 1st degree of the major scale, Dorian on the 2nd, Phrygian on the 3rd, etc.
| C Ionian | C D E F G A B C | (associated with C Major 7 chord) |
| D Dorian | D E F G A B C D | (associated with D-6 or D-7 13 chord) |
| E Phrygian | E F G A B C D E | (associated with Esus4 ♭9 chord) |
| F Lydian | F G A B C D E F | (associated with F Maj7 ♯11 chord) |
| G Mixolydian | G A B C D E F G | (associated with G7 chord) |
| A Aeolian | A B C D E F G A | (associated with A-7 ♭13 chord) |
| B Locrian | B C D E F G A B | (associated with B-7♭5 chord) |
Combinations of the characteristic details of these modes are also in common use. For example, the Lydian dominant uses the raised 4th degree of the Lydian with the flatted seventh of the Mixolydian, yielding C D E F♯ G A B♭ C. Chromatic alterations are also useful,as in the Lydian Augumented scale C D E F♯ G♯ A B C for use on the chord Cmaj7+5.
Read more about this topic: Jazz Scale
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“I cannot beat off
Invincible modes of the sea, hearing:
Be a man my son by God.
He turned again
To the purring jet yellowing the murder story,
Deaf to the pathos circling in the air.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
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