MODES ARE WAY EASIER THAN YOU THINK. Here's why.
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2020
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Drop any questions you have in the comments and also let me know in the replies to this comment what topic you'd like to cover next!!
why am i early
You are great at explaining theory and I would love to have more of that type of content (but idk if i speak for the public
Edit: what are Sus chords?
Can you teach me how to stop only using the pentatonic scale🤦♂️
Can you cover how to do runs most effectively and efficiently? Particularly ones based on blues scales? And maybe show off some? Hehe
Could you make a video using every mode of one key in a single composition?
This guy just explained my whole degree in 16 minutes
SAAAAME
@@anon4447 ahahaha sure xD
I got jelly beans.
I like jelly beans.
Waaahmp waaaah 🎺
@@TRVladdy i agree
Petition for Charles to teach us:
- Sight singing
- Transcribing
- and other music theory things for us poor souls who need it for an exam and everyone else
I'll only sign if you include people that just learn for fun
Tom Hermann, done
@@emmac6596 nice one, you got my signature
Tom Hermann thanks 🙏🏽
definitely need that transcribing video
I have an explanation that I like to give my students that combines these two ways of describing the modes. You take the pattern of whole steps and half steps, and cycle them.
Ionian: WWH WWWH
Dorian: WHW WWHW
Phrygian: HWW WHWW
Lydian: WWW HWWH
Mixolydian: WWH WWHW
Aeolian: WHW WHWW
Locrian: HWW HWWW
underrated comment
This one definitely makes a lot more sense to me. Same keys but you're changing the start point? That means you're rotating the step sequence.
What happens if I play notes descending? Does major (ionian) scale turns phrigyan?
@@moonshine7374 I'm not sure if I understand exactly what you mean. If you're playing the same notes, it's the same mode. We just usually describe everything in terms of ascending order. If you're wondering about inversion, where we play the same pattern of whole steps and half steps as Ionian, but descending, then yes that would be Phrygian.
I struggled remembering major modes for a long time but I remember it by organising them from the least amount of flats to the most (starting with Lydian with the #4), I created a sentence using the first letter of the modes to help me arrange them. It goes like this -
Lydian - LIGHTS
Ionian - IN
Mixolydian - MID
Dorian - DAY
Aeolian - ARE
Phrygian - PRETTY
Locrian - LAME
Seeing it written out numerically with it’s corresponding sharps and flats made it look like they were climbing from 7 to 3 to 6 to 2 to 5 etc.
Am I over complicating this? Maybe. But I’m an autistic drummer that struggled with melodic music theory (or any theory for that matter) and found something that worked for me. And I applied it whether I had to listen and identify a scale or generally understand what notes belonged to what diatonic scale.
“Minor third”
Augmented second: “Am I a joke to you?”
Augmented Seconds
As the cool kids call them
@@l_ndonmusic holy shit...
Was i cool the whole time and didnt notice????
Im gonna cry :'(
This took me an augmented minute to understand
@@dansaunders1655 nice
😂😂😂
Ionian = Major Scale
Dorian = b3 b7
Phrygian = b2 b3 b6 b7
Lydian = #4
Mixolydian = b7
Aeolian = b3 b6 b7
Locrian = b2 b3 b5 b6 b7
Best cheat sheet ever! Thanks Charles!
lol nice
If you can build major (ionian) and minor (aeolian) by ear, the list becomes even easier.
Ionian = natural major
Dorian = minor 6
Phrygian = minor b2
Lydian = major #4
Mixolydian = major b7
Aeolian = natural minor
Locrian = minor b2 b5
if you familiar with these go on with the modes of melodic minor
Melodic minor
Dorian b2 / phrygian 6
Lydian #5
Mixolydian #4
Mixolydian b6 / ("melodic major")
Locrian 2
Altered scale / ("major #1 form the 7 xD")
I personally have been able to memorize these since I have thought of these names. On the other hand, you should always understand the scales in context, which means that you don't need to know the full scales, just the intervals that set the scale apart.
Legend
Thx
Poor LoneSharp
I'm a teenage musician that's been playing for 8 years, and I've never found a good way to think about them. This was really useful, thanks!
I've been playing for 9 years, and composing. It's my passion. I'm 17.
What's your age?
Same here, 6 years playing, 17 y.o. I didn't have much trouble understanding the modes, but I have no idea on how to use them. Really looking forward for the second video of modes
He explain 70% of my career
I'm 13 and I've been playing since I was 7.
As a 59 year old trying to learn music theory, I want to thank you for making this as simple and as clear as possible. This was very helpful. Thanks.
Don't forget about the modes for the melodic minor scales!
I = Melodic Minor Scale (b3) also called minor major.
II = Phrygian #13 or Dorian b9
III = Lydian #5 or lydian augmented for cool kids
IV = Lydian b7 or lydian dominant (Very nice scale to use in certain situations, I can explain if requested)
V = Mixolydian b13
VI = Locrian #9 or half diminished for cool kids.
VII = Locrian b11 or diminished whole tone if your a cool kid.
These are the modes for melodic minor harmony.
for cool kids?? can you please make a video about all these you have mentioned? or suggest any if already exists by some other youtuber
"Looking at scales is one of the very first things you learn with any instrument"
**Laughs in drums**
**Cries in paradiddles**
Drums are not instrument then
timpani
@@jeanpaul.mma_ Ben Shapiro's dad certainly thinks so.
😂😂
“A half step, there’s nothing in between...”
Microtonality: am I a joke to you?
“...Like the harmonic minor scale, which contains a minor third...”
Augmented second: am I a joke to you?
69th like nice
Yes, yes it is.
Bach to Carissa: "Am I no one to you?"
So there are a shit ton of modes of microtonal scales, right?
After years of confusion with modes, I literally reached this conclusion on my own 1 week before I saw this video. This was exactly my method of thinking about modes, and I'm so happy that you can help other people understand it better!
I absolutely loved the pictures of the fridge, lids, mixers, etc.! I hated learning modes when I was younger, and your explanation was fabulous!
A way I used to remember all the modes is: I Don’t Punch Like Muhammad Ali, or I own the door to the fridge, but Lydia mixed up all the locks. (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian)
I like the first one. xD
I Don't Punch Like Muhammad ALI
I'm gonna be honest... Using this is a terrible idea. Just learn the scales, it's not that hard. Learning them within context is a lot more efficient, though.
@@althealligator1467 The scales are not that hard, but the names are quite hard to remember and makes me question my existence
I used to use “I Don’t Particularly Like Modes A Lot”
Mike Merifield this. This is the pneumonic to remember.
Music theory is like math. Once you understand some of it, you'll see patterns of it everywhere. It really helps to write out notes and scales so you can identify the patterns more easily.
The way I see it, music theory *is* math. It's illustrated in different ways, but in the end, it's all just a bunch of combinations and intervals of semitones in relation to each other.
It's called 12-tone equal temperament for a reason.
That was the biggest "a ha" moment for me, once I realised it was just maths, the whole thing just unlocked in my brain.
Maybe I'm just saying the same thing in a different way, but I think in a way, music IS math.
I wonder why i'm terrible at math but music theory is a lot easier to understand
@@agent0-1-02 Maybe it's just a matter of interests
As an educator myself, I enthusiastically commend the way your organized the information in this video. When you discuss the two ways of looking at the Harmonic Minor scale, you're providing your audience with a concrete example of how to "analyze" scales in two different ways forcing us to practice on the modes.
I love the way this was explained. A reasonable pace the whole way through, then when you play all the different modes in C major everything suddenly clicked and made so much sense. Thank you!!
I think the easiest way to memorize them is in the order from bright to dark:
Lydian: #4
Ionian: Normal
Mixolydian: b7
Dorian: b7, b3
Aeolian: b6, b7, b3
Phrygian: b6, b7, b2, b3
Locrian: b5, b6, b7, b2, b3
There is a pattern here, too. The 7th is the first one to be flattened, then the 3rd one. Starting from there, the next note to be flattened is one lower than the ones already flattened, alternating, and starting with the 7th. So after you flattened the 3rd, you flatten the note one lower than the 7th, then the note one lower than the 3rd, and lastly again flattening the one one lower than the sixth.
Sorry for the bad explanation lol
What if you were to extend this further.? The pattern is clearly moving up by 4 (b3 + 4 = b7). Moving upwards you get #1 , which is obviously impossible, and then #5. Is this like a scale above Lydian or what?
@@feneb6497 check out David Bennett's video about modes for that
PCR Dominoes it goes back to locrian but in a different tonality (half step above). So if we are in C it goes Cminor (aeolian) and going up : C dorian, C mixo, C major (ionian), C lydian, C# locrian, C# phrygian, C#aeolian, etc... and it keeps going endlessly till you get back to C again
A good way to remember the order of brightness:
Little Idiots Might Declare a Perplexing Limerick
I think of it like you have a chain of fifths, right, and that's your scale. You pick one of the notes as your tonic, and the more notes that are "brighter", or higher in the chain of fifths compared to the tonic, the brighter the scale. For example, when the first note in the chain of fifths is the tonic, you wind up with Lydian, the brightest available mode. When the last note in the chain of fifths is the tonic, you wind up with Locrian, the darkest available mode.
Basically, you can shift that chain of fifths along the circle of fifths and it gives you your alterations.
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that every note also emits the sound of the fifth of the note inside of it, secretly and quietly, due to the overtone series. The missing fundamental effect is cool too, where if you sound out the overtone series of a note, your brain quietly fills in the fundamental note automatically, even though it isn't really there. Maybe our brain associates that with darkness, that "lack of what is naturally there"...
You don't have to memorize 7 3 6 blah blah and 4 1 etc for sharps. Just remember key signatures/circle of fifths. You're just adding the next sharp/flat.
circle of fifths: F (one flat, Bb) -> Bb (two flats, Bb Eb) -> Eb (three flats, Bb Eb Ab) -> ...
modes by brightness: F ionian (one flat, Bb) -> F mix (two flats, Bb Eb) -> F dorian (three flats, Bb Eb Ab) -> ...
As a musician, when I see Charles upload a new video explaining something I already understand I just click on it anyway because it’s so fun watching him
Same, it just helps me reaffirm my knowledge anyways.
Oh, you guys! I feel like I'm in great company on this.
Right here with you. I instantly clicked.
You are such a valuable resource and so good at what you do. Thanks for the videos. Look forward to the follow up to this one around applying modes to chords and progressions
this was so, so helpful and although I’m not in any way an advance pianist, i was able to easily understand this and I really appreciate what you’re doing!
I very rarely hear a CZcamsr say the audience just watching the video is enough and they don't have to buy merch. This guy is awesome.
Nah, a bunch of them say that. They just rarely mean it.
I also look at modes like that but I find more intuitive to separate them in major and minor modes and see the contrast between the major and minor scale, that way the difference between scales is easier to remember:
Major Modes
Ionian - Regular Major
Lydian - Regular major with a #4
Mixolydian - Regular major with a b7
Minor Modes
Aeolian - Regular Minor
Dorian - Regular minor with a natural 6
Phryghian - Regular minor with a b2
Locrian - Regular Minor with a b2 and b5
Another very important thing that people often overlook in the explanations is that in order to get a Dorian sound or any other mode sound you have to remember that context is crucial. For the notes D E F G A B C D to sound Dorian you need some background harmony that implies that Dm is the central chord. Otherwise if your chords are C - F - G - C it doesn't matter how many time you play D E F G A B C D in sucession it won't sound Dorian
Locrian is diminished. Even if the third is a minor third, i would still create a special category for the only mode that doesn't have a perfect fifth.
I can not agree with you MORE. It is so much easier to use logic, that you mentioned. What is the point to compare minor greek scales with major natural ones? And without showing that THE TONIC/first step prevails - by any harmonic or polyfonic background - these scales will be just a theoretical thing, you're absolutely right.
100% it really helps a lot to divide them up and sort of compartmentalize them and catagorize them (with Locrean being the odd ball of course) for me at least.
Agreed with previous comments, this is exactly the way I’d like to categorise the modes: division into minor and major modes.
This is explained sooo well!!! Modes were always something I had a lot of trouble with, and this really helped.
This is a great video! Something that helped me learn the modes was picturing them in terms of brightness changing one note at a time Lydian (flatten the 4th) Major (flatten the 7th) Mixolydian etc
Charles: "We've made no changes to the --"
Ad: "--pizza or salad."
it is i shut. perfect
"Uuuh, I dont know"
*gun comes throught the screen*
Pizza
Or
S a l a d
Mine was a beautiful woman in a purple dress playing a piano in the countryside. An interesting tactic...brb after I watch the ad
@@lvbboi9 Yes.
Pizza AND salad.
The pizza/salad ads were less annoying than the t-shit/wallet ads.
You kind of hit the nail on the head. Even my jazz Improv teacher tried to explain all the modes in the same manner of starting somewhere else in the key to achieve the mode.
And the way you explained it, was the only way I was able to understand it, by just looking at the modes as alterations of the major key.
Well done sir, you've built a very nice Bridge to higher-level music theory for a lot of people with this video.
This is hands down the best explanation of modes I’ve ever heard. Great video as always man!
Just get a copy of George Russel’s “Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization”. Pretty simple.
Getting it is the easy part. Reading it without falling into a pit of despair... not so much. 😳
take your pills schizo
I would love to see a video about exotics modes from eastern musical cultures like
Armenian
Persian
Arabian
Indian
Japanese
and so on
I watch your every single video, I hope you will see my comment
best of luck
Read about Double Harmonic (Byzantine) scale and anything around that like bunch of microtonal stuff like maqam bayati and/or hijazz
@@theyhaventfedmesince Tone 6 in byzantine. hard chromatic scale, which is called the double harmonic minor scale, which is pretty cool. I'm not sure what his knowledge on the microtonal scales entices
www.maqamworld.com/en/maqam.php
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"Maqam" is the Arabic word for mode, pluralized as "maqamat".
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Arabic maqamat are created not by stacking thirds like in Western music, but more melodically by stacking runs (pentachords, tetrachords, and sometimes trichords, called "jins" when singular, "ajnas" when plural). For instance, "Jins Hijaz" refers to a 4-note run with a flat 2 and major 3rd, like D Eb F# G. So a very simple Maqam Hijaz in D (very common key for hijaz), you'd start with a "Jins Hijaz" (D Eb F# G) and add a "Jins Nahawand" (Nahawand = minor) from G (G A Bb C D).
.
But there can be a second layer of complexity. Sometimes certain maqamat are different going up than coming down, like the melodic minor scale. For instance, Maqam Hijaz most often will use a Jins Rast for the top half (major with a half-flatted third) ascending and only use the Jins Nahawand while descending. So ascending, it would be D Eb F# G A Bd (B half-flat) C D, and descending the B would become a full flat.
.
Soloing and ornamentation are very prolific in Arabic music, but again they focus on melodic ajnas instead of harmonic chord structures. When soloing in Maqam D Hijaz, you'd start in the Jins Hijaz (D Eb F# G), using C and A as ornamental passing tones only. At any time, you can switch to playing in Jins Rast/Nahawand (G A Bd/Bb C D) with F# and E as passing tones), but not in a straight run. You'll want to pause or centre around the common notes (D and G) for a short time before launching into the new Jins. These common tones, the harmonic centres of the Ajnas, are called "ghammaz". This means that certain Maqamat are "Plagal" modes, where instead of having the Dominant or 5th as the secondary tonal centre or "tenor", it can be the 4th or Sub-Dominant, or even other tones altogether. This is similar to the hypo- modes of medieval music.
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Arabic also has it's own version of "playing outside". Because there's no vertical chord structure, you can simply replace any Jins with another. For example, in D Hijaz, you might start in Jins D Hijaz, but then move up to Jins G Nikriz (G A Bb C# D, or a minor lydian run) in the upper section! But when you move back down, maybe the lower Jins is now D Rast. Basically, you stay within the key centre, but change modes at will. By the end of the solo, however, you should have progressed back to re-establish the original Maqam to avoid a sudden jarring modal change.
For a final layer of complexity, some maqamat, like Maqam Hijazkar, have overlapping ajnas. Maqam Hijazkar has a lower Jins D Hijaz (D Eb F# G), an upper Jins G Niqriz (G A Bb C# D), and then a Jins D Hijazkar centred on the tonic (Ab C# *D* Eb F#). Keep in mind that Jins Hijazkar centres on the D tonic, it's "b6 M7 Tonic b2 M3", not "1 b2 M3 4 b5 M6". There can be other weird things going on as well, like Jins that start on a half flat (Sikah).
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The final, final layer is that in some Mediterranean contexts, especially Greek music, certain instruments like accordions are unable to play half-flats. So in order to play songs in modes that would traditionally have half-flats, the standard protocol is to replace that note with a major tone while ascending and a minor tone while descending. This is where Greek music gets a lot of its unique sound from.
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(Edit: stupid youtube and not respecting paragraph spacing anymore!)
@@Brooke-rw8rc this is the best explanation for the Arabian music scale I've ever seen and I've been looking for it for a while, thank you kind sir
I think the Arabian scale is Lydian
Those images that you used to illustrate the modes stuck with me so much that I have accidentally started remembering the order of the modes without even thinking about it! This is the best way to teach, thank you so much! :D
This was such a great help! I am learning piano and guitar simultaneously and have been practicing the major and minor scales, but I avoided looking into modes because the difficulty of it was daunting. Your rundown makes so much sense, especially in relation to other aspects/theory in which I have indulged. Thank you so much for this!
A fun way i remember the modes is "I Do Pot, Leave Me Alone Loser"
Roberto Kerezsi I’m using this from now on
This is great
and you can remember the difference in the Ls if you think after pot is lydian, like pot lid
YOU ARE A GENIUS
Please explain, I'd Like to Use it too
You can literally turn your youtube channel from a meme related channel to a music theory lesson based channel and you would be the best
Please keep this up man
he did. He is.
This was great! Thanks for the help.
this was genuinely so helpful! thank you!
For stringed instruments I found it especially helpful to just internalize Ionian and aeolian (major and minor scales respectively) and then just learn the differences applied to those shapes on the neck I.e. Phrygian is aeolian with a flat 2; Dorian is aeolian with a sharp 6 etc etc.) on strings we’re lucky because the scale “shape” is the same regardless of the tonic, so it’s really easy to move things around without too much practice.
13:23 I love the way those notes moves over in a very dramatik "This Will blow your mind" kinda way
The best way ever to really undersand them. Thank you a lot! It is the first time somebody explains this that way. Congratulations for your daily job. Keep up bringing new such fantastic videos!!
I'm in my first semester of obtaining my music degree and I have been stuck on modes for the past 3 weeks. This helped IMMENSELY! Thank you 😫
too bad this came out after i did my cm theory test, would have helped a lot :p
Edit: just finished watching the video, i definitely find this method of finding a mode scale much easier than how my theory books taught me. many thanks for the clear videos as always my dude
I'd love to watch a video with some examples how to use those in our music. How do they drive the mood of the song. Also thanks to you I think I understood why pro music theorist are so crazy about correct naming of sharps and flats :D
I think he was just laying the groundwork for such a video. He says at the end of the video he will show how to use them in progressions and such.
Thank you!
I was hoping to get those answers in this video too.
Like Sean B said, I guess we will have to wait.. 😕
I mean... kind of blue is based on this concept (kind of) there was tons of modal jazz in the 50s and 60s being played. Some of herbie Hancock's earlier stuff
Yes, I agree. @CharlesCornell I'd also love to see some examples of how to use them. I hear people say with delight, "You can play over any chord!" And I have no idea what that means. I'm actually a harp player, but have played piano (which helps in visualizing this stuff). I want to be able to use it in my own arrangements and improvising. Thank you so much! I'll look to see if you've already done a video on that too. This is my first video I've seen of yours.
They all sound similar..It´s a waste of time to learn all that... ..to make a nice song choose major or minor, concentrate on the genre, the drums, sound design, good drop... those things really make a difference.. Modes do not.
My wife who was a music major with vocal emphasis said that the solfege made learning the modes even easier because you just had to know which syllables to change. Great video! As a musician with not much musical theory under my belt, I really appreciated the way you presented the modes. Thanks!
Very helpful !! thank you 😇 So easy to understand when you teach by converting the scale into formula
I currently don’t have much money to spare, but him saying “you watching is enough” makes me want to support him even more lmao.
The way you explain stuff is SO accessible and I appreciate it so much.
What a great video, Charles. You have described exactly the questions and uncertainties going round in my head regarding modes. Thank you so much for posting this.
Thank you so much for connecting these in my brain!
Would love another explanation video of how to apply those modes and their scales in harmonic context.
I was aware of the theory behind modes but I'm always struggling with using them in any kind of practical way when improvising.
Nevermind, you already announced that video, looking forward to it!
Would be super happy with some really concrete, practicle tips like idk "over a 2-5-1 progression, try using phrygian" (that's probably absolutely wrong but you hopefully know what I mean)
A good way to start doing this is to apply the major modes to the corresponding chords in a major key.
So for example, in the key of C Major:
Chord I is C Major
Chord ii is D minor
Chord iii is E minor
Chord IV is F Major
Chord V is G Major
Chord vi is A minor
Chord vii° is B diminished (the little circle meaning diminished)
Over each chord you can play its corresponding mode, which are:
Ionian for Chord I
Dorian for Chord ii
Phrygian for Chord iii
Lydian for Chord IV
Mixolydian for Chord V
Aeolian for Chord vi
Locrian for Chord vii°
So if a chord progression is ii V I in the key of C (Dm G C),
Over the Dm (ii) chord you can play a D Dorian.
Over the G (V) chord you can play a G Mixolydian.
And over the C (I) chord you can play a C Ionian.
Hopefully that helps get you started!
I came here to say this!!
@@joegriffithsmusic Thanks that helps! But doesnt that basicly mean in the key of C Major I'll only play notes of... C Major?
So this is just about thinking about it in a different way?
@@JakobMusic Cool, glad it helped!
Technically, all of these modes use the same notes as their parent major key. So these modes of C Major will use the same notes as C Major.
But, an important thing to do when playing the modes over these chord progressions is to make sure you are still emphasising the chord tones of each chord you are playing over. So, if you are playing a ii V I in the key of C Major (Dm G C), then:
Over the D minor chord, emphasise the notes D F A.
Over the G Major chord, emphasise the notes G B D.
Over the C Major chord, emphasise the notes C E G.
This should get you the sound of the chord progression in your solo rather than everything sounded just like the C Major scale. You can then use the other notes in the corresponding modes as extended notes or passing notes to the chord tones.
The ultimate goal of playing over the changes or chord progressions in general is to be able to hear the harmony in your solo lines even if there is no accompaniment/backing track behind you.
Hope that helped!
@@joegriffithsmusic Wonderful that helps alot!
I love those visuals when naming the modes was invaluable. Great stuff. And really, it's stuff like that that adds so much charm to this channel.
This was so helpful! I had been going through a phase for the past week where I would flinch at the thought of having to study music theory, but this actually helped me change the way I thought about the modes. I was just going to memorize the formulas for each one, and hope that it would stick, but now it makes a lot more sense for me to remember what changes are made to the scale thinking about it from a major scale and to remember which degrees are sharp and flat for each mode.
This is wonderful. I’d love to see a subsequent video (maybe you did one?) on WHEN you’d use these in actual music. Like, for example, if a band was playing a Celtic song, often a soloing instrumentalist within the band would use the Mixolydian mode to improv a solo. It would be the final extension of the info you presented here to show how and when each mode is most often used in styles of music. 💗
looking forward to the follow up video to this, going deeper into the modes and how they relate to chords. Really excited for yo to make this lesson!
You're like.... Such a good teacher. Music theory was always so intimidating for me and you make it so easy to digest. Thanks so much for this! I really hope you do loads more of these
Thank you so much! ❤
I always just saw them as their own scales, with their own feel and intervals, that play by their own rules. Helped me understand them a lot easier.
This was a great tutorial! Perfectly explained, I love to see a video on how complex chords are made!
I've been trying to memorize the modes for awhile, and this really helped make them feel more manageable.
This has got to be the most comprehensive guide to modes on CZcams. I've seen a lot of videos try to explain it, but for me, it never really clicked. Once again, Charles put something I thought to be impossibly complex into an easy to understand package with a neat lil bow.
That’s the best explanation of modes i ever heard, thanks ! That’s the best way to think about it
I’ve sent this around my music course, we’re all going into second year of the degree in September and everyone is really appreciating your help! Big thanks from Scotland:)
THANK YOU I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND MODES NOW
Thanks for this explanation! Found it very helpful!
Thank you so much, this was very helpful!
Charles: so it’s goes whole, whole, half, whole... my ads: SKY SPORTS IS BACK
looking forward to explanation of how to USE modes and their relationships to chords & chord progressions etc. What you explained here is good but will become a lot more useful when we know how to use it.
Yes! definitely a topic which is constantly explained in a confusing way! thanks for the clarity
Charles THANK YOU for this. As an aspiring educational CZcams musician, you're my role model. As a musician musician, you're my favorite teacher. You helped lock in the concept of modes for me with this short video, and I look forward to learning more about harmonic applications in future content. ROCK ON, brotha!
If Charles had been my college music theory teacher, I would have an MFA in music by now. This is SO GOOD AND HELPFUL!!!
Your teaching is infinitely more valuable than that of my piano teacher. Bless your soul for handing this knowledge to the people without a price attached.
Edit: I also realized while studying on my own that the key signatures can be used for this, too. Just think of the key signature for e, that's four sharps, and in Phrygian, you lower four notes of the e scale to make it white keys. I don't know if that was fairly obvious, but it's helpful to have that to think about, too. Your method makes so much more sense to me than the weird complicated way my teacher taught it.
Dang way to dis your teacher
I was a bit salty at the time XD to her credit she did teach most other music theory very well, that was just one that really didn't land for me and it was driving me nuts. Especially before the written test that was coming up.@@Idontknowhoiamanymore
@@moonwing4729 haha I was just teasing you. Modes are very difficult to understand and hard to teach. I can see what you mean!
This is such a great explanation! Thank you!
Thank you so much for making this video! So helpful!!!
THANK YOU!!!! This will be in my music theory class next semester!
I feel so early yet late
Saaaame
Video posted: 42 minutes ago
Comment posted: 43 minutes ago
*w h a t*
Same boat
Didnt funny
Not laugh
Thanks man, very helpful. Hyped about that chords video coming
dorian is honestly my favorite cause it just sounds so neutral its like a blank canvas, and its easy to change it to melodic minor, natural minor, harmonic major, with just some accidentals, plus one of my favorite songs, hold your colour by pendulum uses dorian a lot
When Charles calls Ab to Bnat a minor third
Good catch! That's actually an augmented second.
I love Charles videos, but that is an augmented 2nd in the harmonic minor scale. A flat to B sounds like a minor 3rd but any A to any B is a 2nd. a to c is a 3rd.
Yeah, but at most, I feel that it is an augmented second, should be mentioned.
If he didn't do it on purpose, I still feel like it was the most pedagogical way of explaining it; calling it what you'd hear phonetically - a minor third
That’s right fella!
It's a simple video about Greek modes. Going into theoretical intervals seems too much.
Keeping it simple was the best way to go.
After about 20 years, I finally understand modes in a logical way, thanks to this explanation! Thanks, Charles!
I recognized the first explanation, but the follow up with the formulas and alterations to the major scale really helped a lot!
Ah! I love these theory vids! One suggestion though, could you have an overhead shot of the keyboard as well as the front view? I think it would make it a lot easier to visually understand for people to see the front on pov to the keyboard rather than trying to flip in in our brains lol
When you realize there’s someone in the background
Where?
I always thought he's alone with his doggy😂😂
Kinda scary when you don’t know first
in the beginning i was laughing along when he hit the wrong note, but then i heard someone else then i just stoped laughing and was like:
_ _
._.
So Far you have the easiest tones and understandings that make sense to me. Playing guitar for many years self taught now back to basics for uni and this video has really helped me understand the modes and how they all come together is simply amazing. Description of the A and the F really sorted me out. Many thanks 🤘🤘🏴
When modes were explained to me I was told to relate them to either major (ionian) or natural minor scales and then adjust using formula based on whether you are in a major mode or a minor mode. So the major modes would be Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian. From there you would use the formulas you explained basing the scales off of the ionian scale of whatever pitch you are starting on. The minor modes would be Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, and Locrian. From there you would have a formula based on those scales in their natural minor key of whatever note you are starting on.
Ionian = major mode (no # or b)
Dorian = minor mode (#6)
Phrygian = minor mode (b2)
Lydian = major mode (#4)
Mixolydian = major mode (b7)
Aeolian = minor mode (no # or b)
Locrian = minor mode (b2 and b5)
THIS is it. THIS is the explanation that finally clicks. Wow.
3:14 technically an augmented 2nd
Jazz, practicality over technicality
Bruh
Yeah.... big words are hard.
Yes! I came here to say this, too. Saying "m3" works fine in practice, but not as much in actual music theory. Think of it how you want when you play, but don't use this as your only resource for your music theory class... your prof is gonna be a pedantic jerk like me and take points off. :)
@@joaquinnapan3237 It's not more practical to incorrectly call it a minor third though. A third is a third, and it should fit another stepwise interval in between. That augmented second also sounds distinctly different from a minor third in context, even though you would press the same keys in both cases.
An easy way to think about it, if you know your natural minor scales, is to compare the minor modes (modes with a b3) to aeolian. For example, phrygian is a natural minor scale with a b2, dorian is a natural minor scale with natural 6, harmonic minor is natural minor with raised 7. Likewise, with lydian it’s a major with sharp 4, and mixolydian is b7. once you get familiar, you can start to remember “signature chords” from each mode to use when improvising. For example, the signature chords from mixolydian is mostly the b7 major and V minor. The signature chord in dorian is the IV major. Remembering it this way can allow you better access when thinking about colour and emotion in improvising 😇
I'm starting to think about the modes this way, but what I'm struggling is when / how to use them. Where can I learn more about these 'signature chords'?
@@joetessya signature chord is simply a chord that is different from what you would usually expect in your major or minor scale. When you are in a minor key you have a minor iv chord. However, because Dorian mode has a raised scale degree 6 (raised from minor scale), our minor iv chord becomes a major IV chord. This makes it a signature or defining chord from the Dorian mode.
Finally! Been looking up videos and articles on modes trying to understand it and this video made it make sense!
Many thanks, Charles. This was so helpful and well explained!
If only you could have been my theory professor! Bravo, Charles!!!! Amazing work as always! :) 🎻
This is way better than all the other tutorials out there, doesn't have the word 'tutorial' in the title, doesn't sell weird paid classes which rarely work, and is extremely well explained. THIS IS GREAT. Thank you. Now I want more.
That was awesome. Thank you!
EXCELLENT EXPLANATION. This is the best way I have heard modes explained
I love locrian. That d5 gives me life.
I've learned harmonic minor in relation to a minor scale
So it's just a sharp 7 instead of flat 3 and 6
Phrygian - it's not a major scale with 2,3,6 and 7 flat, it's an aeolian minor with a flat 2
Dorian is aeolian with a sharp 6
Just makes it easier in terms of understanding
A REALLY good explanation of both scales and modes !! Thank you! Cheers from France
thanks for the simple explanation!
What I'd really like to know and understand is which modes match with which chords, and when to use which modes in improvising.
1 Step of the Major Scale 1 Chord Ionian Mode, 2 Chord Dorian Mode, 3 Chord Phyrgian, 4 Chord Lydian, 5 Chord Mixolydian, 6 Chord Aolian, 7 Chord Locrian, Remeber, I don t play loud music at lunch, Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian,Mixolydian, Aolian, Locrian…. Check Rick Beato s Videos about the Modes may it help…
The way I think about it is that each mode has one defining pitch compared to its parallel minor or major, and those pitches contribute to distinct chords that form the mode's quintessential sound:
-Dorian's defining pitch is the raised 6 in a minor key, and its distinct chord is IV (major) in a minor key. This generally sounds much brighter and lighter than the parallel minor's b6 scale degree, which usually resolves to 5 with a very heavy feeling.
-Phrygian's defining pitch is the lowered 2 in a minor key, and its distinct chord is bII (major) in a minor key. bII to i resolutions are very heavy--I find them evocative of longing and heartache. Or at a faster tempo, a i bII i vamp sounds urgent and intense.
-Lydian has a raised 4 in major, and its distinct chord is II (major) in a major key, or the #11 chord extension over your tonic I. This is a very bright sound, which can be used to sound optimistic, or mischievous, or mysterious (I'm realizing now in the middle of this comment how weird it can be to pick out adjectives to describe patterns of sound. Oh well.)
-Mixolydian has a lowered 7 in major, and its sound is bVII (major) and a v (minor) in major. I kinda think of this as "Major with a bite." It gets used a lot in rock, and in "adventure"-y music. Melodically, minor pentatonic licks built off the 5th work well. bVII is also the pinnacle of the "backdoor" progression as an alternate way to get back to I.
Aeolian is minor. Locrian is weird.
Another important thing to note is that, while purely modal music isn't necessarily uncommon, I think it's far more common for songs to just have modal inflections by borrowing one of these distinct chords from a parallel mode. For example, when you're going along purely in major, then throw in a bVII for one cadence, you're evoking the feeling of mixolydian for just a moment, without the whole song actually being "in mixolydian."
As for improvising, there are a LOT of ways to approach it. (Disclaimer: I don't play a harmonic instrument, so I'm only used to superimposing ideas over the chords someone else is playing, rather than improvising changes to the underlying harmony itself). In terms of "which modes match which chords," remember that you need to be paying attention not just to the chord, but to the chord's FUNCTION. You want something with a bit broader perspective than a "see Dm7, play D Dorian scale" approach.
Instead, you want to think about where you are in the song's journey, and what sort of resolution would fit with the direction you're going. Personally, I try to always keep the overall tonic of the song in mind (or if it's a tune that moves around a lot, the tonic of the current section), to figure out what the current chord is DOING in that key, to see which pitches should be altered if I want to bring out this-or-that sound.
This feels like the appropriate time to add the universal jazz advice: transcribing and analyzing your favorite players REALLY helps in translating the sounds you like into theory concepts you can use.
When Charles calls the augmented second in a harmonic minor scale a minor third 🥵🥵🥵
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument
Augmented second and minor third are the same thing bro.
@@hastyscorpion they have the same sound but are theoretically different
@@hastyscorpion The minor third and the augmented second sound the same in modern intonation. But one is a grammatical step and one is a grammtical skip. This actually affects how music sounds, structurally.
@@jonwoods4784 They are not just theoretically different. When used correctly, they are cognitively different.
Thanks Charles! This helped a ton!
Thank you for explaining this so simply! I've been trying to learn music theory by myself and the modes and scales are terrifying for me to touch because of how complicated it seems! thank you for a clear video!
He needs to do a “My foolish heart” BILL EVANS chord/harmony analysis
Evans has the best 'My Foolish Heart' recordings
This needs to happen 😭😭