The Church Modes

The modes are often taught in theory classes, though many students don't end up using them much. On this page I've started with the 2 simplest and most common approaches, to get through theory test questions most easily. I then move on to 2 methods for composers and improvisers, which help one think "in" a church mode, in the same way we think in the major or minor modes (these are probably not original to me, but I haven't seen them elsewhere). 

Easy Method 1: Some people use scale degrees in a major scale (e.g., Dorian is 2-2, so given, say, "form an F Dorian," you just write the notes from F to F, then figure out what major scale has an F as its second scale degree (Eb), and add its accidentals). So: Dorian is 2-2, Phrygian is 3-3, Lydian is 4-4, Mixolydian is 5-5, Aeolian (=natural minor) is 6-6, and Locrian is 7-7. This works well for tests, though personally I don't think of a mode as being really a major scale that we look at from a funny angle, any more than I think of a major scale as being really a natural minor starting from the third scale degree.

Easy Method 2: Some students find it easier to think of modes as being sequences of whole tones and semitones, so Dorian is WSWWWSW, Phrygian is SWWWSWW, Lydian is WWWSWWS, Mixolydian is WWSWWSW, Aeolian is WSWWSWW, and Locrian is SWWSWWW. You can see that the first interval becomes the last of the next mode. This method seems like a lot of work to me (and not many people think of major scales, for instance, as WWSWWWS, so this method doesn't put us "in" the mode).

I usually teach my students this method, which is a bit more practically oriented: Dorian and Phrygian are just minor scales, though with a raised 6 or a flattened 2, respectively; Lydian and Mixolydian are just major scales, with a raised 4 or flattened 7. Obviously Ionian and Aeolian are just major and minor, and I ignore Locrian because it doesn't really exist, except for jazz (or you could think of it as a minor with flat 2 and flat 5). This method is my favorite for using the modes in composition or improvisation, because you're thinking "in" the mode. Just emphasize the one note that's altered, and it should sound very characteristic of the mode.

A second way of looking at the modes is to arrange them from sharp side to flat side:

Lydian/Ionian/Mixolydian     Dorian/Aeolian/Phrygian     Locrian

The first group of three is based around the major scale (Ionian), the second group around the minor (Aeolian). So, depending on if you're going to the left or right, you add a sharp or a flat to either the major/Ionian or minor/Aeolian to get the mode (e.g., to find F# Phrygian, you take F# minor (3 sharps), and add a flat (i.e., subtract a sharp), to get a key signature of 2 sharps). Another way of looking at it: with C as the tonic, Lydian has 1 sharp, Ionian none, Mixolydian 1 flat, Dorian 2 flats, Aeolian 3 flats, Phrygian 4 flats, and Locrian 5 flats. Luckily the initials make a reasonably pronounceable word: LIMDAPL.