Understanding The Modes of The Diatonic Scale
Knowledge of the modes fulfills three important goals.
1. Expanded Musical Pallet
Musicians who understand the modes can modulate a melody to a different mode. This helps a solo player or an ensemble create interest and excitement in a performance. It is possible to weave back and forth between a major tonality and a minor tonality. Being able to move a melody in a different modes means you get a lot more mileage out of a tune and your audience gets a lot more enjoyment.
2. Expanded Musical Expression
Facility with the scale of each of the six useful modes provides the tonal population for improvisation on a tune and the raw material for composing new melodies.
3. Consonant Performance
Knowledge of the chords which are characteristic of each mode is an essential for a guitar, mandolin or banjo player or any string or keyboard player who must support a melody with proper choices of chords. The skill is also helpful to improvisation and composition.
Join me at Common Ground on the Hill in July when I teach this one-period, week-long class.
The PowerPoint I used during the class is available through the button below titled Lecture on the Modes. The file is about 5 mb.
The button titled Sound of Modes - Scales and Orchestration links to a whopper of a file - about 30 mb. But worth downloading so that you can hear the modes. The link provides access to 19 audio files that demonstrate the scale of each mode and provide orchestrations using of each of the seven modes. In addition, there are audio files demonstrating the whole tone scale and how orchestration sounds when using add9 chords.
Click here to view eleven YouTubes prepared by Ben Levin. I think you'll appreciate his direct, clear, honest and quirky explanation of the modes. He is a great teacher and superb musician. The depth of the videos range from basics to advanced treatment. Watch his videos, do the practice and you'll enhance your skills. Access to these videos is also available via the Listen to the Modes button.
1. Expanded Musical Pallet
Musicians who understand the modes can modulate a melody to a different mode. This helps a solo player or an ensemble create interest and excitement in a performance. It is possible to weave back and forth between a major tonality and a minor tonality. Being able to move a melody in a different modes means you get a lot more mileage out of a tune and your audience gets a lot more enjoyment.
2. Expanded Musical Expression
Facility with the scale of each of the six useful modes provides the tonal population for improvisation on a tune and the raw material for composing new melodies.
3. Consonant Performance
Knowledge of the chords which are characteristic of each mode is an essential for a guitar, mandolin or banjo player or any string or keyboard player who must support a melody with proper choices of chords. The skill is also helpful to improvisation and composition.
Join me at Common Ground on the Hill in July when I teach this one-period, week-long class.
The PowerPoint I used during the class is available through the button below titled Lecture on the Modes. The file is about 5 mb.
The button titled Sound of Modes - Scales and Orchestration links to a whopper of a file - about 30 mb. But worth downloading so that you can hear the modes. The link provides access to 19 audio files that demonstrate the scale of each mode and provide orchestrations using of each of the seven modes. In addition, there are audio files demonstrating the whole tone scale and how orchestration sounds when using add9 chords.
Click here to view eleven YouTubes prepared by Ben Levin. I think you'll appreciate his direct, clear, honest and quirky explanation of the modes. He is a great teacher and superb musician. The depth of the videos range from basics to advanced treatment. Watch his videos, do the practice and you'll enhance your skills. Access to these videos is also available via the Listen to the Modes button.
