Honestly, David Bennett Piano (what you linked) is a great source for music theory. I've probably watched hundreds of the guy's videos. But you can get caught up in that rabbit hole easily rather than making music with your gut. It's good to know at least some theory though. Jameson Nathan Jones and Implied Music on Youtube are also other good ones to follow / check out.

 

Use scaler plugin! its an excellent teacher. I use it not only as a composition tool, but as a deep dive learning tool. Seriously such a great plugin.

 

I can name a few. Unfortunately, some people get daunted when they see some kind of label, be it Classical or jazz or contemporary...The reality is in-depth harmonic principles only extrapolate, but they all have the same principles. It's like when I hear someone say "It's a jazz chord" when they see a label like C13#11. In simple terms it's also just a D triad over a C7 chord. It's just a chord not a jazz chord or an anything chord. The labels per style or genre are the only difference. Understanding that might be something worth getting into? Just do not get caught up in the BS. I also laugh when I hear people indicate that improvisation is exclusive to jazz. Classical musicians were the first to experiment in this area.

Understanding modes is good but do just that, Understand them and their uses. It's not as big a deal as some make out. If you know something you know it, you do not have to talk about it because you would rather spend the time doing.

When you compose, write a song or a melody, you are experimenting with what you hear, or envisage a concept...so it is all inter-related.
Simply, learning what something does and how it sounds and works is way more important than being able to parrot a label. I can do both but I know what is the most useful.

Here is one and it would scare a lot of people away because it is labelled jazz. It is deeply rooted in the blues even though it is what it says. If nothing else, it should provide a resource for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Something-Borrowed-Blue-Principles-Composition/dp/3892211221

Additionally, look up the Russell Garcia's arranging and composing books. The principles in that as he was an amazing Orchestrator, can be applied to any type of instrument or composition.
Also - Understanding Counterpoint thoroughly, is one of the best tools you can use over and over and over again...Cheers

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2025

When it comes to modern modal piano music, this is the best resource I've found on YouTube:

If you want to dive deeper into this kind of analysis, I’d recommend checking out the Berklee theory books, as it was the first institution to systematically teach it

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2025

Perhaps the Neanderthals were the first to improvise.
https://exarc.net/issue-2020-3/ea/musical-instrument-divje-babe-i-cave
https://www.nms.si/en/collections/highlights/343-Neanderthal-flute

 

Music Modes - www.simplifyingtheory.com/music-modes

• Ionian Mode
• Dorian Mode
• Phrygian Mode
• Lydian Mode
• Mixolydian Mode
• Aeolian Mode
• Locrian Mode
• The origin of the Greek modes
• How to use modes (creating Modal Music)

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2025

I felt physical pain reading that.

 

Thanks for the tip. These three sentences bring us closer to the truth:

In Greek music theory, however, these modes were understood and applied quite differently than in the later Middle Ages or today. In particular, the ancient modes do not refer to the same scales as the later "church modes." The current system is the result of a transfer, with sometimes misleading names, in the Middle Ages.

The major (Ionic) and minor (Aeolian) systems only developed as central scales in European music from the 17th century onward. The names major/minor represent scale families that were not known in this form in antiquity.

In the Middle Ages, the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes were primarily used. The Ionian and Aeolian scales were adopted much later and then equated with the major and minor systems.

 

I agree 100% with @Somnambulist, I couldn't have put it better myself.

Music is a very complex art with many subjects, thay are all related. Harmony, melody and rhythm form a whole, learning just one aspect of it can be sterile and not usefull. They are all important and, like a painter palette, it's not just the different colours but also the material and medium that make the final piece. It's implicit that what you feel, want to comunicate it's the primal step, whatever it is.
Being curious and wanting to learn new things it's great and might give you inspiration for composing music in a different way, giving you new perspectives.
Understanding the various forms, chords structures and progressions, melodyes and arrangement within a given genre, expands the language you can use and sometimes you realise that you are already doing certaing things but didn't give them a definition.

Creating tension is the fundamental goal in music and it is the way to express, or portray if you like, emotions. We feel an emotion when we are feeling a tension of any kind. That is where Counterpoint and Arranging come essential.

I recomend this very old book What to Listen for in Music, Aaron Copland, and this video

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2025

There is a good reason I said knowing how and what to do with them is important.
There are also modes of Melodic minor:
I -Melodic minor (jazz minor scale), II - Dorian b2 (Phrygian #6), III - Lydian augmented, IV - Lydian dominant (overtone scale), V - Mixolydian b6, VI - Aeolian b5 (Locrian #2), VII - Altered scale
( Super Locrian).

The Harmonic minor makes it simpler again - 1st mode, 2nd mode, 3rd mode - through to 7th mode.

I learned them all more than thirty years ago along with many other things including counterpoint and full Orchestral arranging. I do not even think about them, I just play and hear now. That has always been the most productive result, the usage of them.

As I said, it's not as important as knowing and hearing HOW - instinctively. Learning them is fine and important but the doing will always be more important.

 

https://amzn.eu/d/36yz8dm

You can find a free download for this. If you couldn’t find it PM me.

PS, it is re-posted on sister site

 

Last edited: Aug 7, 2025

Modale Tonleitern: www.stickytunes.net/gitarren-workshop-modale-tonleitern-teil-1

Spoiler: Source: Perplexity KI (German)

Für eine praktische Übersicht über Tonleitermodi, inklusive Noten und Akkordreihenfolgen für jeden Modus, gibt es spezielle Musiktheorie-Bücher und Online-Ressourcen, die genau dies leisten. Das gängigste Beispiel ist der Aufbau aller 7 Modi (ionisch, dorisch, phrygisch, lydisch, mixolydisch, äolisch, lokrisch) aus einer Grundtonleiter – typischerweise wird dafür die C-Dur-Tonleiter genutzt. Zu jedem Modus werden jeweils die passenden Akkorde (Stufenakkorde) abgeleitet und oft in Tabellen gelistet.stickytunes+2

Ein Beispiel dafür findet sich in Gitarren-Lehrbüchern und diversen Musiktheorie-Workshops: Dort steht meist eine Tabelle mit den Modi, deren Grundtönen, den daraus resultierenden Akkorden, deren Reihenfolge und deren Klangcharakter. Am Praxisbeispiel C-Dur sieht das so aus (die Akkordfolge ergibt sich jeweils aus dem jeweiligen Modus, der durch Verschiebung des Grundtons entsteht):

I: Ionisch (C) – Cmaj (Dur)
II: Dorisch (D) – Dm (Moll)
III: Phrygisch (E) – Em (Moll)
IV: Lydisch (F) – Fmaj (Dur)
V: Mixolydisch (G) – Gmaj (Dur)
VI: Äolisch (A) – Am (Moll)
VII: Lokrisch (B) – Bdim (vermindert)

Die Stufenakkorde zu jedem Modus findest du übersichtlich z.B. im kostenlosen PDF „Das System der Gitarre verstehen Tonleitern Ionisches System“ und in Online-Tutorials wie bei Stickytunes. Speziell das Buch/Workbook von 12hoch2 (siehe PDF-Vorschau) und die Webseite Stickytunes liefern zu jedem Modus einer Grundtonleiter die exakte Reihenfolge – meist wird auf Noten und Griffbildern alles klar dargestellt, so dass man nicht selbst alles zusammenschreiben muss.12hoch2+2

Wenn du ein umfangreiches Nachschlagewerk suchst, das die Modi nicht nur erklärt, sondern akribisch für alle Tonarten und inklusive Akkordfolgen durchlistet, findest du so etwas auch oft in Gitarren-Skalenbüchern („Scales and Modes“ für Gitarre/Bass) und speziellen Musiktheorie-Werken wie im PDF „The Best Of Bass Complete“. Viele moderne Theorie-Workbooks kombinieren kompakte Modus- & Akkordtabellen mit Griffbildern, teilweise sogar mit Anwendung in Songbeispielen.sontick.nethouse

Wichtig: Meist wird dabei die C-Dur-Tonleiter verwendet, weil sie keine Vorzeichen hat und grafisch/visuell gut nachvollziehbar ist. Alle Modi kannst du dann einfach in jede beliebige Tonart transponieren.

Zusammengefasst: Für den von dir gewünschten Überblick über Noten- und Akkord-Reihenfolgen je Modus empfiehlt sich ein systematisches Theorie- oder Griffbild-Buch (wie das von 12hoch2 oder ein Standardwerk zu Skalen/Modi), da du dann alles fix und fertig in Tabellen, Akkorddiagrammen und ggf. Noten oder Tabulaturen bekommst. Die Arbeit selbst machen musst du dann wirklich nicht mehr!

 

I don't fully understand your question - what about Scaler (you can add extra notes to the triad - 7th, 9th by pressing V9 on the left)

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2025

exactly. Scaler is so deep its crazy. An excellent resource for learning, especially for piano players. Bonus is that you can practice along with some of their performances.