Modal music is the easiest music language to get under your grip.
( Although it is the most restrictive )

Modal music does not have the tension and release that Tonal language has.
There is no resolving .
The melodies float on top of the harmony .

We start with the 5th it's the next consonant note besides the octave .
If we tried to create a scale with the octave we would just get 1 one note because octaves are the same.
But the next note is the 5th .
It is just slightly less consonant than the octave.
And we can start with any note go up a 5th to get the next note in the scale .
Let's start with F.
Up a 5th is C up a 5th is G and so on we get.
FCGDAEB
This is our 7 note scale .
Let's arrange the notes in order .
FGABCDEF
This scale is called F Lydian

It creates a 7 note chord
Fmaj13#11 (FACEGBD

Then
Broken down...
In modal music you have 5 chords.

1.FACE Fmaj7
2.GBDF G7
3.Bmin7b5 BDFA
4.Dmin7 DFAC
5.Emin7 EGBD

( There is no such thing as Ionian or aeolian modes in modal music As these are just inversions of the Lydian.)

These 5 chords are unique flavors of F Lydian .

They are all swappable for each other .

( Instead of functions like with tonal language
Subdominant, dominant ,tonic)
Modal music there are no functions.
You instead have unity.

5 chords , 5 flavors of the mode .

So in F Lydian

F is the root or FAC triad or Fmaj7 .

That is in lower register .
Then in higher register you have your 5 chords.

Let's see this in action.
FACE over FAC
GBDF over FAC
BDFA over FAC
DFAC over FAC
EGBD over FAC

You can use the built up or stripped down versions
For example.

FA over F
GB over F
BD over F
DF over F
EG over F

 

So F Lydian is our " major" sound mode.
FGABCDEF

It is 1 large chord

Fmaj13#11
FACEGBD

Or broken into 5 small flavors

1.FACE
2.GBDF
3.BDFA
4.DFAC
5.EGBD

Then when playing in this major sound mode.

We always have F or FAC or FACE in the low bass register .

Then in middle and upper registers
We use our 5 chords or flavors
Then melodies use the scale
FGABCDEF.

This is the major mode.
( Where all our major modes derived from )

 

Let's look at our options for our F Lydian ( major mode)

Play FAC in bass

Then take our first chord
1.FACE

Play its inversions on top of the FAC in bass.

FACE over FAC
ACEF over FAC
CEFA over FAC
EGAC over FAC

Now our 2nd chord.
2.GBDF

GBDF over FAC
BDFG over FAC
DFGB over FAC
FGBD over FAC

Now our 3rd chord.

3.BDFA Bmin7b5

BDFA over FAC
DFAB over FAC
FABD over FAC
ABDF over FAC

Now our 4th chord.
4.DFAC

DFAC over FAC
FACD over FAC
ACDF over FAC
CDFA over FAC

Now our last chord 5th
5.EGBD Emin7

EGBD over FAC
GBDE over FAC
BDEG over FAC
DEGB over FAC

Now we have seen all of our chord options for F Lydian ( major sound)

 

Let's see a modal progression as example in
F Lydian ( our major mode )

BDFA over FAC
DFAC over FAC
FACE over FAC
GBDF over FAC

( And for melody you play the mode
FGABCDEF
Any notes fit.

Let's see that progression in first inversion .

DFAB over FAC
FACD over FAC
ACEF over FAC
BDFG over FAC

See how it floats above with zero motion?
We get music that glides floats hovers a unique feel to it great fun.

3rd inversion of the progression .

FABD over FAC
ACDF over FAC
CEFA over FAC
DFGB over FAC

The sounds all represent the major feel.

4th inversion of the progression .
ABDF over FAC
CDFA over FAC
EFAC over FAC
FGBD over FAC

We get even more options with the bass chord inversions too

BDFA over FAC
BDFA over ACF
BDFA over CFA

DFAB over FAC
DFAB over ACF
DFAB over CFA

All these variations give you the F major sound.

 

Last edited: Aug 5, 2019

We also have a minor foundation in modal music .
D Dorian DEFGABCD

It is the same as the major foundation.

1.DFAC Dmin7
2.EGBD Emin7
3.FACE Fmaj7
4.GBDF G7
5.BDFA Bmin7b5


And it works in the exact same way.
You have 5 flavors of D Dorian.
( Then you use the D Dorian scale over everything
DEFGABCD)


Let's see a progression in D Dorian .

DFAC over FAD
FACE over FAD
BDFA over FAD
GBDF over FAD
EGBD over FAD

You have all the inversions.

BDFA over FAD
DFAB over FAD
FABD over FAD
ABDF over FAD

BDFA over ADF
DFAB over ADF
FABD over ADF
ABDF over ADF

So far we have a major mode and a minor mode which everything is based off of.

Let's look at our first major variation
F Lydian augmented

FGABC#DEF

1.FAC#E. Fmaj7#5
2.GBDF. G7
3.BDFA Bmin7b5
4.DFAC# Dminmaj
5.EGBD Emin7

And we treat everything same as before .

Here is a progression .

DFAC# over FAC#
FAC#E over FAC#
BDFA over FAC#
GBDF over FAC#


We have our minor version of this mode as well
D melodic minor
DEFGABC#D

As everything is same as before.

1.DFAC# Dminmaj
2.EGBD Emin7
3.FAC#E Fmaj7#5
4.GBDF G7
5.BDFA Bmin7b5

We use our scale over the chords.
DEFGABC#D

Here is a progression .

FAC#E over DFAC#
GBDF over DFAC#
BDFA over DFAC#
EGBD over DFAC#

And as before all our inversions .

 

Let's look at our next major variation ,
The F Lydian dominant mode
FGABCDEbF

F13#11
FACEbGBD

1.FACEb F7
2.GBDF G7
3.BDFA Bmin7b5
4.DFAC. Dmin7
5.EbGBD Ebmaj7#5

And we use the Lydian dominant scale over all the chords
F Lydian dominant
FGABCDEbF

Here is a progression in this mode .

DFAC over FACEb
BDFA over FACEb
GBDF over FACEb
EbGBD over FACEb
FACEb over FACEb

We have all same inversions and variations as before.

We also have our minor version of this mode
Dorian Flat 2
DEbFGABCD

 

So let's now look at using D Dorian mode
To create some music.
D Dorian
DEFGABCD

1.DFAC Dmin7
2.EGBD Emin7
3.FACE Fmaj7
4.GBDF G7
5.BDFA Bmin7b5


First create a progression in the mode

FACE over DFA
GBDF over DFA
BDFA over DFA
DFAC over DFA

This will be our progression .
Let's visualize a bass a piano for mids and a synth for lead.

Now let's break down into layers to play

Bass first .

D D F D A D F D

Next mids piano

ECA, FCA, GBD, DBF, DCA,ACD

And then synth for a lead

C,E,D,G,B,F,B,F,D,A,D,C,A,F



Here is a different approach, just a piano


In lows FAD rings out then mids DBFA in highs B, D
In lows ADF rings then BGFD in highs F, G,BD
In lows DFA rings then AC in mids highs EC
In lows FD in mids EA highs C,A,E,F

So many ways to use it all.

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2019

thnx MMJ this actually clarifies a lot of my enquiries regarding diatonic relationships as well....bravo

 

It really gets fun combining modes in a progression .
Let's use F Lydian FGABCDEF
For the first portion .

1.FACE Fmaj7
2.GBDF G7
3.BDFA Bmin7b5
4.DFAC Dmin7
5.EGBD Emin7

Then second portion use C Lydian
CDEF#GABC
1.CEGB Cmaj7
2.DF#AC D7
3.F#ACE F#min7b5
4.ACEG Amin7
5.BDF#A Bmin7


Let's create our progression

BDFA over FAC
DFAC over FAC
GBDF over FAC
F#ACE over CEG
ACEG over CEG
DF#AC over CEG

Also try different inversions as well.

This particularly works great for modern ambient type music a real floating feeling .

 

Holy musical breakthroughs Batman! Thanks

 

MMJ please pursue this direction...... i am engaged in designing the new psychedelic sonic revolution...i think modal approch is the key here....thnx man

 

Agreed that it has its limits. But it did help define upper harmony extensions. Using your F Lydian:
F,A,C,E,G,B,D (Fmaj13#11).
They also defined the melodic minor modes because prior to that, the classical minor on it's way down changed to an Aeolian.
So the upper extensions could then define in the Lydian Dominant (Staying on F Lydian base) F,A,C,Eb, G, B, D (F13#11),

While agreed it has limits it definitely aided in defining harmonic structures with their appropriate scales.

 

This thread is in my favourites right now,it's very usefull.I haven't read it entirely but I will do it.Thanks a lot MMJ.

 

Wow thanks you guys I'm glad you enjoy it so far

 

Let's take a look at the F Lydian mode
1.FACE
2.GBDF
3.ACEG
4.BDFA
5.CEGB
6.DFAC
7.EGBD

Now in modal music we don't have the 3.ACEG
Or 5.CEGB
(It's because these are part of the F Lydian and D Dorian sound . You can use these notes still it's just they are not considered part of the fabric of the music . We instead get these 5 main chords.

F Lydian
1.FACE Fmaj7
2.GBDF G7
3.BDFA Bmin7b5
4.DFAC Dmin7
5.EGBD Emin7

( Now if you play the CEGB, or ACEG over FAC it does not stand out as it's on flavor like these 5 do .
The notes are still in there for you to use though .
But with modal language
The idea is that these 5 structures are able to represent the F major sound while still standing on their own as each a unique flavor .
The CEGB over FAC and ACEG over FAC don't hold up the same way you can still play these notes but it's too close to the F to have it's own flavor .( Same for D Dorian they don't hold up as a unique flavor )
So keep that mind it's still playable to you just not a unique flavor )

With this in mind I would like to show something you can do in F Lydian .

CEG over FAC
AFD over FAC
EGB over FAC
CAF over FAC
GBD over FAC
ECA over FAC
BDF over FAC
GEC over FAC


And I'll show you another ( this time the " over FAC "
Is implicit.

CEGB,DBGE,GBDF,AFDB,DFAC,ECAF,ACEG,BGEC,EGBD,FDBG,BDFA,CAFD

 

Intermediate Modal language.

Now we are about to embark on a journey .

I am going to show you the link between 2 languages the Tonal music language and the modal music language.
In such a way as to be able to convert Tonal music over to. Modal music context.

Let's think about our Tonal music KEY of C major .
1.CEGB
2.DFAC
3.EGBD
4.FACE
5.GBDF
6.ACEG
7.BDFA

It's no accident that 4.FACE our Lydian is the dead middle of this scale .
There is a secret embedded into music.
That the C major Cadence ( Dmin,G7,Cmaj)
Along with the Aminor Cadence ( Bmin7b5,E7,Amin6)
Are actually inside of Flydian .
These changes are static and still with F major Lydian as it's center.

Let's see this in action.
I want you to play this.
FAC on bottom while it rings out
Play this in top register
DFAC,GBDF,CEGA( C cadence)

Next play this.
FAC on bottom while it rings out
Play this in top register
BDFA,EG#BD,ACEF#(rel AminCadence)

Is your mind blown yet?

 

We are not done yet .
Play this in bottom
DFA while it rings play
In upper register
C cadence ( DFAC,GBDF,CEGA)

Now
Play DFA in bottom then in top
Register play this
A minor cadence ( BDFA,EG#BD,ACEF#)
The same holds true for our D Dorian
The C major Cadence and A minor Cadence
Takes places in complete unity with F Lydian
And with D Dorian.

You can take any melody or line which represents
V7 to I ( of Cmajor)
Or V7 to I ( of Aminor )
And play that melody over top Fmaj to get F Lydian
And play that melody over top Dmin to get D Dorian.


You see a C major Cadence relative to C 8s subdominant , dominant, tonic
But relative to F major is unity the C major cadence
Floats along the top of F major and spells out a sound harmonious .
This is true for the relative Aminor cadence .
Sure the A minor cadence relative to A
Is subdominant, dominant,tonic
However relative To Fmajor is again
Unity the cadence floats over top and is harmonious .
With no tension whatsoever .
The C mAjor cadence and A minor cadence
Are also unity and harmonious over D min in the same exact way it floats over to to create D Dorian sound.

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2019

Thanks for keeping us basic fools in mind, for the longest I've started at your notes thinking it was language from inter-dimensional beings...

 

Ah don't feel bad ) joking
It took me years to uncover these things
( And working on it everyday uncovering the parts and how they fit over time then trying to put it together in the easiest way to teach people help then get it quicker than I slowly found out about it.
It's like Einstein's E=mc2 it's all embedded inside the small formula .
That's kinda what I'm trying to do .
For music you see the limitations of the short term memory is limited number of objects at any one time.
However information can be embedded symbolically and packaged.
So it's a way our brain can still fit the whole knowledge into packages and still be able to concentrate clearly and assimilate into the subconscious portion of the brain where your autopilot lives ( think of learning to drive then eventually do it without effort or much thought )
I suppose the hardest thing for one to wrap their head around is that music exists on its own terms as a language ( in this case modal language)
Over time we have just discovered what way it exists as.
You see once a person is able to fathom these inner workings of music structure .
They can speak fluent language with it
( Express what's inside themselves in the language of music without ever needing to repeat something a million times )
Music is fractal . Self similar shapes at any scale of detail.
You can create each moment of a song different from the last but still give the listener this experience of steadiness ( strength of modal language)

 

Last edited: Aug 6, 2019