How To Write Modal Music

About the Author

Sean Meredith-Jones

Sean Meredith-Jones

Guitarist, Composer, Online Guitar Instructor

 

Sean has been teaching the guitar in all its facets for over 20 years.  He is a graduate of the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Ma.  He is an adjunct guitar and Contemporary Music Ensemble professor at Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario.  He has dedicated his career to teaching and mentoring guitarists from all walks of life since his days at music college.  Sean’s original music can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, and Youtube,  To read more about Sean’s personal music story, see his “Tales Of A Practicing Guitarist” Blog.

 

To create modal music, a few ingredients need to be present:

  • Clear Tonal Centre
  • Tonic Chord Harmony Established
  • Presence Of Characteristic Note.

What Is a Tonal Centre?

The single strongest note that the whole of the passage or song wants to resolve to. The opposite would be atonal music where no one particular note seems to be stronger than the others. Modal music is functional, in that the colours of each mode are perceived in relation to the tonal centre. Without a tonal centre, there’s a sense of ambiguity.

What Is a Tonic Chord?

Tonic is a synonym for tonal centre. A chord requires two or more notes usually stacked in thirds. So a tonic chord, is a cluster of notes that a passage or song wants to come back to. IE. A major or minor chord. Much popular music has a tonic chord which corresponds to the key the song is written or played in. Very often, the tonic chord is the one used to end a song. It is not always the first chord!

What is a Characteristic Note?

When we talk about modes (7 note scales), many of them contain some of the same notes as one another. There is however, generally one note that differentiates it from the others. For detailed examples, see my previous post on characteristic notes. They will also be listed in the latter section of this post.

You can write a modal chord progression OR one chord vamp that follows all three parameters in that the sound of the mode can be heard in the sequence/vamp.

How To Make a One chord Modal Vamp:

A D-7 alone (D F A C) does not imply any singular mode on its own. It’s actually seldom that any tonic triad or 7th chord contains a characteristic note. That is because most of them are the 9, 11, 13 tensions. In other words, not the chord tones, but rather the in between notes or extensions.

If we change D-7 to be either D-6 or D-7(13), now there is the characteristic note (B) inside of the harmony. This can imply D Dorian. The D F A notes setup the minor sound, and the B adds the colour. Dorian is the only minor mode derived from the major scale that contains a natural 6th/13th.

The three ingredients to make a repeating D-7 (D F A C) vamp modal would be the characteristic note to be present in:

  • a melody over top
  • a bass line underneath
  • A tension in the chord added

Similarly, an FMaj7 chord alone does not imply any singular mode for the same reason. There is no modal characteristic note in it. Adding the note B into the chord voicing (Fmaj7b5 or FMaj7#11) would suffice to make it sound lydian which contains a #4 or #11. b5 in this case is the same note…B.

So in summary, a one chord Modal Vamp needs:

  • A Tonic Chord
  • A characteristic modal note

That Characteristic modal note can be:

  • A tension (9, 11, or 13 and all variants) added into the tonic chord
  • In the bass line
  • In the melody of a passage or song
  • In an improvised passage

How To Make A Modal Chord Sequence:

This requires at least two chords:

  • the tonic chord
  • one other chord that contains the characteristic note of the mode.

IE: Phrygian

|C-7 |DbMaj7 |C-7 |/ / / / |

The C-7 is the tonic chord. Minor 7 chords do not inherently contain a modal characteristic note. The DbMaj7 chord contains scale degree b2 (or b9).

Put it this way:

C-7 = C Eb G Bb. DbMaj7 = Db F Ab C.

Put those notes together sequentially and you get:

C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C

This is a C Phrygian scale. All of the notes of the chords are found in this scale.

Wait, Couldn’t those chords be Ab Major?

Yes, however, the differentiating factor is the tonic chord. There is no AbMaj or AbMaj7 chord in that sequence. You wouldn’t therefore perceive Ab to be the tonal centre. The sequence starts on C-7 and ends on it. The ear is more likely to hear that as the primary chord, and the DbMaj7 as the secondary chord.

Lydian

|FMaj7 |GMaj |FMaj7 |/ / / / |

Aeolian

|A-7 | Fmaj7 |A-7 |/ / / / |

Pure Modal vs Modal Interchange:

Pure Modal Music

Melody and harmony that contain only notes in a given mode. The chords and the melody are therefore completely derived from the mode.

Modal Interchange

Simply, where the music shifts from one mode to another. This is actually the most common way modes are used in popular music. A splash of color here and there. It’s rare that an entire song is written strictly in any of the exotic modes. Many times the sound of the mode comes from one of the secondary chords, and not simply the tonic chord with a modal melody. Common examples would be:

C Ionian To C Dorian:

CMaj | F7 |CMaj | G/B |

IMaj | IV7 | IMaj | V/7 |

Here, the F7 adds the notes Eb and A. The Eb is scale degree b3 and A is scale degree 6 of a Dorian scale.

C Ionian To C Phrygian:

CMaj7 | DbMaj7 | CMaj7 |/ / / / |

IMaj7 | bIIMaj7 | IMaj7 | / / / / |

DbMaj7 contains the notes Db and Ab which are scale degrees b2 and b6 implying the darkness of the phrygian mode.

C Ionian To C Lydian:

CMaj7 | G7 | F#-7(b5) | FMaj7 |

IMaj7 | V7 | #IV-7(b5) | IVMaj7 |

The F#-7(b5) contain the notes E and F# which are scale degrees 3 and #4 implying Lydian.

Complete Characteristic Modal Chords Index

What follows is just raw data without context. The idea here is that chords can be freely borrowed from any parallel mode with the same or tonal centre. Two modes with the same starting note but different secondary notes (IE C Lydian and C Locrian) are said to be parallel. Two modes with different starting notes but contain the same secondary notes (IE C Phrygian and Eb Mixolydian) are said to be relative.

IE: a bIIMaj7 here, a #IV° there. More is not always better however. Just know that the more outside chords there are, their effect can be lessened if the tonal centre becomes more obscure. Modes are functional meaning they point to a tonal centre. Stacking more and more non-diatonic harmony into a sequence muddies the water pretty quickly

The sound of any mode can be baked into the chord sequence by establishing the the tonic chord as home…. and having at least one characteristic chord present which has the key color note of the mode. Many of the colour notes are not chord tones of the tonic chord, which is why many modes require at least two chords to get the sound across. The characteristic chords are in bold and underlined.

Note… any triad or 7th chord can be modified to use non tertiary chords so long as the notes are diatonic to the mode.

Ie: Sus2, Sus4, Maj6, min6, min7(#5), Maj7sus2, Maj7sus4, 7sus4, 7sus4b5, and power chords can all be substituted where applicable.

What’s With all the Roman Numerals?

These show the interval of the root of each chord above the tonic chord.

  • II = scale degree 2
  • bII = scale degree b2
  • #IV = scale degree #4

Scale degrees vs tensions:

Many of these you will see the characteristic note in brackets. It will be either 2 or 9, 4 or 11, 6 or 13. The reason to use one or the other is context. 1-7 are used to represent the scale degrees. 9, 11, 13 are used to represent the relationship to a chord.

In each of the modes below, the chords underlined and in blue, are the chords that contain the characteristic note of the mode. Sometimes, there are several possible chords to be pulled from a mode, so I have used / in those examples.

Ionian: (4/11)

IMaj IImin IIImin IVMaj VMaj VImin VIIdim

CMaj Dmin Emin FMaj GMaj Amin Bdim

IMaj7 II-7 III-7 IVMaj7 V7 VI-7 VII-7(b5)

CMaj7 D-7 E-7 FMaj7 G7 A-7 B-7(b5)

Dorian: (6/13)

Imin IImin bIIIMaj IVMaj Vmin VIdim bVIIMaj

Cmin Dmin EbMaj FMaj Gmin Adim BbMaj

I-7 II-7 bIIIMaj7 IV7 V-7 VI-7(b5) bVIIMaj7

C-7 D-7 EbMaj7 F7 G-7 A-7(b5) BbMaj7

Phrygian: (b2/b9)

Imin bIIMaj bIIIMaj IVmin Vdim bVIMaj bVIImin

Cmin DbMaj EbMaj Fmin Gdim AbMaj Bbmin

I-7 bIIMaj7 bIII7 IV-7 V-7(b5) bVIMaj7 bVII-7

C-7 DbMaj7 Eb7 F-7 G-7(b5) AbMaj7 Bb-7

Lydian: (#11)

IMaj IIMaj III- #IVdim VMaj VImin VIImin

CMaj DMaj Emin F#dim GMaj Amin Bmin

IMaj7 II7 III-7 #IV-7(b5) VMaj7 VI-7 VII-7

CMaj7 D7 E-7 F#-7(b5) GMaj7 A-7 B-7

Mixolydian: (b7)

IMaj IImin IIIdim IVMaj Vmin VImin bVIIMaj

CMaj Dmin Edim FMaj Gmin Amin BbMaj

I7 II-7 III-7(b5) IVMaj7 V-7 VI-7 bVIIMaj7

C7 D-7 E-7(b5) FMaj7 G-7 A-7 BbMaj7

Aeolian: (b6/b13)

Imin IIdim bIIIMaj IVmin Vmin bVIMaj bVIIMaj

Cmin Ddim EbMaj Fmin Gmin AbMaj BbMaj

I-7 II-7(b5) bIIIMaj7 IV-7 V-7 bVIMaj7 bVII7

C-7 D-7(b5) EbMaj7 F-7 G-7 AbMaj7 Bb7

Locrian: (b5)

Idim bIIMaj bIIImin IVmin bVMaj bVIMaj bVIImin

Cdim DbMaj Ebmin Fmin GbMaj AbMaj Bbmin

I-7(b5) bIIMaj7 bIII-7 IV-7 bVMaj7 bVI7 bVII-7

C-7(b5) DbMaj7 Eb-7 F-7 GbMaj7 Ab7 Bb-7

Modes Of Harmonic Minor

These modes are variations of the modes from major scale. The characteristic notes are really in 2 parts. The characteristic note of the original mode plus the modification from the harmonic minor scale.

IE: Locrian natural 6/13. This would have the note b5 from Locrian, but the addition of the natural 6/13 is the modification.

Harmonic Minor: (Natural 7)

Imin IIdim bIII+ IVmin / IVdim VMaj/ V+ bVIMaj / bVImin VIIdim

Cmin Ddim Eb+ Fmin / Fdim GMaj/ G+ AbMaj / Abmin Bdim

I-(maj7) II-7(b5) bIIIMaj7#5 IV-7 / IV-7(b5) V7 / V7#5 bVIMaj7 / bVI-(maj7) VII°7

C-(maj7) D-7(b5) EbMaj7#5 F-7 / F-7(b5) G7 / G7#5 AbMaj7/ Ab-(maj7) B°7

Locrian (6/13): (6/13)

Idim bII+ bIIImin / bIIIdim IVMaj / IV+ bVMaj / bVmin VIdim bVIImin

C° Db+ Ebmin / Ebdim FMaj/ F+ GbMaj/ Gbmin Adim Bbmin

I-7(b5) bIIMaj7(#5) bIII-7/ bIII-7(b5) IV7/ IV7#5 bVMaj7/ bV-(maj7) VI°7

bVII-(maj7)

C-7(b5) DbMaj7(#5) Eb-7 / Eb-7(b5) F7 / F7#5 GbMaj7/ Gb-(maj7) A°7

Bb-(maj7)

Ionian #5: (#5)

I+ IImin / IIdim IIIMaj / III+ IVMaj / IVmin #Vdim VImin VIIdim

C+ Dmin / Ddim EMaj/ E+ FMaj / Fmin G#dim Amin Bdim

IMaj#5 II-7 / II-7 (b5) III7/ III7#5 IVMaj7/ IV-(maj7) #V°7 VI-(maj7)

VII-7(b5)

CMaj7#5 D-7/ D-7(b5) E7/ E7(#5) FMaj7/ F-(maj7) G#°7 A-(maj7)

B-7(b5)

Dorian #4/#11: (#4/#11)

Imin / Idim IIMaj / II+ bIIIMaj / bIIImin #IVdim Vmin VIdim bVII+

Cmin / Cdim DMaj / D+ EbMaj / Ebmin F#dim Gmin Adim Bb+

I-7 / I-7(b5) II7 / II7#5 bIIIMaj7 / bIII-(maj7) #IV°7 V-(maj7) VI-7(b5) bVIIMaj7#5

C-7 / C-7(b5) D7 / D7#5 EbMaj7 / EbMaj#5 F#°7 G-(maj7) A-7(b5) BbMaj7#5

Mixolydian b9 b13: (b9)

IMaj / I+ bIIMaj / bII– IIIdim IVmin Vdim bVI+ bVIImin / bVIIdim

CMaj / C+ DbMaj / Db- Edim Fmin Gdim Ab+ Bbmin / Bbdim

I7 / I7#5 bIIMaj7 / bII-(maj7) III°7 IV-(maj7) V-7(b5) bVIMaj7#5 bVII-7/ bVII-7(b5)

C7 / C7#5 DbMaj7 / Db-(maj7) E°7 F-(maj7) G-7(b5) AbMaj7#5 Bb-7/ Bb-7(b5)

Lydian #9: (#9)

IMaj / Imin #IIdim IIImin #IVdim V+ VImin / VIdim VIIMaj / VII+

CMaj / Cmin D#dim Emin F#dim G+ Amin / Adim BMaj / B+

IMaj7 / I-(maj7) #II°7 III-(maj7) #IV-7(b5) VMaj7#5 VI-7 / VI-7(b5) VII7 / VII7#5

CMaj7 / C-(maj7) D#°7 E-(maj7) F#-7(b5) GMaj7#5 A-7 / A-7(b5) B7 / B7#5

Double Diminished: (bb7)

Idim bIImin bIIIdim bIV+ bVmin / bV° bVIMaj / bVI+ bbVIIMaj / bbVIImin

Cdim Dbmin Ebdim Fb+ Gbmin / Gb° AbMaj / Ab+ BbbMaj / Bbbmin

I°7 bII-(maj7) bIII-7(b5) bIVMaj7#5 bV-7/bV-7(b5) bVI7/ bVI7#5

bbVIIMaj7/ bbVII-(maj7)

C°7 Db-(maj7) Eb-7(b5) FbMaj7#5 Gb-7 / Gb-7(b5) Ab7 / Ab7#5

BbbMaj7 / Bbb-(maj7)

Modes Of Melodic Minor:

Melodic Minor: (Natural 6)

Imin IImin bIII+ IVMaj VMaj / V+ VIdim VII° / VII+

Cmin Dmin Eb+ FMaj GMaj / G+ Adim Bdim / B+

I-(maj7) II-7 bIIIMaj7#5 IV7 / IV7b5 V7 / V7#5 VI-(b5) VII-(b5) / VII#5/ VII7b5

C-(maj7) D-7 EbMaj7(#5) F7 / F7b5 G7 / G7#5 A-7(b5) B-7(b5) / B7#5 / B7b5

Dorian b2: (b2/b9, 6/13)

I- bII+ bIIIMaj IVMaj / IV+ Vdim VIdim / VI+ bVIImin

C- Db+ EbMaj FMaj / F+ Gdim Adim / A+ Bbmin

I-7 bIIMaj7#5 bIII7/ bIII7b5 IV7/ IV7#5 V-7(b5) VI-7(b5)/ VI7b5/ VI7#5 bVII-(maj7)

C-7 DbMaj7#5 Eb7 / Eb7b5 F7 / F7#5 G-7(b5) A-7(b5)/ A7b5/ A7#5 Bb-(maj7)

Lydian Augmented: (#5)

IMaj / I+ IIMaj IIIMaj / III+ #IVdim #Vdim /V+ VImin VIImin

CMaj / C+ DMaj EMaj / E+ F#dim G#° / G#+ Amin Bmin

IMaj7#5 II7 /II7b5 III7 / III7#5 #IV-7(b5) #V-7(b5) VImin(maj7) bVIImin(maj7)

CMaj7#5 D7/ D7b5 E7 / E7#5 F#-7(b5) G#-7(b5) Amin(maj7) Bbmin(maj7)

Lydian b7: (b7)

IMaj IIMaj / II+ IIIdim #IVdim / #IV+ Vmin VImin bVII+

CMaj DMaj/ D+ Edim F#dim / F#+ Gmin Amin Bb+

I7 / I7b5 II7/ II7#5 III-7(b5) #IV-7(b5) / #IV7b5 / #IV7#5 V-(maj7) VI-7 bVIIMaj7(#5)

C7 / C7b5 D7 /D7#5 E-7(b5) F#-7(b5) / F#7b5 / F#7#5 G-(maj7) A-7 BbMaj7(#5)

Mixolydian (b13): (b13)

IMaj / I+ IIdim IIIdim / III+ IVmin Vmin bVI+ bVIIMaj

CMaj / C+ D­dim Edim / E+ Fmin Gmin Ab+ BbMaj

I7 / I7#5 II-7(b5) III-7(b5) / III7(b5/#5) IV-(maj7) V-7 bVIMaj7#5 bVII7

C7 / C7#5 D-7(b5) E-7(b5) / E7 (#5/b5) F-(maj7) G-7 AbMaj7(#5) Bb7

Locrian Natural 9: (9)

Idim IIdim / II+ bIIImin IVmin bV+ bVIMaj bVIIMaj / bVII+

Adim Bdim / B+ Cmin Dmin Eb+ FMaj GMaj / G+

I-7(b5) II-7(b5) / II7b5/#5 bIII-(maj7) IV-7 bVMaj7#5 bVI7/ bVI7b5 bVII7/ bVII7#5

C-7(b5) D-7(b5)/ D7b5/#5 Eb-(maj7) F-7 Gb7Maj7#5 Ab7 / Ab7b5 Bb7 / Bb7b5

Super Locrian – aka: Altered Scale. (natural 3/b11)

Idim/ I+ bIImin bIIImin bIV+ bVMaj bVIMaj/ bVI+ bVIIdim

Bdim/ B+ Cmin Dmin Eb+ FMaj GMaj/ G+ Adim

I-7(b5)/ I7#5/b5 bII-(maj7) bIII-7 bIVMaj7b5/#5 bV7/ 7b5 bVI7/ 7#5 bVII-7 b5/#5

B-7(b5)/ B7#5/b5 C-(maj7) D-7 EbMaj7b5/#5 F7/ F7b5 G7/ G7#5 A-7(b5)/#5

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