MODES ARE WAY EASIER THAN YOU THINK. Here's why.

Drop any questions you have in the comments and also let me know in the replies to this comment what topic you'd like to cover next!!

Dont know a minor third is

thank you so much...

Those quick pictures are an amazing memory aid!👏👏👏

I understood it before, but your video confused me.

But why? I get the difference in them but why use them? Do they have different sound than their major/minor counterparts? So just what is the usage?

There r 10 thaat or modes in indian classical and 7 modes in western. 6 of them or exactly the same 1 is a bit different but the remaining 3 r not found in western. It helps me to understand modes if use modes and thaats alternatively

I do understand this whole half thing. But its just not intuitive at times rathere i use indian classical and apply sa re ga ma to it. If the root is c than thats sa if its F# that my sa. So tldr I find relative degrees more usefull

Wouldn't it be better to learn each of the modes as interval formulas? So that you aren't just dependent on your memory of specific scales.

What is the difference between a scale a mode?

Well that didn't really help. Why is remembering a flurry of sharps and flats easier than "go a maj 3rd down and play that major scale"? It's a nice trick for lydian and mixolydian since they have 1 alteration only, but not much else.

Finally🎉🎉😂😂😂😂❤ I also learned it the first way you explained, then someone explained it via random sharps and flats assigned to a key, which made my brain hurt... WTF!!! But you put them together and cleared up the mess in my head. Thanks!

I’m still confused

Still don’t understand it 🫠 I’m hopeless

I created a strange GOOD chord progression I've never seen used before. It goes III,III, III, III, iii,iii,iii,iii, ii,ii,ii,ii, I, I, I, I, then back to III chord.
In the key of E blues. I'm proud of it.
(G#, G, F#, E)

I usually find it fat easier to measure in the individual notes called degrees than the distance between musically

Rather then intervals tones and semitones or American metric is step and half step

My teacher once gave me an amazing technique to transpose any mode on any key :
Let's first learn how many sharps and flats there are for every mode starting from C
No flats and sharps
2 flats
4 flats
1 sharp
1 flat
3 flats
5 flats
Now, if I wanna play any mode on any scale (let's take F) what I need to do is to think how many sharps or flats there are for that major scale :
F major has 1 flat, B
After that, let's assume I wanna play Dorian mode, which starting from C has 2 flats
All I need to do is to match them together, that gives me 3 flats (B, E and A, according to the circle)
Last example,
Mixolydian mode has, starting from C, 1 flat, still B, match them together with the flats from F and you'll get 2 flats, B and E
So mixolydian mode starting from F is :
F G A Bflat C D Eflat F
If you have to match sharps with flats, I like to say they "kill" each other, 3 sharps against 2 flats equals 1 sharp left
Hope I'm clear, if not sorry

A formula cheat sheet plz... poster size 😁

I don’t get what so hard for people to understand about modes

Thumbs up to your editor for throwing in a TIE fighter for the Ion(ian) association lol Deep cut... for those who don't know, TIE stands for Twin Ion Engine.

Indian classical music (Carnatic and Hindustani) explains this in a better way. Especially carnatic music, has 72 primary scales (melakarta ragas) Which include almost every 7 note scale in the world. Additionally, it has thousands of subscales that are derived from primary scales such as pentatonic scales and many more.

Note: A raga is not just a set of notes. It has an additional theoretical layer which is rules. You can't pick up any note after a note. The rules guide us and keep the emotions of the raga static.

this explained exactly nothing. No one can explain this. No one can explain why you would even need to know this. Clear as mud. Everyone who tries to teach this thinks that they are a genius. Wow. This doesn't explain how or why I would ever need to know or use this. Everyone teaching this misses the point (of why this is confusing and no one can explain how you would use this) completely. So did you, brother. How would I ever apply any of this? None of these explanations have any "real world" applications. Jesus...

After about 20 years, I finally understand modes in a logical way, thanks to this explanation! Thanks, Charles!

One of these formulas perfectly explains names like Lydian flat 3 (AKA the spooky Halloween scale), because it’s Lydian with a flat 3.

I still find it mysterious that the Guidonian Ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-ut existed for centuries without a "major scale" or the Ionian mode. I can understand their aversion to Locrian, but no Ionian? Italian solfeggio went right around it without leaving a mark for centuries. Finally Soft-b then Soft-e grew into the Chromatic scale.

ty for explaining it in a way that made a whole lot more sense than what I had so far. :D This really helped.

Super helpful! Now I think I get it. Thanks for making this video.

why is major normal
why isn't it treated as equal with all the other modes

wait, i just realised we call the notes "natural" when they're on the C Major scale, its built into the whole system
wait again, why do we care about minor so much then?

Thanks for this explanation that makes is easy to understand. My question though: what are those modes used for, where do I find them? In my 10 years of piano classes during my younger ages I never came across such a "thing" (modes).

Thank you Charles

Geez mate... I've been a musician since 1976. Getting my head around modes stopped me from progressing my music theory.. 40 years later you came along and made the penny finally drop... DUDE!!!

Thank you so much! ❤

Hello @CharlesCornellStudios you consider to make a video where you explain modes, using the circle of fifts?
Recently i discovered a song wich was in mixolidian mode and making some research about it and i concluded that if i move the G (from circle of fifts) in the non accidentals place the C (from circle of fifts) will be moved one position with one flat, just like you explain it.

When modes were explained to me I was told to relate them to either major (ionian) or natural minor scales and then adjust using formula based on whether you are in a major mode or a minor mode. So the major modes would be Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian. From there you would use the formulas you explained basing the scales off of the ionian scale of whatever pitch you are starting on. The minor modes would be Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, and Locrian. From there you would have a formula based on those scales in their natural minor key of whatever note you are starting on.

Ionian = major mode (no # or b)
Dorian = minor mode (#6)
Phrygian = minor mode (b2)
Lydian = major mode (#4)
Mixolydian = major mode (b7)
Aeolian = minor mode (no # or b)
Locrian = minor mode (b2 and b5)

damn that really helped i was so confused before im a little less confused thanks to this

Another lessons that leaves out the underlying chord structure. Play d to d over a C major chord and tell me if it sounds like Dorian.

I've been practicing modes but in a different order, from brightest to darkest.
Lydian has a #4.
Ionian is the major scale.
Myxolydian has a b7.
Dorian has a b3, b7.
Aeolian has a b3, b6, b7.
Phrygin has a b2, b3, b6, b7.
Lochrian has a b2, b3, b5, b6, b7.

There is another mode, a diminished jazzy chord that also has a b4 with all the others of the lochrian.
And there is another scale with a b1, but you just play the scale of a note but act like it starts on the flattened first. Maybe Charles knows the jazzy names. I'm still trying to get to a beginner level and am concentrating on triads. But I love music theory and Charles has great videos for learning.

Nothing I didn’t know

I wonder why people don't use chromatic keyboards, wouldn't it simplify everything ?

My iq just increased by 1000000000000000%

As a music theory beginner, this made modes finally click. Thank you!!! Love your channel. 😁

The problem I have with shifting up a key on the white piano keys, is that your ears are still "locked in major mode".
You might technically be playing a Dorian scale, but you're more likely to hear it as a "riff" from D-to-D, in C Major. It still sounds bright and happy and Major.
It's indeed much more powerful to play a melody in C Dorian instead, and really let the melody revolve around the "odd" notes, that's when you really start hearing the difference.

As a guitarist, I pretty much 'accidentally' taught myself modes with basic scale patterns. "What if I play the C major scale but start on D and end on D, as if it's its own scale?" Turns out, that's what they call Dorian. And like with the major and minor scale patterns, you can move that pattern anywhere you please and still be playing in Dorian. That's why it never made sense to me that so many music professors delineate between "scales" and "modes" as if there's really any kind of meaningful difference. There's not, at least not from a practical standpoint. Assessing them as "modes" really only has utility in examining their relationships to the relative major/minor scales they derive from, which...don't get me wrong, there's value in that if you're really into the theory of it all, but is a massive thorn in the side if all you want to do is play music with kind of a ballpark understanding of theory.

There are no minor thirds in these modes. All intervals that Charles name "minor thirds" are actually augmented seconds. Enharmonic the same note, but if you talk about theory, they are different. Besides that mistake, a very good video.

I have A question, why is the 7th note in the harmonic minor scale a minor 3rd ?

Thanks for the video! :)
I find it also helpful to not always take the major scale as the starting point to find the formula of a mode. For some modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lokrian and obviously Aeolian) it's easier to take the natural minor scale as a starting point.
F.e.: Phrygian equals the natural minor scale but has a B2 and Aeolian just equals the natural minor scale completely.

I still don't get why I need to care. What is the practical implication?

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh okay i get it now