In our last article, What are the fundamental Major Scales & Major Keys?, we discussed what notes are, their frequencies, intervals, whole-steps & half-steps, octaves, the chromatic scale, and most importantly how the ancient Europeans designed the fundamental Major Scales and Major Keys using all of the info above.
Most of the popular music you hear on the radio stays in one key throughout the entire song, however if you listen to Jazz, Progressive Metal or some other complex music there is theory to help you modulate between keys.
For now, we're going to ignore music with key changes and focus on how to get the most out of the fundamental Major Scales & Major Keys to write music.
Despite the majority of popular music being very simple when analyzed, artists seem to get a lot of dynamic and color out of the simple Major Scale when combined with good rhythm.
So how do they do it?
Let's focus on the Key of C Major right now, because there are no sharps or flats.
C Major Scale = C D E/F G A B/C
(Notes with a "/" in-between are half-step intervals, otherwise it's a whole-step.)
Now, on the surface this looks pretty limiting just going from C to C, however you can invert this scale 7 times - or put it in 7 Modes.
Let's step this scale out, by assigning a number to each note. These numbers in music theory are called “Scale Degrees”.
Step/Scale Degree 1 = C, Step/Scale Degree 2 = D, Step/Scale Degree 3 = E, Step/Scale Degree 4 = F, Step/Scale Degree 5 = G, Step/Scale Degree 6 = A, Step/Scale Degree 7 = B
You can start the C Major Scale from each of the steps/scale degrees above and create 7 unique variations of the major scale with each scale degree acting as the root note of the scale, or lowest note in the scale.
Below are the 7 modes of the C Major Scale with each of its 7 notes acting as a root note. We are simply inverting the scale 7 times and using each note of the C Major Scale as a unique starting place to play the scale. The unique Root note, order of notes and shifting of the half steps produces 7 individually unique scales all in the same key that are slightly different in character.
Mode 1 = C D E/F G A B/C = Ionian = C Major Scale
Mode 2 = D E/F G A B/C D = Dorian
Mode 3 = E/F G A B/C D = Phrygian
Mode 4 = F G A B/C D E/F = Lydian
Mode 5 = G A B/C D E/F G = Mixolydian
Mode 6 = A B/C D E/F G A = Aeolian = A Natural Minor Scale
Mode 7 = B/C D E/F G A B = Locrian
(Notes with a "/" in-between are half-step intervals, otherwise it's a whole-step.)
These Modes provide a lot of melodic options for you to write melodies, leads and solos while playing over a chord progression that exists in the Key of C Major or A Natural Minor.
Unlike other instruments, the guitar has a very logical method for laying out these Modes and the scales patterns are identical for each key, allowing you to easily consolidate a lot of information into 7 simple scale patterns.
Notice the shifting of the natural half-steps, E/F and B/C, and their position in the scale? This coupled with the scale resolving to a different pitch other than C provides you with 7 audibly different scales that all belong to the Key of C Major or A Natural Minor
The 6th Mode is always the Major Scale's Natural Minor Scale. In C Major, the 6th Mode is an A Aeolian. Just as Ionion is a syonome for the C Major Scale. Aeolian is a syonome for the Natural Minor. All Natural Minor scales are developed by taking their relative Major Scale (in this case C Ionian = C Major Scale) and starting it from the 6th Scale Degree (in C Major, that’s A) and creating the Aeolian Scale (in this case A Aeolian = A Natural Minor Scale) pattern.
For example, in the Key of G Major, the 6th Step is a E. Thus, the 6th Mode is the relative E Natural Minor Scale of the G Major Major Scale.
In the next article, we'll discuss how to build the Fundamental Chords that belong to each Major Key from these Modes. These are the chords you may use to write harmonies for your music while remaining in-key.