Modern Jazz - Tonal vs Modal Harmony

This Jazz Piano Tutorial is about the difference between Tonal Harmony and Modal Harmony.

Tonality is a system of harmony created & used in the Common-Practice Period (that is, in the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Eras of classical music), so from about 1700 to 1900. Tonal harmony is the ‘standard’ music theory that you learn through your classical music studies. And, in fact, most of my other lessons presuppose or function within ‘tonal harmony’.

Tonality has the following features:
- It uses Major and minor keys
- It uses a Functional Harmony
- It has a Tonal Centre (i.e. root note)

Modality has the following features:
- It uses all modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, etc.)
- It does NOT use a Functional Harmony
- It has a Tonal Centre (i.e. root note)

Modal harmony creates a more ambiguous and vague sound and is now considered much more ‘modern’ than traditional tonal harmony and gives improviser much more freedom and choice in their solo.

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[earthlightpictures]

This is a superbly well laid out introduction to modality and how it fits into--and departs from-- the tonal kind of music that traditional musicians can study for years without any idea of how jazz opened up harmony. This guy has some of that invaluable talent in teaching that enables someone to present new material with clarity, carefully building more and more advanced understanding upon basics and this guy has it.

[sammytalalay]

I’ve played piano for the past 20-odd years, sung in choirs forever and studied music theory (admittedly not beyond grade 5), and these theoretical fundamentals have always been completely mysterious to me. So a massive thank you for helping to demystify them and allowing me to overcome a longstanding blocker on my ability to improve

[leomartinez]

Finally ! someone who put the spotlight on the crucial point of differentiation: tritone triad to root.

Not that I was tried so hard, but it take me years to find a convincing and organized explanation to give credit and justification to modal music existence as not tonal on equal tempered era.

Thanks you very much!

[hpentimalli]

Pal, you are really getting me into trouble. I'm supposed to be working right now and I can't stop watching your videos. I've read ten times about what is modal harmony and this is the first time I get it. Now that I get it I realize where all others fail to explain. They all made great explanations for people who master tonal harmony, but you really really need to get that in order to understand the difference. Thank you!

[romangastelummusic]

Don’t forget about mixing modal elements with tonal elements, which is used used quite frequently! A lot of Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter tunes are a good example of this! For example “Serenity” and “Shade of Jade” and “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” or “JuJu” have quick modal changes mixed with quick “functional” changes. Modal doesn’t necessarily only mean using less chords and with ostinato type grooves. That kind of approach is a specific type of modal thinking, which is the purely vertical application of modal progressions - for example tunes like “So What” or “Little Sunflower” with their slow harmonic rhythm, and the shifting of stable, but “non-functional” major and minor tonic stations.

[Matt_Burns]

You're missing a whole lot when it comes to the modal side of things. Modal harmony isn't just playing random chords over a droning bass note to establish the 'modality'. Modal music/harmony is about creating movement within a tonality and creating a specific ambience. This is achieved by using alternating triads over the mode's bass note or by usage of a polychord (putting D minor in the left hand and using alternating triads with the right).

Alternating triads includes a whole lot of stuff - I'll try to give a briefing of it, so one can get started.

Alternating triads are going to be two adjacent triads that harmonize 6 out of 7 notes in the scale. The strongest set of alternating triads will be the scale source for the mode's two major triads - this is the most direct portrayal of the modes ambience.

Ex.) let's look at D Dorian for our example. First we find the scale source for D Dorian, which would be C major. With the strongest alternating triads being the two major triads, we get F major and G major. Now play those two chords over a D bass note

C will fit the F triad, D will fit the G triad, and so on. You can harmonize 6 out of the 7 tones in the scale with those two alternating triads. The note that doesn't fit will most likely fit the parent scale source's triad, in this case a C major triad.

This works with any two adjacent triads and when doing so, it will give a different angle of the modal ambience.

You can really hear the modes feel/ vibe when you use C as a bass note for all modes ( C Ionian, C Dorian, etc) and use the corresponding alternating triads. You figure them out by finding the scale source for the mode and starting with the two major chords from the scale to harmonize the scale.
( C Ionian - F & G major over C, C major being the parent scale source)

(C Dorian - Eb & F major over C, Bb major scale being the scale source)

Etc etc.



For anyone that took the time to read this I hope this helps with the modal stuff.

[PseudoPseudoDionysius]

I really like how you start out from the fundamentals into the main topic.

Maybe it might get in the way for others at a more advanced place in their theory education, but for me who's self-taught, building your point from the bottom up really solidified the information for me, even if I would have known those basics more or less already.

Really helpful introduction. Will definitely be taking a look at more of your videos. Thank you.

[denisbaranov]

8:25 - it is interesting to note that one of the classical modal jazz songs, Blue in green, is literally full of V7 - I (3 or 4 times in just 10 bars)

[diegomoralessepulved]

This might be one of the best explanations for beginner I've seen around on YouTube

[vaniasetti]

Clear, precise, informative, rich, PLUS a real joy to watch and listen! The best on modal intro. Thank you so much!

[worldaroundrecords]

Thank you for not dumbing this down too much

[MahramsMusicc]

This is a perfect explanation of difference between modal and tonal harmony. It took me reading 4-5 articles before I get the main idea and it still was not clear to me. But now it makes sense. You have a solid pedagogical skills. Thank you!

[arjantimmermans]

Really great and concise explanation. Finally the penny about modal music dropped.

[sigep]

I wish I would have found this video (actually, wish I would have found this channel) when it came out. Awesome explanation. Thanks for dumbing it down enough for me to follow.

[lauriecooper]

Thank you for this excellent video. As a classically trained musician, who therefore thinks in terms of tonal harmony, I've found this introduction to jazz modal music theory most instructive and helpful. I look forward to watching more of your tutorials in the future. 👍👍

[janlik]

Excellent and cristal clear. I understood the difference between modal and tonal harmony for the first time thanks to your approach. I started immediately to practice it on my acoustic piano with amazing freedom and nice results (to my ear :). Many thanks again !!!

[greigmulberry]

Excellent. Your discussion is so clear and really helped me get a grip on exactly what modal jazz is and how it differs from traditional compositions.

[andrewsantopietro]

I love that he started at the start and not the end 1:00

[clenbullard]

Thanks! Most helpful when combined with the LCC video. Opening up a new palette for me as a songwriter. Bless your pointy ears!

[rokeeffe]

Your slides and the way you're talking makes me believe you teach math in some capacity...