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

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[CharlesCornellStudios]

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!!

[jonwhite]

This guy just explained my whole degree in 16 minutes

[JoshTamayo]

Ionian = Major Scale
Dorian = b3 b7
Phrygian = b2 b3 b6 b7
Lydian = #4
Mixolydian = b7
Aeolian = b3 b6 b7
Locrian = b2 b3 b5 b6 b7
Best cheat sheet ever! Thanks Charles!

[allanjmcpherson]

I have an explanation that I like to give my students that combines these two ways of describing the modes. You take the pattern of whole steps and half steps, and cycle them.

Ionian: WWH WWWH
Dorian: WHW WWHW
Phrygian: HWW WHWW
Lydian: WWW HWWH
Mixolydian: WWH WWHW
Aeolian: WHW WHWW
Locrian: HWW HWWW

[ericboylan]

“Minor third”

Augmented second: “Am I a joke to you?”

[emmac]

Petition for Charles to teach us:
- Sight singing
- Transcribing
- and other music theory things for us poor souls who need it for an exam and everyone else

[robintarket]

"Looking at scales is one of the very first things you learn with any instrument"

**Laughs in drums**

[g.mantua]

As a 59 year old trying to learn music theory, I want to thank you for making this as simple and as clear as possible. This was very helpful. Thanks.

[acoustic]

Don't forget about the modes for the melodic minor scales!
I = Melodic Minor Scale (b3) also called minor major.
II = Phrygian #13 or Dorian b9
III = Lydian #5 or lydian augmented for cool kids
IV = Lydian b7 or lydian dominant (Very nice scale to use in certain situations, I can explain if requested)
V = Mixolydian b13
VI = Locrian #9 or half diminished for cool kids.
VII = Locrian b11 or diminished whole tone if your a cool kid.
These are the modes for melodic minor harmony.

[jtbeav]

I'm a teenage musician that's been playing for 8 years, and I've never found a good way to think about them. This was really useful, thanks!

[indiegogurt]

“A half step, there’s nothing in between...”

Microtonality: am I a joke to you?

[riskybiscuits]

After years of confusion with modes, I literally reached this conclusion on my own 1 week before I saw this video. This was exactly my method of thinking about modes, and I'm so happy that you can help other people understand it better!

[kristastrong]

I absolutely loved the pictures of the fridge, lids, mixers, etc.! I hated learning modes when I was younger, and your explanation was fabulous!

[arminf.]

Music theory is like math. Once you understand some of it, you'll see patterns of it everywhere. It really helps to write out notes and scales so you can identify the patterns more easily.

[coolghost]

A way I used to remember all the modes is: I Don’t Punch Like Muhammad Ali, or I own the door to the fridge, but Lydia mixed up all the locks. (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian)

[Krmurph]

As an educator myself, I enthusiastically commend the way your organized the information in this video. When you discuss the two ways of looking at the Harmonic Minor scale, you're providing your audience with a concrete example of how to "analyze" scales in two different ways forcing us to practice on the modes.

[WilloWik]

Your teaching is infinitely more valuable than that of my piano teacher. Bless your soul for handing this knowledge to the people without a price attached.

Edit: I also realized while studying on my own that the key signatures can be used for this, too. Just think of the key signature for e, that's four sharps, and in Phrygian, you lower four notes of the e scale to make it white keys. I don't know if that was fairly obvious, but it's helpful to have that to think about, too. Your method makes so much more sense to me than the weird complicated way my teacher taught it.

[philippomotayoshakunle]

I think the easiest way to memorize them is in the order from bright to dark:
Lydian: #4
Ionian: Normal
Mixolydian: b7
Dorian: b7, b3
Aeolian: b6, b7, b3
Phrygian: b6, b7, b2, b3
Locrian: b5, b6, b7, b2, b3

There is a pattern here, too. The 7th is the first one to be flattened, then the 3rd one. Starting from there, the next note to be flattened is one lower than the ones already flattened, alternating, and starting with the 7th. So after you flattened the 3rd, you flatten the note one lower than the 7th, then the note one lower than the 3rd, and lastly again flattening the one one lower than the sixth.

Sorry for the bad explanation lol

[robertokerry]

A fun way i remember the modes is "I Do Pot, Leave Me Alone Loser"

[blasko]

I tend to see modes as alterations relative to the natural major (Ionian) and natural minor (aeolian) scales. All major scales have a major third while all minor scales have a minor third.

MAJOR SCALES
- We take the natural major scale (Ionian) as the basic major scale
- Lydian is the major scale with a sharp fourth (therefore it's brighter than the natural major)
- Mixolydian is the major scale with a flat seven (therefore it's darker than the natural major)

MINOR SCALES:
- We take the natural minor scale (aeolian) as the basic minor scale
- Dorian is the minor scale with a sharp sixth (therefore it's brighter than the natural minor)
- Phrygian is the minor scale with a flat two (therefore it's darker than the natural minor)
- Locrian is the minor scale with a flat two AND a flat fifth (therefore it's even darker than Phrygian, and it's also very unstable because the tonic doesn't have a perfect fifth)

In general, lowering a note in a scale by a half step creates a darker sounding scale while rising a note by a half step creates a brighter sounding scale. All of this is subjective, but thinking about modes as minimal alterations of the major and minor scales has helped me grasp them better.