Am I alone in thinking that the subject of modes is the most boring subject in music? I personally would rather discuss the different qualities of paper software manuals are printed on. This obsession with modes is responsable for some of the most boring jazz ever produced.

I'm with Feline1 here - as far as I am concerned a Cmajor chord over Db is precisely that. It is not related to any mode, you do not hear it as a mode and cannot be explained as a mode.

Modes are the Linus blanket for people who can't let go and just use their ears.

Quote noiseconjecture:

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Am I alone in thinking that the subject of modes is the most boring subject in music? I personally would rather discuss the different qualities of paper software manuals are printed on.

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a sad existance, that would be.

Quote noiseconjecture:

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This obsession with modes is responsable for some of the most boring jazz ever produced.

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way off.

Quote noiseconjecture:

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I'm with Feline1 here - as far as I am concerned a Cmajor chord over Db is precisely that. It is not related to any mode, you do not hear it as a mode and cannot be explained as a mode.

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If that's how you explain it, then that's cool - as long as everyone else understands what you mean. Just try using that method to explain the harmonies at the beginning of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.....

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ronald@rmacd.com
www.rmacd.com

Quote rmacd:

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Quote noiseconjecture:

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I'm with Feline1 here - as far as I am concerned a Cmajor chord over Db is precisely that. It is not related to any mode, you do not hear it as a mode and cannot be explained as a mode.

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If that's how you explain it, then that's cool - as long as everyone else understands what you mean. Just try using that method to explain the harmonies at the beginning of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.....

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But remember there is a tradition polytonality in music, particularly in French music in the twenties and to try and analyse these harmonies in terms of modes would not work, particularly as this isn't where the composers were coming from.
Although I realise that the Indian tradition of raga is strict, the Western tradition has never been this strict for centuries. I personally believe that limiting yourself to modes, or analysis using modes, misses the point of what Western composers are doing.
I haven't analysed the Rite of Spring for years so have forgotten it, IIRC the opening is exactly what Feline1 is talking about, the bass notes are not releated to the bassoon theme through any mode or scale.

I suppose I'm really a contradiction, although I often have an atavistic approach to composition, I never, ever use modes.

Just read you bio, I'm really impressed with you television music.

Stravinsky definitely took influence from the modal system - he also loved jazz and tried to infuse the spirit of jazz (! ) into much of his work.

Perhaps Stravinsky's greatest influence and hallmark is his bitonality, easily confused with modality: this is especially evident in the Rite of Spring. I would say that this polarity, the sudden breaks in the piece, the general contrasting moments and his wholly new idea of musical timing are all much more prevalent than any modality in the piece.

The opening, and much of the Rite of Spring is two or more key centers that oppose, being united. Amongst other things!

For modality try the Lark Ascending or Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams. Both seriously modal.

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www.mikeandersonmusic.co.uk

Quote noiseconjecture:

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But remember there is a tradition polytonality in music, particularly in French music in the twenties and to try and analyse these harmonies in terms of modes would not work, particularly as this isn't where the composers were coming from.
Although I realise that the Indian tradition of raga is strict, the Western tradition has never been this strict for centuries. I personally believe that limiting yourself to modes, or analysis using modes, misses the point of what Western composers are doing.
I haven't analysed the Rite of Spring for years so have forgotten it, IIRC the opening is exactly what Feline1 is talking about, the bass notes are not releated to the bassoon theme through any mode or scale.

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indeed it's quite true, though stravinsky was a genius, the main influence would not have been the theory behind what was being composed, but what it sounded like (correct me here if I'm wrong). there's other ways, apart from modes, to analyse a work; one that seems to be coming about is schenkerian analasys but I have absolutely no idea what it is or what it's supposed to do slightly OT but any ideas??

Quote noiseconjecture:

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Just read you bio, I'm really impressed with you television music.

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cheers man!

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ronald@rmacd.com
www.rmacd.com

Quote rmacd:

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one that seems to be coming about is schenkerian analasys but I have absolutely no idea what it is or what it's supposed to do slightly OT but any ideas??

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You're not alone in this, see the recent thread on it.

For me there's nothing that clever about modes - simply starting and finishing a major scale on the various intervals from the root isn't rocket. I see such long winded explanations of modes it then makes me forget what they actually are

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Support your right to arm bears!

I've always found that "Dead can Dance" had a special sound ...

And I'm guessing it had something to do with the mode they composed their music in ...

Any one any idea what mode they used ?

I've always found modes to be fascinating, especially the east asian modes.

I'm not sure if these have been covered under different names or terms, but for your consideration:


Balinese....C C# D# G G#

Chinese.....C D E G A

Egyptian....C D F G A#

Japanese....C C# F G G#

Hirajoshi...C D D# G G#

Iwato.......C C# F F# A#

Algerian....C D D# F# G G# B

Ethiopian...C D D# F G G# A#

East Asian..C C# E F F# A A#

Even though there is some overlap, I think the half-step forms the "sound" of these modes as opposed to western modes in which whole steps seem to dictate the scale's sound (for the most part).

Can Someone help me out with this one?

HWH5HWW
Or C C# D# E G Ab Bb C?

I think im blind cause i cant find which catagory that falls under. sounds kinda melodic minor but maybe i just dont kno wwhat im talking about

Hi,

I use modes when playing the guitar, but only as a way to remeber the fingering of sacles up and down the fret board.

What I'm interested in is how you compose in a mode, isn't it just the same as composing in a key? How is/how do you make F Lydian different from C Ionian? Isn't it just the same thing?

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www.myspace.com/jazzzombies

Quote mrthingy:

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Hi,

I use modes when playing the guitar, but only as a way to remeber the fingering of sacles up and down the fret board.

What I'm interested in is how you compose in a mode, isn't it just the same as composing in a key? How is/how do you make F Lydian different from C Ionian? Isn't it just the same thing?

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Try this:

Write a chord progression in F Maj and improvise over it using F Lydian/C Major.

Pabs

To be honest I didn't notice that much difference...

I found that playing the B in either mode was pretty bad (cou that just be that the chord sequence had a few Bb's in it?) and I played the same sorts of notes in both, similar licks around the e, f, g and a.

That was on guitar, then when I messed around on the keyboard I really found playing from F or C as a starting point made no differents at all in the sorts of things I was playing. Are you ment to keep it all in the same octave when you're playing modes on Keyboards/piano?

I'm not that good at analysis what I'm playing so it maybe that I just don't get it, but I'm still at a loss to think of modes as anything other that fingering patterns.

I do find that if I play in some modes, mixolydian for example, I get certain 'feel' but I think thats more down to the fact that I end up playing similar bits in that mode.

However, from your example, pablo, I guess I'm thinking of it wrong. When I use a mixolydian over something in the key of C, I would use G mixolydian. But seeing as you sugested F lydian over something in F it the idea maybe to use a mode from one key over a chord progression in another key.



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www.myspace.com/jazzzombies

Ionian:


Dorian:


Phrygian:


Lydian:


Mixolydian:


Aeolian:


Locrian:


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There is a subtle difference between "having no form" and having "no form": the first is ignorance, the second, transcendance.

Quote Conception:

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Can Someone help me out with this one?

HWH5HWW
Or C C# D# E G Ab Bb C?

I think im blind cause i cant find which catagory that falls under. sounds kinda melodic minor but maybe i just dont kno wwhat im talking about

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Well since nobody's replied after all this time...

I don't have a name for it, but it looks like a mode that would be played over an altered dominant chord. But it's not written "correctly", i.e. the notation does not reflect the harmonic functions of the notes. If you write it as:

C Db D# E G Ab Bb C

...then you can see that:

C is the root of a dominant chord
Db is the flat 9th (really a minor 2nd)
D# is the sharp 9th (really an augmented 2nd)
E is the 3rd
---There is no 4th---
G is the 5th
Ab is a flat "13th" (it would actually be a 13th if it were an octave higher, otherwise it's a sharp 5th but it would be called G# if it were a fifth)
Bb is the minor 7th.

There is a scale called "Altered scale" that would be:

C Db D# E Gb G# Bb C

It fits over "altered" dominant chords, with the flat and sharp D ("9th") and G (5th).

The mode you have written looks close to that. The only difference is the perfect 5th in your version.

Probably someone somewhere gave it a name and put in in a scale book.

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There is a subtle difference between "having no form" and having "no form": the first is ignorance, the second, transcendance.

This is all very nice. But how do I go about putting these modes into guitar solos/riffs? If its in say, C, do I just pick C modes dependant on the underlying chords, and will get a different "sound"/"voicing"/whatever dependant on which one I play? Or if you are in C do you play D dorian, E phrygian etc. (though surely they would sound the same?) As for fingerings on guitar, from what I have read above, I take it you can play any mode in any key without moving position on the fretboard?
Any help would be appreciated. I have not fully understood these for years, just been turning a blind eye. I listen to a lot of progressive music and would like to finally try and comprehend what they are doing melodically (and i'm bored of pentatonic minor)

Examine this example:

'So What' by Miles Davis (download it off iTunes if you don't have this recording) is rooted around D min but the key is NOT F maj/Dmin. The Key is ACTUALLY C Maj. The D min chord is the ii chord not the vi chord.

The reason the Key is C Maj is because they are all improvising in C Major...which when played over Dmin sounds Dorian. Had they been improvising in Bb Maj over that D min chord it would have sounded Phrygian not Dorian.

To be honest you don't really need to learn modes the same way you learn scales. If you can play the C maj scale all over the neck of the guitar you already have the ability to play D dorian, E phrygian F lydian etc.... its just a different start and end point or root.

It may benefit you to associate different chords derived from the same scale with modes.

eg G Major Scale

G Maj - G Ionian/Major
A Min - A Dorian
B Min - B Phrygian
C Maj - C Lydian
D Maj/D7 - D Mixolydian
E Min - E Aeolian
F# Dim - F# Locrian

Pabs

Quote pablo fanques:

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To be honeest you don't really need to learn modes the same way you learn scales. If you can play the C maj scale all over the neck of the guitar you already have the ability to play D dorian, E phrygian F lydian etc.... its just a different start and end point or root.

Pabs

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That's very true. But, of course, by understanding the modal system, and also knowing how to play all the other scales all over the neck, you can learn to centre your sound around a particular mode. So that, for example, if you want to stay in the Dorian mode, you can alter your scalar playing whenever the band change chords. So the band stay in the one key, but you exploit the chord change to retain the Dorian signature (ie you effectively start playing in a different key).

Jesus! I used to be heavily up on this in the days when I taught guitar. I was heavily into the modal "centre" style of playing espoused by Joe Satriani back in the early 90s, and I used to get really anoraky on this very subject.

I'd glad to report that I've lightened up a lot since then.

Quote mrthingy:

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Hi,

I use modes when playing the guitar, but only as a way to remeber the fingering of sacles up and down the fret board.

What I'm interested in is how you compose in a mode, isn't it just the same as composing in a key? How is/how do you make F Lydian different from C Ionian? Isn't it just the same thing?

---

The common mistake that seems to be made with modes (and there are a couple of persons in this thread who make the mistake) is that you play modes within the same key. But that misses the whole point of modes. They are not to be used simply as a means of telling you which note to play from (that is used merely as a means of demonstrating the harmonic relationship between the intervals).

So, for example, there is no point playing A aeolian in the key of either Cmaj or Amin, since all you would really be doing is playing within either the key of Cmaj or Amin. To hear (in our eg) the sound of A aeolian, you need to contrast it with another key. So, for example, you might be playing a solo in the key of Gmaj, in which the A tone is dorian minor. But, if you play the notes of the Cmaj scale in your solo, but playing around the A tonality, you will be playing A aeolian, and it will be the flattened F sharp (ie looking at it from the point of view of Gmaj) that will give the "aeolian" sound to your solo, since it will contrast with the key (ie Gmaj) over which you are playing. That is to say, the western listener will be expecting you to play F sharp in the key of Gmaj, but my playing the flattened F sharp (whilst centering your solo around the A tonality) your solo will take on an aeolian quality.

This is a very simple example, but it centres on the key point that you can only really hear the modes by playing them "out of key" (for want of a better expression).

And of course, some modes sound dreadful over some chord changes cos the keys just have too much discordance in them. They are just a little too "way out there" (if you know what I mean!). As with everything, though, it's all a matter of practice, and that's what makes knowledge so powerful, cos it gives you the ability to dictate to the music, rather than leave the music to dictate to you.

Yes modes are essentially simple, but it helps from the outset to erase ANY notion of key, dominant, major, minor from the discussion (except, of course, that major and minor are modes, but that's another story).

1st principle. You can play all church modes (ie all the ones with Greek names (albeit incorrectly named but that's another story)) using only the white keys on a keyboard.

2nd Principle. Each mode has a governing characteristic. Let's take Dorian. The thing that distinguishes the dorian mode from other modes (both theoretically and sonically) is the sixth degree of its scale; it is always a major sixth from the final. If you start on D, you'll be hearing a B natural. It is this interval that gives the mode its flavour, and it is this interval which of course governs the harmony that will frame the mode. The Lydian mode is characterised by its sequence of whole tones (F, G, A, B) and its augmented 4th flavour.

3rd Principle. Change the final (or the bass note or drone) and you change the mode. For example, play c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c over a G bass and you're in mixolydian mode. Play the same notes over a F bass and you're in Lydian mode. Play the same over a B and you're in Locrian mode.

4th principle, you can't modulate with modes, since modulation is a tonal concept (which implies a completely different set of rules, hierarchical relationships and teleological objectives). Modes are essentially static.

Quote leslawrenson:

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...for example, if you want to stay in the Dorian mode, you can alter your scalar playing whenever the band change chords. So the band stay in the one key, but you exploit the chord change to retain the Dorian signature (ie you effectively start playing in a different key).

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Can you give me a quick example of a chord progression and a set of corresponding notes play from staying in the dorian mode?

This stuff is beginning to come clearer, but I need a concrete example for my sanity

Quote guy999:

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Quote leslawrenson:

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...for example, if you want to stay in the Dorian mode, you can alter your scalar playing whenever the band change chords. So the band stay in the one key, but you exploit the chord change to retain the Dorian signature (ie you effectively start playing in a different key).

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Can you give me a quick example of a chord progression and a set of corresponding notes play from staying in the dorian mode?

This stuff is beginning to come clearer, but I need a concrete example for my sanity

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In order to really understand how modes work, you need to understand the concept of Tonality. But beyond that:


Let's take D Dorian as an example. The governing principle of the mode (what gives it its particular flavour and distinguishes from other modes) is the major sixth above the final or root, the minor 3rd and the natural (or flattend 7th if you're thinking in tonal terms).


So it follows that common chords in Dorian (in this example Dorian on D) are:

D Min

F Maj

G maj (this is where the major 6th comes into play and differs from a key - ie chord 4 in a minor key is always minor, but in Dorian it's always major)

C Maj (this is chord 7 and it's major; in a minor key it would be diminished)

A Min (Chord 5; in a minor this would be Major (we'd have a C#) but in Dorian, chord 5 is always minor)

E Min (this is where the major 6th comes into play; chord 2 in a minor key is always diminshed)

B Diminished (chord 6 is dimished in dorian, whereas in a minor key it would be major)


So, all the primary chords are there as in any 'key', but note how the governing principle of the mode alters the way the harmony works.

Indeed, to put it another way, many ppl confuse D minor with D Dorian. But they are fundamentally different - consider the following:

As we know F Major is the relative major of D Minor

How can we tell whether we're in F maj or D min? In the KEY of D minor we'd see C#s (leading note) and Bbs and indeed a gravitation towards D.

Now how can we tell if we're in D minor or D Dorian? Simple. No C#s (since modes do not need sharpened leading notes in order to modulate - because they don't modulate! And they don't modulate because modulation is a tonal concept and construct), and this means that chord 5 in Dorian is always minor (whereas it is always must be major in a KEY). And we wouldn't see Bbs either, because of the major 6th flavour of the mode.

Edited by Rousseau (17/07/07 08:43 AM)

And I thought I was confused when I woke up this morning...

I've been struggling with this for weeks now and am still puzzled as to when to use these patterns. As a soloing device, is it just a question of picking whichever "major" sounding mode (IV, V) sounds best in a major chord progression and whichever "minor" (II, III, VI, VII) in a minor one?

Mind you, I also find playing the tambourine harmonically challenging...

Today I was very bored at work so I wrote out all of the modes for every note, and I think its starting to sink in. I made a quick progression on cubase to practice learning different positions to (like someone said, if you know major shape at every position you know every mode, but I don't!), it basically goes through each mode in D, so to play along you need to play D ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aoelian, locrian in turn, each one for 6 bars (of 7/8). I'm finding it quite helpful, so I did a quick mixdown and i'm posting the mp3 which should loop nicely if anyone else wants to have a go. If you want the midi file or whatever pm me.

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/194560/modes-mp3.html

No, they are not derived from the major scale - which came much later than the 'church' modes. And playing in a mode means something rather different than playing that shape on a guitar neck.
e.g. play an Ionian starting on C followed by a dorian starting on D followed by Phrygian starting on E, Lydian on F, Myxolydian on G, Aolian on A, Locrian on B, and finally Ionian starting on C.
You have played nothing other than an exercise in C major and have never left the Ionian mode.
The correct mode depends on how you use the notes and characteristic intervals of the mode - and if its not in unison it depends on the harmony. And just to throw a spanner in the works, most mediaeval music does not stick to just the notes of the mode, but commonly uses accidentals just like later tonal music. Learning how to widdle at different places on a guitar neck may be a good exercise and even improve playing technique and improvisation - but it isn't modal 99.9% of the time.

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Daniel Davis
Edinburgh Recording Studio Windmill Sound

Quote David Etheridge:

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(I 've heard of a 'Hungarian' mode, but don't know anything about it)

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The Hungarian mode is basically the overtone scale so in C that is: C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb
(In the actual harmonic series the F# and Bb are both somewhat flat of their equal temperament equivalents)
The harmonic scale works especially well where it is the melody used over a drone - so every interval is pure.
Bagpipes use this scale but with a perfect 4th instead of the harmonic 4th (so basically mixolydian, but tuned to exact harmonics not tempered) - apparently the lure of the submediant is strong.

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Daniel Davis
Edinburgh Recording Studio Windmill Sound

I'll concede that thinking of modes with respect to the Ionian (major) mode has some practical uses, but it is neither how they were derived not does it have much to do with sound.

Another approach might be to order the modes in terms of sharp - flat thus:

Lydian
Ionian
Myxolydian
Dorian
Aolian
Phrygian
Locrian

As you see, the Dorian mode, which incidentally was the most common mode, sits midway along this progression, and can be seen as neutral, with the modes on either side becoming progressivly sharpened or flattened.

I think you'll find this arrangement useful for composition as you shift moods in the music. We've all heard pieces where a melody in the major was repeated in the minor (far sadder than had it always been in the minor), now try the same in two or more modes so that you can progressively move the feel of the melody.

hope you like this different perspective.

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Daniel Davis
Edinburgh Recording Studio Windmill Sound

Many thanks for the info Daniel!

Dave.

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Lots of Ataris which keep on going, 12 Kurzweil 1000 modules, a bunch of hardware synths. Still recording to tape -the old ways are best.....

I have found it useful and inteeresting studying modes

Thats so that i can make sure that I am harmonising correctly/within the mode

Its also mainly cos I a play mainly english traditional music, and quite a bit of that is modal - mainly dorian and mixolydian (I won't be stupid and say the rest is Aelion and Ionian), but they are

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Matt
www.krcollective.org

Quote Daniel Davis:

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Quote David Etheridge:

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(I 've heard of a 'Hungarian' mode, but don't know anything about it)

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The Hungarian mode is basically the overtone scale so in C that is: C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb

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Looks like the bottom half of a Lydian mode and the top half of a mixolydian mode. Those crazy Hungarians!

Quote:

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Looks like the bottom half of a Lydian mode and the top half of a mixolydian mode. Those crazy Hungarians!

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In Jazz piano, we'd just call that Lydian dominant

Quote Pauly99:

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Quote:

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Looks like the bottom half of a Lydian mode and the top half of a mixolydian mode. Those crazy Hungarians!

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In Jazz piano, we'd just call that Lydian dominant

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Ah yes I should have recognised it sooner! So what we are saying is that the the Ovetone/Acoustic scale and the Lydian Dominant mode are one in the same. Who'd though a link between Bartok and post-'Bop Jazz.

the Hungarian mode, is Hungarian Gypsy, or so I'm told. This site might be helpful for people wanting to check which scales fit with which chords, or which scales a particular riff could be utilising....http://chordsandscales.co.uk/finder/ (not my site, btw)

I've been trying to "get" modes for a while and I think I have now.

Don't know if the terminology is all correct but my understanding is that it (baicly) playing in a key, but 'basing' the music around a note other than the first degree of that key?

For example D Dorian uses C D E F G A B from C major scale, but to get the 'dorian' sound you have to make D the over-riding, inflencial note rather than C.

Is that right?

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www.myspace.com/jazzzombies

Yes. It's important to remember that each mode has a governing principle which gives it its character.

Quote Pabs!:

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Quote Pauly99:

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Quote:

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Looks like the bottom half of a Lydian mode and the top half of a mixolydian mode. Those crazy Hungarians!

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In Jazz piano, we'd just call that Lydian dominant

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Ah yes I should have recognised it sooner! So what we are saying is that the Overtone/Acoustic scale and the Lydian Dominant mode are one in the same. Who'd though a link between Bartok and post-'Bop Jazz.

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In fact, a huge amount of modern jazz harmony comes from or is at least influenced by early 20th century classical music. Not so much Bartok, but Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky etc.

Debussy used the acoustic scale too, for similar reasons to Bartok and Daniel's point about Bagpipes above - the fact that it corresponds (approximately) to all real overtones has a nice resonant "earthy" effect over a sustained tonic drone.

I think the Lydian Dominant in jazz is somewhat different: It has more to do with the idea of tritone substitution, so working the flattened supertonic into what would otherwise just be the natural mode on the dominant.

Quote mrthingy:

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I've been trying to "get" modes for a while and I think I have now.

Don't know if the terminology is all correct but my understanding is that it (baicly) playing in a key, but 'basing' the music around a note other than the first degree of that key?

For example D Dorian uses C D E F G A B from C major scale, but to get the 'dorian' sound you have to make D the over-riding, inflencial note rather than C.

Is that right?

---

Technically that's correct, for the diatonic mdoes anyway - Dorian, Lydian etc.

For example if you play entirely on the white notes of the piano, normally you would think you're playing "in" C Major, and C does indeed tend to naturally exert the greatest amount of "gravity".

But if you insistently base your phrasing and thinking around D instead, you can make D sound like the centre of gravity, and the music will be dorian.

This is a good start for being able to work out any mode and get going. For example if we're rehearsing a song you don't know and I shout over to you "it's just E dorian!", then if you know that the dorian mode is the one based on the second degree of the major scale, you can quickly work out that E dorian will be based on the second degree of the D major scale, and will be E F# G A B C# D E, and jam along.

OTOH, it's a little bit arse over tit in some ways, because the original modes weren't derived from the major scale, the major scale emerged out of the modal system.

To really get into modes and get a feel for how they work, it's important to be able to think of them instantly in relation to their own tonic (sorry Rousseau - "final" ). You do that by learning the distinctive tone and semitone pattern of each mode. So for example dorian is T-S-T-T-T-S-T above the tonic. Follow that pattern and you'll come up with the same notes above upon E, but without having to go via the "key" of D.

In practice, I think what I tend to do is think in terms of the two primary modes that I know best through training - the ionian (major scale) and aeolian (natural minor scale), with alterations. So the dorian is the natural minor scale but with a raised 6th degree; the mixolydian is a major scale but with a lowered 7th degree etc.

In doing this, I'm still thinking in terms of the tonicity of the mode itself, not relating it back to some hypothetical major "key" on a different root. This way you start to feel more and more the real character of each mode, because you're hearing and feeling how each scale degree of the mode sounds in relation to it's OWN tonic.

There is a whole other school of thought about modes, to do with their use in improvising upon different chords within a key, as elaborated by people like Jamie Abersold. So when you see "Em7 - A7 - Dmaj7", you think "Dorian mode on E - Mixolydian mode on A - Ionian mode on D". Here the identity of each mode IS much more to do with its relationship to the overall "parent" key.

But personally I think that school of thought is a load of bollox, and only manages to add an unnecessary layer of intellectualisation to improvising that doesn't serve any useful purpose.

Quote Wurlitzer:

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But personally I think that school of thought is a load of bollox, and only manages to add an unnecessary layer of intellectualisation to improvising that doesn't serve any useful purpose.

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Absolutely.

I think you make a good point about getting to know the modes through hearing and experiencing their differences, rather than intellectualising them. And to that extent I'd recommend using just the white notes to begin with - you'll soon get a flavour of each mode by changing the drone.

Cheers

As a guitarist who does lots of improvising/composing I find modal concepts to be very useful and not the least 'soul-less'. The point about modes is the accompanying harmony - play a minor/m7 chord and there are immediately 3 modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian) that you can choose to use from the Diatonic scale. I kinda categorise these as 'Jazzy minor', 'Spanishy minor' and 'Romantic minor', respectively. And so on.

Just remember its the chord formed from the mode that makes it useful -as in Miles' ' So What' (D Dorian/Eb Dorian).

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rzzz

Many years ago I used to play an Appalachian dulcimer. This is a very basic fretted instrument, typically there is a single melody string and two drone strings. The fret board has a diatonic scale; some models have a couple of extra frets to make it easier to tune in different modes without changing strings.

Given that this a very basic instrument harmonically it is important to understand modes in order to get any thing out of it. The Drone strings are typically tuned a 5th apart. The melody string is tuned so the lower string is one octave below the melody string when it’s fretted on the root note for the mode. A lot of traditional music is in the Dorian or Mixolydian modes, these have a very Celtic flavour due to the whole tone between the 7th and the tonic.