apply-modal-harmony

Apply Modal Harmony

Apply modal harmony by identifying each mode's characteristic notes and chords, understanding its emotional color, and using modal chord progressions that establish and sustain a specific modal atmosphere rather than resolving to major/minor functional harmony.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: Modal harmony is a core component of jazz theory education at Berklee, Juilliard, and the Manhattan School of Music. Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" — the definitive jazz theory text — devotes multiple chapters to modes and modal harmony. Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" (1959) introduced modal jazz to a broad audience; Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and virtually all post-bop jazz composers use modal harmony extensively. Modal harmony is also fundamental to folk traditions (Dorian in Celtic music), rock (Mixolydian in blues-rock), and contemporary film scoring. Impact: Restricting composition to major and minor keys limits the emotional palette available. Each mode has a characteristic color that cannot be achieved by transposing major or minor: Dorian sounds simultaneously minor and somewhat bright; Lydian sounds dreamy and elevated; Phrygian sounds dark and Spanish-Mediterranean; Mixolydian sounds bluesy and slightly unresolved. Understanding modal harmony expands the emotional vocabulary available to composers and improvisers.

Steps

1. Understand the seven modes — their construction and emotional character

All seven modes derive from the major scale by starting on different scale degrees:

Mode	Starting degree	Formula	Character
Ionian (major)	1st	W W H W W W H	Bright, stable, resolved
Dorian	2nd	W H W W W H W	Minor but somewhat bright; jazz, soul, Celtic folk
Phrygian	3rd	H W W W H W W	Dark, exotic, Spanish/flamenco, menacing
Lydian	4th	W W W H W W H	Dreamy, elevated, magical, sci-fi
Mixolydian	5th	W W H W W H W	Bluesy, slightly unresolved, blues-rock, country
Aeolian (natural minor)	6th	W H W W H W W	Minor, melancholic, standard
Locrian	7th	H W W H W W W	Unstable, tense, rarely used as tonal center

W = whole step; H = half step

Identifying the characteristic note: each mode differs from major or natural minor by one or two altered notes; this characteristic note is the mode's identity:

• Dorian: natural 6th (vs minor's ♭6)
• Phrygian: ♭2 (the half-step from the root is the defining interval)
• Lydian: #4 (the raised 4th is the dreamy quality)
• Mixolydian: ♭7 (the unresolved dominant 7th)

2. Construct modal chord progressions that sustain the mode

Modal harmony avoids the dominant-tonic resolution that pulls music toward major/minor functional harmony:

• The characteristic note of the mode must appear in the progression
• Avoid the tritone substitution and V7-I resolutions that "escape" the modal center

Dorian (on D): Dm - G - Dm - G (the G major chord contains the natural 6th B, the characteristic Dorian note)

• Avoid raising the ♭7 to create a V chord (A7 would resolve D Dorian back to functional minor)

Lydian (on C): Cmaj7#11 → D → Cmaj7#11 (the #11/F# is the Lydian characteristic)

Mixolydian (on G): G7 → F → C → G7 (the ♭7/F is the characteristic; G7 does not resolve to C as it would in C major)

Phrygian (on E): Em → F → Em (the F major chord contains the ♭2 that defines Phrygian)

The chords establish the modal center through repetition and emphasis of the characteristic note, not through functional cadences.

3. Use pedal points to establish the modal tonic

A pedal point (sustained bass note under changing harmony) is the most effective way to establish and maintain a modal center:

• Hold the root in the bass
• Move upper voices through modal chords
• The static bass makes the modal center unmistakable even as harmony moves

Example (Dorian on D): bass holds D throughout — upper voices move Dm → G → Am → G → Dm. The stationary D bass ensures the listener hears the progression as D Dorian, not G major with a pedal.

Miles Davis used pedal points extensively on "Kind of Blue" (notably on "So What") to establish modal centers without functional resolution.

4. Apply mode mixture — borrow chords from parallel modes

Mode mixture borrows chords from modes sharing the same root, creating color changes without leaving the tonal center:

• In C major: borrow ♭VII chord from C Mixolydian (B♭ major chord) → unexpected, dreamy effect used in pop (the "Mixolydian ♭VII" is ubiquitous in pop songwriting)
• In C major: borrow ♭VI chord from C Aeolian (A♭ major chord) → used for emotional depth
• In C major: borrow Lydian IV (#IV chord) for brief Lydian coloring on an otherwise major composition

Mode mixture enriches functional major/minor harmony with modal colors without committing to a full modal framework.

5. Use modes for improvisation over static harmony

When improvising over a sustained chord or a simple vamp:

• Identify the chord and its quality
• Select the mode that fits: minor7 chord → Dorian or Aeolian; dominant7 chord → Mixolydian; maj7 chord → Ionian or Lydian; min7♭5 chord → Locrian

Modal improvisation practice:

1. Set a drone (root note sustaining)
2. Practice the mode's scale up and down
3. Emphasize the characteristic note(s) of the mode — these define the sound
4. Phrase around the characteristic notes; avoid mechanically running scales

Modal improvisation was the foundation of Miles Davis's approach on "Kind of Blue" — players were given scales (modes) rather than complex chord changes and improvised within the modal framework.

Common Mistakes

• Mistaking a mode for a key: Dorian is not a key — it's a modal color applied at a specific pitch center. D Dorian and D minor are different because of the natural 6th/♭6th; calling them both "D minor" conflates different sounds.
• Including V7-I resolution in modal progressions: a V7 resolving to I destroys the modal atmosphere by pulling the harmony into functional major/minor. Modal progressions must deliberately avoid the leading-tone resolution.
• Treating modes as separate scales from major: every mode is the major scale played from a different starting point — knowing C major means knowing all seven of its modes. The insight simplifies learning; separate memorization of each mode as an independent scale is unnecessary.

When NOT to Use

• Tonally functional harmony (common-practice classical, straightforward pop/folk): functional harmony's tension-release is built on V-I resolution — modal thinking actively undermines this. Understand the goal before choosing the harmonic language.