If your songwriting always sounds "major" or "minor," exploring modes can add entirely new flavors to your music. Modes are scales derived from the major scale but starting on different degrees, each creating its own distinctive mood. They're widely used in folk, rock, jazz, film scores, and pop to create sounds that feel different from standard major-minor tonality.
The seven modes of the major scale each have a unique character. Ionian (the standard major scale) sounds bright. Dorian is minor but with a lifted, hopeful quality. Phrygian has a dark, Spanish-influenced flavor. Lydian sounds dreamy and ethereal. Mixolydian feels bluesy and rock-oriented. Aeolian is the natural minor scale. Locrian is tense and unstable.
Dorian mode sounds like a minor scale but with a raised sixth degree, giving it a warmer, less sad quality. It's the mode of choice for many jazz, funk, and folk songs. Dorian is perfect when you want a minor feel that's more nuanced than straightforward sadness — it can sound cool, soulful, or bittersweet.
Mixolydian mode sounds like a major scale with a flattened seventh, creating a bluesy, rock-ready sound. Many classic rock songs and guitar riffs are based on Mixolydian. It has the brightness of major but with a gritty, unresolved edge that feels earthy and confident. It's the mode of rock and roll.
Lydian mode raises the fourth degree of the major scale, creating a sound that feels suspended, dreamy, and slightly magical. It's widely used in film scores and ambient music. A melody or chord progression based on Lydian sounds familiar yet slightly otherworldly — like something just outside of normal reality.
Each mode has one note that distinguishes it from the standard major or minor scale — its "characteristic note." Emphasizing this note in your melody and harmony is what makes the mode sound distinctive. For Dorian, emphasize the raised sixth. For Mixolydian, emphasize the flattened seventh. For Lydian, emphasize the raised fourth.
An easy way to enter modal songwriting is through chord progressions that emphasize the mode's unique qualities. Avoid the standard V-I cadence that pulls music toward the standard major or minor center. Instead, use chords built on the mode's characteristic notes to establish the modal feel.
Modal songwriting offers a palette of musical colors between and beyond major and minor. By exploring different modes and emphasizing their unique characteristics, you can write songs with distinctive sounds that stand out from the crowd.
For help writing lyrics that complement your modal explorations, Fast Rhymes provides songwriting tools that support your creative experimentation.
15/12/2025
Everything you need to write songs & poetry.
