Modes

• Ionian ("I-oh-nee-un")
• Dorian ("door-ee-un")
• Phrygian ("frij-ee-un")
• Lydian ("lid-ee-un")
• Mixolydian ("mix-oh-lid-ee-un")
• Aeolian ("ay-oh-lee-un")
• Locrian ("low-kree-un")

The names for the modes come from geographical or ethnic regions in ancient Greece. In these examples, the C Major diatonic scale will be used as the base of exporing the modes. The reason for this choice is the fact that the C Major diatonic scale does not contain any sharps (#) or flats (b). A diatonic scale is the natural scale, five tones and two semi-tones that are found within a key. In the key of C, the semi-tones are B to C and E to F, the other five tones are whole tones.

Each link in the list above is a more detailed page on each individual mode.

Major Modes

• Ionian (major) (1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
• Lydian (1,2,3,4#,5,6,7)
• Mixolydian (1,2,3,4,5,6,7b)

Minor Modes

• Dorian (1,2,3b,4,5,6,7b)
• Phrygian (1,2b,3b,4,5,6b,7b)
• Aeolian (1,2,3b,4,5,6b,7b)

Locrian (half-diminished) (1,2b,3b,4,5b,6b,7b)