Ah, the modes, the blessed modes! So often have prospective guitarists fallen at your feet, like knights of yore bested in battle. And yet, at your core there is little about you that could not be understood by even the most novice.
In fact, much of western classical thought and musical theory is founded upon the very same foundations as you! Mathematical thinkers, like Pythagoras, would laugh at all those at your feet, as though they knew something we did not.
What makes modes unique and well worth studying is their ability to relate to one another and to other listeners, and to trigger certain emotions across a whole spectrum of people no matter their differences, rendering them perfect for tone painting or improvising to evoke a specific feeling in the listener.
If we are to think of scales are ordered sequences of notes that can feel rigid in their ability to express, the modes are permutations of these very same scales that each offer forth their own unique flavour and mode of expression.
What Even is a Bass Mode?
Many often confuse bass modes for bass scales and vice versa, and while they are theoretically very similar if not the same, it is when you get down to it that you realise that they are in fact very different, and that the former is wholly indebted to the latter. A mode, instead of being a scale in its own right, is, instead, a permutation of a scale.
More often than not, the bass modes are worked out in relation to the major scale, this is really where all western classical notions of harmony and what sounds right to our ears comes from after all.
The Ionian mode is, in fact, this very same major scale. So, if we were to say that something is in D Ionian, we would be saying that it simply uses the D major scale throughout, without any variation.
Each mode is a separate permutation of this foundational scale. The Lydian mode, for example, is the next stage in this process of metamorphosis.
Almost exactly the same as the Ionian bar one interval, the sharpened (augmented) 4th, it is easy to see how this mode has metamorphosed from one stage to the next. All of the bass modes are like this, all the way from our home scale Ionian, all the way to the Locrian.
Some bass modes lend themselves better to certain tonalities and harmonic centres. The Lydian and the Ionian are by their very nature rather major tonalities, whereas the Dorian, for example, is inherently minor, owing to the minor 3rd and minor 7th at play in conjunction with the perfect 4th and perfect 5th, all ingredients for your average everyday minor triad.
Why Learn the Bass Modes?
What really sets the bass modes apart from the bass scales is the way that each offers, within the parameters of a tonal centre, specific harmonic, melodic, and tonal properties. These very properties are often what are called upon when people seek a specific mode from their toolbox.
The Lydian mode, for example, has oft been noted for its more mystical, airy, and magical qualities, which have found apposite use in film soundtracks and even in the suggestive compositional harmonic and melodic writing of more adept film composers.
This is not just some intangible, ethereal aspect of music either. Despite music being so abstract an art form, there are certain scientific and theoretical reasons why these modes make us feel a certain way when they are used in certain contexts, and in this way they have become vital tools of suggestion and evocation in the realms of composition and improvisation.
This Lydian mode, for all its airy mysticism, can’t escape the very reason for its being such a magical sounding mode; some of its mystical aspects are lost in this explanation of the illusion, so to speak, but it is hoped that also one can appreciate anew the magic of what is created from so few elements.
In the inherent tension between the sharpened (augmented) 4th and the perfect 5th in the Lydian mode, there is something unexplainable that seems to evoke within a large majority of us feelings of unease. But it is an unease more potent as a tool of magic and deception than it is an exercise in the heightening of intensity.
The Bass Modes
So, without further ado, we will explore each of the central modes in western classical thought, from the most simple of the permutations, the Ionian (which, as we have already explored, is just a glorified major scale), right through to the oft neglected and underappreciated Locrian mode.
When we call bass modes permutations of the bass scales, we mean it literally. Moving along in the order below, you ought to be able to see that, though the root note changes, it is still theoretically the same C major scale. With each subsequent permutation, the root note moves in ascending order through the notes of the C major scale (or any chosen scale for that matter) until it reaches C once more.
Ionian Mode
First up we have the Ionian, the first of the bass modes and that which is is derived entirely from the corresponding major scale. So, the C Ionian detailed below is simply the C major scale. You likely already know this mode in fact, you just did not quite realise it!
Even the root note is the same, so if you want to transpose guitar chords, or this particular mode, then all you have to do is find your major scale and pick the root note, remembering to take the shape of it along for the ride of course, and away you go!
With the notes of this mode, as begun from the root note of C, being C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and, again, C, then this will look something like this on two octaves of the bass:
Dorian Mode
Following the Ionian, we have the second of the bass modes, this second permutation of the modal formula – Dorian Mode. Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the second interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is D. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in this case, with the root beginning at D, the notes follow as E, to F, to G, to A, to B, to C, and then back to the new root D. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
Since the third and seventh scale degrees are flattened, this is inherently a minor scale, both a minor third and minor seventh being present in your everyday minor triad.
Phrygian Mode
Following the Dorian, we have the third of the bass modes, this third permutation of the modal formula called Phrygian Mode. Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the third interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is E. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in this case, with the root beginning at E, the notes follow as F, to G, to A, to B, to C, to D, and then back to the new root E. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
Since the third and seventh scale intervals are flattened here too, this is also considering a minor mode, though with the addition of the flattened second and sixth intervals making this a particularly treacherous mode in terms of tonality, many harmonic mines having been sown into its tonal centre.
Lydian Mode
Following the Phrygian, we have the fourth of the bass modes, this fourth permutation of the modal formula. Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the fourth interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is F. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in this case, with the root beginning at F, the notes follow as G, to A, to B, to C, to D, to E, and then back to the new root F. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
Since there is only one sharpened (augmented) interval, the perfect fourth raised to create tension with the perfect fifth within, this is considered a major mode. It is this tension between raised fourth and perfect fifth which gives the Lydian mode its particular flavour, and the reason why it is often called upon by film composers to allude to the mystical and to conjure up within the listener / viewer feelings of magical unease.
Mixolydian Scale
Following the Lydian, we have the fifth of the bass modes, this fifth permutation of the modal formula – Mixolydian Mode. Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the fifth interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is G. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in this case, with the root beginning at G, the notes follow as A, to B, to C, to D, to E, to F, and then back to the new root G. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
Since it is only the seventh degree of the scale that is flattened, this is still considered to be a major mode. In tension with the perfect fourth and fifth, this flattened seventh has complex implications, hence why this is one of the bass modes often called upon in more jazzy contexts.
Aeolian Mode
Following the Mixolydian, we have the sixth of the bass modes, this sixth permutation of the modal formula. Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the sixth interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is A. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in aeolian mode, with the root beginning at A, the notes follow as B, to C, to D, to E, to F, to G, and then back to the new root A. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
Harbouring a minor third, this is one of the bass modes referred to as a minor mode, the accompanying flattened sixth and seventh scale degrees only adding to the minor feel of the contents of this mode.
Locrian Mode
Finally following on from the Aeolian, we have the seventh and last of the bass modes, this seventh permutation of the modal formula – Locrian Mode.
Thus, following sequentially, the root note has moved along one step to the seventh and last interval of the original major scale, which, in the case of the C major scale, is B. The notes stay the same, it is simply the root note which moves.
So, in this case, with the root beginning at B, the notes follow as C, to D, to E, to F, to G, to A, and then back to the new root B. It will look something like this when rendered on a bass:
With only two of the intervals of this mode not flattened in some way, this is without doubt a minor mode, all of the key players having been flattened in the process of reaching this permutation: the third, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh scale degrees all diminished.
Final Tones
So, there you have it, a light and digestible study of the seven primary modes of the major scale, as fed through the lens of the bass, from Ionian, to Dorian, to Phrygian, to Lydian, to Mixolydian, to Aeolian, and finally to Locrian – we have seen it all!
Don’t forget to practise each one as thoroughly as each other, no matter how infrequently some might turn up in the popular music sphere. The Locrian is much more rarely used, but can still be a vital tool for bridging the gap between certain other modes or other sections of a piece of music!
FAQs Bass Modes
With the corresponding major scale as the root of our modal explorations, the modes permutate from this root in the following order, using each subsequent ascending note from the corresponding major scale as its root as it metamorphoses: beginning with the Ionian (the major scale, pure and simple), the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian, the Mixolydian, the Aeolian, and finally, the oft unloved, neglected and forgotten, Locrian mode.
It is difficult, if not impossible to say, as different music theory systems prize different scales, and some cultures even use harmonic systems radically different from what you might be used to in the western world. You can create just about any scale you want from any number of notes, so a more useful question might be: how many bass scales can you come up with before repeating the same series’ of notes as you have done already?
