The lesson
What Is a Mode? was broadcast by CBS on November 23, 1966, in the tenth season (the first in color). Bernstein explains that modes are not a fad, but special scales: major and minor are just two modes among many, which dominated Western music for about two centuries (from Bach to the early 20th century). The "ancient" modes, with Greek names and used in medieval sacred music, returned in 20th-century classical music and in pop, jazz and folk, because each has an unmistakable color. The practical trick he proposes: to find a church mode on the piano, start from the note that names it and play only the white keys up to the next octave.
The modes of the lesson (on the white keys)
| Mode | From | Compared with major/minor | Color | Examples cited by Bernstein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorian | D | minor with a major sixth (in D: B natural) | ancient, modal | Debussy, Fêtes; plainchant; "Along Comes Mary" (The Association); the opening of Sibelius's Sixth Symphony |
| Phrygian | E | minor with a minor second | sad, "Spanish," Jewish, gypsy-like | Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2; Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade; Brahms, Symphony No. 4, II |
| Lydian | F | major with an augmented fourth | bright, high, comic | Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kijé (piccolo solo); a slow movement of a Beethoven quartet; Sibelius, Fourth; Chopin mazurkas; the Polonaise from Boris Godunov |
| Mixolydian | G | major with a minor seventh | jazz, blues | a Cuban riff; The Kinks, "You Really Got Me"; The Beatles, "Norwegian Wood"; Debussy, La cathédrale engloutie; the danzón from Bernstein's ballet Fancy Free |
| Aeolian | A | natural minor | — | (no need to explain it, says Bernstein) |
| Locrian | B | — | unstable | skipped: it is rarely used because its tonic is a diminished chord |
| Ionian | C | the major scale | familiar | the conclusion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony |
Note: Bernstein describes Dorian as a minor with a lowered seventh, that is, without the leading tone of the harmonic minor (in D: C instead of C♯). Compared with the natural minor, however, the note that characterizes Dorian is the major sixth (in D Dorian B natural instead of B♭).
The finale
The lesson closes by listening again to Debussy's Fêtes: Bernstein shows how the piece moves among Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian and Phrygian and how the march and the dance in Dorian combine in the climax, so that the audience can recognize the modes they have just learned.
What a producer learns
- Each mode has a characteristic note that should be brought out (on the strong beat, in the melody, in the chord that contains it): the major sixth in Dorian (major IV chord: in D Dorian G), the minor second in Phrygian (♭II: in E Phrygian F), the augmented fourth in Lydian (major II: in F Lydian G), the minor seventh in Mixolydian (♭VII: in G Mixolydian F).
- To stay "in the mode" avoid the tonal V7–I cadence, which brings the color back to major or minor; use two-chord vamps (i–IV in Dorian, I–♭VII in Mixolydian, I–II in Lydian, i–♭II in Phrygian).
- Modes are a simple way to get out of the major/minor "default sound," as Bernstein says about composers from Debussy to Stravinsky and about pop writers.
Exercise
Write four 4-bar loops on the same tonic (D): Dorian (Dm – G), Phrygian (Dm – E♭), Lydian (D – E), Mixolydian (D – C). Use the same timbre and the same groove and listen to how only the color changes.
Related entries
The modes of the major scale, Dorian mode, Phrygian mode, Lydian mode, Mixolydian mode, Modal harmony and modal loops, Bernstein: What Is Melody.