This is a superbly well laid out introduction to modality and how it fits into--and departs from-- the tonal kind of music that traditional musicians can study for years without any idea of how jazz opened up harmony. This guy has some of that invaluable talent in teaching that enables someone to present new material with clarity, carefully building more and more advanced understanding upon basics and this guy has it.
Pal, you are really getting me into trouble. I'm supposed to be working right now and I can't stop watching your videos. I've read ten times about what is modal harmony and this is the first time I get it. Now that I get it I realize where all others fail to explain. They all made great explanations for people who master tonal harmony, but you really really need to get that in order to understand the difference. Thank you!
I’ve played piano for the past 20-odd years, sung in choirs forever and studied music theory (admittedly not beyond grade 5), and these theoretical fundamentals have always been completely mysterious to me. So a massive thank you for helping to demystify them and allowing me to overcome a longstanding blocker on my ability to improve
You're missing a whole lot when it comes to the modal side of things. Modal harmony isn't just playing random chords over a droning bass note to establish the 'modality'. Modal music/harmony is about creating movement within a tonality and creating a specific ambience. This is achieved by using alternating triads over the mode's bass note or by usage of a polychord (putting D minor in the left hand and using alternating triads with the right). Alternating triads includes a whole lot of stuff - I'll try to give a briefing of it, so one can get started. Alternating triads are going to be two adjacent triads that harmonize 6 out of 7 notes in the scale. The strongest set of alternating triads will be the scale source for the mode's two major triads - this is the most direct portrayal of the modes ambience. Ex.) let's look at D Dorian for our example. First we find the scale source for D Dorian, which would be C major. With the strongest alternating triads being the two major triads, we get F major and G major. Now play those two chords over a D bass note -------------------------------------------- C will fit the F triad, D will fit the G triad, and so on. You can harmonize 6 out of the 7 tones in the scale with those two alternating triads. The note that doesn't fit will most likely fit the parent scale source's triad, in this case a C major triad. This works with any two adjacent triads and when doing so, it will give a different angle of the modal ambience. You can really hear the modes feel/ vibe when you use C as a bass note for all modes ( C Ionian, C Dorian, etc) and use the corresponding alternating triads. You figure them out by finding the scale source for the mode and starting with the two major chords from the scale to harmonize the scale. ( C Ionian - F & G major over C, C major being the parent scale source) (C Dorian - Eb & F major over C, Bb major scale being the scale source) Etc etc. ------------------------------------------------- For anyone that took the time to read this I hope this helps with the modal stuff.
Thanks, mate. Yeah, this is just my introduction to 'modality' where I just wanted to introduce the concept and how it differs from 'tonality'. Consequently it is oversimplified. My follow up video (which can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mb0EFwzXIEo.html ) goes into much more detail and explains character tones, modal cadences, and much else to do with modal harmony.
Matt Burns Hey, man. Thanks for your post, which I did find enlightening...But mostly thanks because without it "walk that bass" (which I have only recently discovered) would not have responded with a link to his more in depth lesson on modality.
Walk That Bass I only just discovered your channel as I am new to music theory in general (and guitar) and was seeking to deepen my understanding of modality as not at all satisfied with the use of the term "modal" in many RU-vid guitar tutorials to describing a "modal chord progression" as being achieved by simply substituting a chord diatonic to the key in place of its tonic chord, thereby establishing a new tonal center, different than the key's tonal center. Though new to music theory, I have geeked-out on it over this first year of my guitaristic journey and having just recently starting seriously exploring the concept and uses of modality, these guitar tutorials really don't sit right with me on a gut level...I am much more inclined to believe what the guy posted above (Matt Burns) is correct and am so glad he posted his comment because I might have missed your more in depth video had you not felt compelled to reply with a link to it.
@@puffinwrangler7557 He explains that the triads are are the two major tones taken from the relative major scale to whatever mode you're playing in, which would be the VI and the V chord of that major scale. This means that these triads are a whole step apart.
Finally ! someone who put the spotlight on the crucial point of differentiation: tritone triad to root. Not that I was tried so hard, but it take me years to find a convincing and organized explanation to give credit and justification to modal music existence as not tonal on equal tempered era. Thanks you very much!
I really like how you start out from the fundamentals into the main topic. Maybe it might get in the way for others at a more advanced place in their theory education, but for me who's self-taught, building your point from the bottom up really solidified the information for me, even if I would have known those basics more or less already. Really helpful introduction. Will definitely be taking a look at more of your videos. Thank you.
Don’t forget about mixing modal elements with tonal elements, which is used used quite frequently! A lot of Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter tunes are a good example of this! For example “Serenity” and “Shade of Jade” and “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” or “JuJu” have quick modal changes mixed with quick “functional” changes. Modal doesn’t necessarily only mean using less chords and with ostinato type grooves. That kind of approach is a specific type of modal thinking, which is the purely vertical application of modal progressions - for example tunes like “So What” or “Little Sunflower” with their slow harmonic rhythm, and the shifting of stable, but “non-functional” major and minor tonic stations.
This is a perfect explanation of difference between modal and tonal harmony. It took me reading 4-5 articles before I get the main idea and it still was not clear to me. But now it makes sense. You have a solid pedagogical skills. Thank you!
Thanks Greig. Glad it helped. Not to self-promote too much, but check out my other video on Modal Jazz (further in this playlist). I go into far more detail about what Modal Jazz is and why it was created (rather than what it is NOT - which is what I do in this video).
Thank you for this excellent video. As a classically trained musician, who therefore thinks in terms of tonal harmony, I've found this introduction to jazz modal music theory most instructive and helpful. I look forward to watching more of your tutorials in the future. 👍👍
Excellent and cristal clear. I understood the difference between modal and tonal harmony for the first time thanks to your approach. I started immediately to practice it on my acoustic piano with amazing freedom and nice results (to my ear :). Many thanks again !!!
I wish I would have found this video (actually, wish I would have found this channel) when it came out. Awesome explanation. Thanks for dumbing it down enough for me to follow.
I am completely new to music theory, but I am gaining quite a lot from this despite. I really like your style of explaining. I will be saving these videos for future reference. The "ambiguity" of the sound of modal jazz is definitely something I can relate to!
Thank you so much for this informative lesson! I always wondered why songs from people like Bill Evans sounded like they didn't follow the 2-5-1 progression. You taught the lesson very clearly and I learned a lot about modern jazz. Incredible work!
Yep, exactly. Jazz from the late 1950's onward started moving away from the tonal II-V-I type progression and doing more 'out there' stuff. Thanks for the comment, Richard.
Hey Mate! I love your video !! it's easy to understand and you really get to the key point!. I have one question, so I am currently making hip-hop, jazz-hiphop and EDM music but I am just starting to learn Music thoery. My teacher recommended me the book "Tonal Harmony". Do you Think it would be a good fit for me to start or is there any better book ? Or i should just start learning modal Harmony instead of Tonal harmony? Thank you so much!
While this may be what jazz people concluded, it is not actually true. You can have modal music that is also functional. If you take Dorian in D, assign all the chords the function they would have in major or minor: Tonic: Dm, Bdim, F PreDom: G, Em Dom: Am7, C, (F) Now play the music with this assignment in your head. Most people do not realize that the sense of tonic is largely determined by rhythm and harmonic rhythm and phrasing. It may take a little experimentation and being careful, but you do NOT have to keep the tonic going in the bass. You can use the tonic note in the bass as often as major and minor. This works for every mode, even Locrian. After a while of playing and stabilizing a mode functionally, it may be hard to hear major or minor as a tonic again at first, you may feel it wants to go back to the Dorian chord or Lydian, or whatever mode you are in. After a while you can experiment with modulating the mode to parallel versions of it. Like going from D Dorian to A Dorian. This takes some more finesse, but definitely possible. You can even use chromatic notes without losing the feel of the natural mode, In the above example in D Dorian, you can even use G7 to C without making it become major, so long as the phrasing is right and you keep the proper assignment of the chords clear in your ears and brain. In Phrygian the 4-57-1 is very strong. It is a surprise very very few have discovered this. It resolves the tritone by oblique motion rather than by contrary motion. It is not as strong as major, but still quite stable.
Thank you for your great videos. You are very well spoken and explain complex concepts in a concise and understandable manner. I was just wondering if you are aware of any pieces of music that use both modal and tonal harmony. For example, a section that subscribes to a tonal harmony that then develops into modal harmony. I hope that makes some sense.
Cheers, Oliver. The song that comes immediately to mind is Coltrane's 'My Favorite Things'. The actual melody sounds quite tonal but all the solos in-between the melody are completely modal. This whole album has Coltrane on the cusp between his earlier tonal stuff and his later modal (and even later free) jazz stuff. Other songs on that album have a similar tension between tonality and modality - like the song Summertime. There's a whole bunch of modal improvisation which just floats around and then suddenly you hear a very recognisable and decisive V-I perfect cadence.
3:05 why do you explain tonal harmony using 7th chords? I don't know if it's a jazz "thing" to add sevenths to every chord, but I think it's easier if you just use mayor and minor triads when explaining the functions. It's clearer and you can hear more purely the character of each function.
It's definitely a Jazz thing. Jazz using 7th chords as its basic chord, unlike Classical which uses triads. This is a Jazz channel so I talk about things from a Jazz perspective. Plus the pull of the dominant 7th chord (which has a tritone between the 3rd and 7th) to the tonic is far greater, in my opinion, than just the dominant triad. But it's just a different genre and therefore a slightly different approach.
Thanks for the reply! I don't know much about the elements of jazz music (that's why I'm watching these videos), so I'm glad you could clarify me that. I also agree with you about the dominant 7th chord, but as the only exception of what I've stated earlier. I still think that an approach to functions using 7th chords is unnecessarily more complex, but it's fine if it works for you.
Hey thanks for the video- if you are using an ostinato to establish the key in the left hand- aren't you essentially still establishing the root note by using functional harmony but just with one note . I.e - playing a C (root note) then a F then a G- this is tonality right? (I IV V) . Im sure in modal Jazz functional Harmony does still apply, it just isnt as obvious. Maybe we could say , it is the left hand that still uses functional harmony, where the right hand is completely free when playing the piano).
Yep, it is. The III chord is essentially just a rootless I9 chord. Em7 = E G B D CMaj9 = C E G B D Rootless CMaj9 = E G B D Has almost all the same notes with an available tension (the 9th) so it generally sounds quite 'tonic' like, especially when played after a V7 chord. So like: G7 Em7
Maestro: I really go going with the Tritone Substitution; I just hope I understood it right from your wonderful video. Ok, The V Chord goes to the I Chord that is how you resolve it (I think I understood it right); then you go from the B Note and the F Note to the bB Note and bG Note and you build the bD F A bB(C) Chord and then you resolve to the bG Major chord. My question is this, are you using the bD Chord resolving to the bG Chord instead of using the G Major Chord resolving to the I Chord. Again thank you and please answer when you can. With respect and gratitude, R
i feel like modal pieces should make heavy use of the modal root, the characteristic note of the mode (which is always one of the notes that make up the diatonic tritone), the quality 3rd (minor mode, Major, dim, etc.) & finally, the notes that make up the unique half-step intervals. the remaining notes of the mode can be used obviously, but perhaps way less than these main notes. for example, in [d dorian], the notes to make the most use of would be [D], [B, which is one of the notes that makes up the tritone of the parent scale], [E] & [F] where [E] is the quality b3 & together form the first half-step interval of the mode, along with [C] which forms the second half-step of the mode with [B]. The remaining notes [A] & [G] can be used, but sparingly perhaps or in the way of passing tones in the melody(s). In the case of [A], dorian's 5th, it can help create "modal triads" or sus chords, such as the "dorian triad" of 1-b3-b6 or the dorian sus2 chord of 1-2-5
Great explanation! But after watching this makes me wonder what's your opinion for bass players implying a ii V maybe every 4 or 8 bars? Is this straying away from the intended modal sound?
I think this is a great video and was a little surprised to see 3 thumbs down. However, your comments at the end which indicate that Modal Jazz sounds more modern and has greater freedom than tonal music seems strange as historically it's pretty ancient. It's really just differn't. I think Functional harmony can be more free because you are not avoiding things like tritones. You can't listen to people from Lous Armstrong to Charlie Parker without thinking of freedom, and also I never get that great feeling of driving swing with modal music - suppose I just prefer the tension of dominant chords resolving. Also, don't you think Bud Powells rhythmic left hand sounds as 'modern' and interesting as any modal piano player- and his right hand out of this world fantastically 'free'?
Thanks Bebop review. So a couple of points: 1. Yes, modal music is ancient and is older than tonality. But, as you'd no doubt know, Medieval Modal music is very different to the modern kind. Medieval and Renaissance music was generally just modal counterpoint (i.e. multiple modal melody lines). Whereas modern modal music relies on chords and harmony but in a non-functional context. That's what I mean by 'Modal harmony sounds modern'. While it is ancient, as you say, it's revival (Neo-Modalism?) creates a very ambiguous sound which is very modern. That is a very interesting point though. Music seems to have come full circle. Starting with modality, discovering tonality, and then re-discovering modality again. 2. And your point about 'freedom' just comes down to semantics, I think. It all depends how you want to define freedom. Modal Jazz seeks freedom from chords. Before Modal Jazz, Jazz musicians based their improvisations on the melody (Louis Armstrong) or the chords (Charlie Parker). Modal Jazz seeks to break away from this and focus solely on the scale/mode. In doing so, it chained itself to other rules - like avoiding the diatonic tritone - and is therefore not completely 'free'. Free Jazz went a step further and rejected chord progressions, chords, scales and sometimes even notes (just making noise instead). But it nevertheless had melodic 'rules' and therefore was not completely 'free'. I think this is inevitable. Music needs structure, and structure needs rules, and rules mean constraints on freedom. Music without structure is just noise. So perhaps music can never be completely free. These are all interesting thoughts and ideas and debates to have, but they are largely philosophical as it is impossible to perfectly define 'freedom'. Because whenever you use the word 'freedom', this invites the obvious question: 'Freedom from what?'
Excellent video! What are your opinions on why Ionian and Aolian doesn't get used as much in modal music, the way that Lydian and Dorian does? You know, like modes? I just started thinking about this. Do you think it's because of how those scales sound and that they're kind of bland-sounding, so jazz musicians didn't bother using them? Lydian sounds more exiting than Ionian and Dorian sounds more exciting than Aolian? Or is it because where so used to hearing major/minor in a functional-harmony context. And because jazz musicians wanted to break away from that, they didn't use them? It would be interesting to hear your take on this. Subscribed to the channel btw... love your vids.
I think you pretty much answered the question there. Everyone's used to those modes that they're pretty stale really. When people talk about Major or Minor songs in popular music it's Ionian and Aeolian, the other modes rarely get consideration.
Does this mean that in practice you cannot apply modal harmony to jazz standards which were not written with modal harmony in mind (such as jazzy versions of tonal music)?
I'm confused as to what the basis of chord harmonization is here (for example in the bit at 12:16). And how do you move between modes when improvising? How does that compare to tonal jazz?
Although I think this makes a good stab at a large subject, I did have a few objections. One is a minor nit - you noted that there was only one tritone in a major scale, yet you later noted not to play the tritone from the Bm7b5! The more egregious note was saying that there are "no progressions in modal jazz", which I think is somewhat incorrect. A majority of modal music uses a modal CADENCE which focuses on using the characteristic note going to the tonic. On "So What" for example, it is using a vamp with TWO chords - Em7 and Dm7. The "B", being the b6 is the characteristic note of D Dorian, so it is sounded as part of Em7. (For example, a Lydian vamp would use a chord with the #4 going to the tonic, etc. You may perhaps say this is not a "progression", but a modal vamp seems to indeed be a very fundamental part of the vocabulary in my experience.
Interesting video, well done! Only one thing does not sound correct to me though: modal chords do have a function. A sort of "dominant" function is maintained in chords that include the characteristic note of a mode (i.e. B in D dorian, so Em7, G and Bm7). They are called Primary chords and they establish the modality straight away (you have done so in your example by playing Em/D - Dm ). All the other triads are Secondary chords and they can be used to approach those chords and to give variety. The tritone, has you have rightly said must be avoided so no Bm7b5, I personally like to substitute the flat 5 with a 11 (natural). Cheers :)
Cheers, Fil. Yep, in the next video in this playlist - on Modal Jazz - I cover exactly that. I chose not to cover it here, because I really wanted to stress the key differences between tonal and modal harmony - and talking about modal chord 'functions' I feel would have just confused the matter. In the follow up video, I do explain character tones, modal 'function' and modal cadences - stressing that the 'pull' to the tonic is no where near as strong as in tonal/functional harmony. Thanks for the comment :)
Walk That Bass oh okay I see, it makes sense to avoid cramming all that information in just one introductory video. I will watch the following video then :)
So, one thing that I have not really been able to figure out from my reading is the distinction between functional and tonal harmony. They seem to be synonymous to me. And this is fine, because I think in most cases they are the same thing. But I feel like modal harmony is tonal in the sense that it has a key center, but not functional in the way that major/minor tonality is. I guess I'm splitting hairs. But, I've been considering working on my own theory of sorts for various modal harmony. I feel like modal harmony is somewhat limited in the harmonic movement you can achieve. It seems like what I've learned all talks about hammering the tonic so that the color of the mode and the key center are in our brains. There must be more out there that doesn't fall into the same sonic rut of traditional tonal/functional harmony.
Nup. You can create a tonal centre with non-functional harmony through means other than a V-I cadence, like by using a pedal point. Repeating a note (especially in the bass) causes us to perceive it as the tonal centre. Have a listen to 'So What' by Miles Davis. This is a Modal Jazz song in D Dorian (Part B is in Eb Dorian) that uses a bass ostinato pattern to emphasise the note D, which creates a clear tonal centre.
I'm a little confused. If the tonal center is D, why would you want to avoid the tritone b and f, because wouldn't that lead to a tonal center of C, or do you just try and avoid all tritones all together?
Nevermind, after watching it over again I think I understand. You do want to just avoid all tritones you just listed A7 because its like a secondary dominant (though its not in the key), and G7 because its in the same key of D dorian, though not a function of D, it would lead you back to C. So really just avoiding any tritones that lead you anywhere, in the key or not haha.
Yep, spot on. You answered your own question. The tritone interval (especially in tertian harmony - i.e. chords built in 3rd) sounds like a dominant chord. So you want to generally avoid over-emphasising any tritone. With quartal chord you have a bit more leeway to play the tritone because the chord itself sounds quite ambiguous.
Hey, mate. Sorry for the late reply. So from a Jazz perspective, I personally like the following book for Jazz Harmony (including tonal harmony): The Chord Scale Theory & Jazz Harmony ~ Barrie Nettles & Richard Graf It does touch on modal and non-functional harmony as well but the bulk of the book in on Tonal Harmony - and it covers it quite well with topics like modal interchange and secondary dominants and such.
Maybe it's just my ears, but the tritone doesn't pull me to tonal C major. I tried establishing D dorian as a root and then playing Fmaj7 - G7 - Dm7 and it sounds fine to me, the tritone just adds a bit of a "jazzy" overtone . But, say, playing the major third from E (E and G#) immediately pulls me to the tonal A minor. What am I doing wrong?
Absolutely nothing. Everybody hears intervals/notes/tension/music differently. This is just the 'accepted' version of music theory. Not everyone will experience the same 'feeling'. What you hear will depend on your past listening experience and personal preferences. Though if you say E and G# pull you to an Am chord. Then try playing E G# B D (E7) - does that pull you to an Am chord also? The E-G# may well pull you to the Am chord, but the tritone between G# and D should pull you even more to the Am chord. It's the exact same effect but in a minor key. But again, if you hear something different, that's fine. Music is 100% subjective.
Thanks for the advice! And thanks for the great series, very enlightening! I actually tried improvising some more and noticed that if I do a E7 - Am move once, then the next time I play E7 it has a strong pull towards Am. Same with the G7 and C. But if I strongly reset my context to D dorian again, then both E7 and G7 have a different flavour and doesn't pull towards their I chord at all. So my theory is that it's not the V7 chord on itself that changes the context, but a V7-I move. I agree about the overall subjectivity as well, seems like listening to a lot of classical music (as I do), makes me reset to hearing the common diatonic harmony much more easily.
No probably wouldn't call it modal. It does have a V-I cadence right at the end there and the solo section is played over a 12 bar minor blues. I would call this some kind of 16 bar blues, but with a non-functional section in bars 9-12 (the chromatic chord section). To my ear there is always a bit of a pull to that tonic C minor chord (except during that chromatic section where you just get lost in a soup of parallelism).
