The Modes Ranked by Brightness 

Björk loves it, and so do I. It is so fun.

One could guess, yes. But a lot of extreme metal (if not atonal) actually uses phrygian or phrygian dominant rather than locrian. SOAD however has a couple of songs in super locrian on their first album (I know they're not black metal but at least somewhat metalish)

I guess the reason is what David has already mentioned, namely that tendency of the phrygian scale to make downward melodies sound so natural and at the same time dark and tense. Which I suppose might be the case because phrygian still has the perfect fifth over it's tonic which the locrian mode doesn't have, therefore there's no interval between the locrian model's tonic and any other scale degree that makes you think "wow this must be the tonic, it just sounds so natural to end there". The superlocrian however is basically the 7th mode of the melodic minor scale, even if you end on it's second degree, it still doesn't sound majorish as it does with the regular locrian. So if you end on the melodic minor tonic and move a semi tone down, this shift into a darker side of the scale doesn't feel as forced as it does with locrian. At least that's what I think, though there's definitely ways to make the locrian work, but the super locrian is easier to handle if you're not am experienced composer in my opinion (even though it doesn't have the perfect fifth either)

@@LautloseLebwerwurst3000 Thanks for your remark. I am currently trying to create kind of dark/sad melody but I haven't figured how to apply it into my song yet and I am searching for advices in music theory and it is a bit complicated. Thanks for comment anyway :)

@@jakubciecwierz9380 Do you have a chord progression and/or lyrics to that melody? If so, why don't you send it and I will try to give you some ideas on how to write a melody over that progression? I think if you're new to music theory a little input from others can be helpful to get a better overview of the options one has when composing

Its execution is difficult, Pink Floyd has of Locrain and extreme dissonance in the song the controls for the heart of the sun.

The only places I've heard it sounding normal is in some metal songs. The shortest straw by metallica seems to be in locrian for large parts.

@@aaronmedeiros848 Isn't that actually Phrygian?

Clemens Moeller even then the tonic is played with a 5th so it’s not pure locrian

@@joesmee997 Yeah that's true, sorry I forgot about that. The song just came to mind because they use a lot of b1 and b5 notes. Powerchords (fifths) on electric guitar are often just used to make single notes sound "bigger". Guess that's why I didn't immediately notice it to be the fifth of the tonic, instead of a note that makes E sound stronger. But you're right, thanks for clarifying.

LMAO

Oh boy.. Star Wars music theory humor 😆😇

Hahahahaha!

Hahaha! 😄

Lol

Aka, the seven types of weather in Michigan

Super Locrian: A flooding

@@namibia584Lydian augmented: Toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sunny day

Lydian augmented: oh we're.. on the sun

@@chaoticlife3670 Aka Mild LA summer day

Yes more technical videos please!

I didn't find this too technical or hard to follow. Obviously I'm gonna forget everything, notably which intervals to alter in order to get which mode, which is the whole point, but this spectrum and explanation look like very useful, short, resources for untrained composers -also obviously it's better to be trained. Also now there's kind of a challenge, too…

Yeah technical videos, i play harmonica and have been playing long enough that this makes sense. And need to understand more of it. You will not find videos that are like this for the instrument, though people are doing it.

hahaha mood, even as a musician it helps ;)

mandalocrian

ItzBroccoli I appreciate you and your pun more than I appreciate my loved ones

@@hailstunes hahaha! that’s genius

Now I wonder where's Sith music on this scale :J

@@checkYVELLUAP sorry but phrygian and mixolydian is B minimum

​@@Alberto-ny7kfexactly. As dark as they may sound, they still go hard

What I've noticed while messing with this is we can do the same trick with flattening the root for any of the modes: If you start with C Super Locrian, flattening the root creates B major. If you start with C Locrian, flattening the root creates B Lydian as you mentioned. If you start with C Phrygian, flattening the root creates B Super-Lydian aka B Lydian augmented. If you start with C Aeolian (C Minor), flattening the root creates a scale with the intervals 3H-H-W-W-H-W-H. I don't know what this is called and I couldn't find anything about it online, so maybe someone here can help me figure out what to call it. It is similar to the B altered/super-locrian scale, but the 5th and 6th degree are raised a half-step. It sounds mysterious, but not as dark and creepy as B altered. Following the pattern as we have gone form major to Lydian to Super-Lydian, would this be B Super-Super-Lydian? B Hyper-Lydian? Let's keep going. If you start with C Dorian, flattening the root creates a scale with the intervals 3H-H-W-W-W-H-H. B Triple-Super-Lydian? It sounds pretty similar to the previous one. Next, C Mixolydian. Flatten the C and we get the intervals 3H-W-H-W-W-H-H. We're 4 modes above Lydian now, and this one sounds really interesting and different from Triple-Super-Lydian, because we changed the third degree. It sounds really bright now and the first 4 notes make a really cool pattern. Finally, C major. I suppose the pattern stops here because we already have a B in the scale, so lowering the C to a B no longer creates 7 intervals. In other words, starting with B major, if we try to sharpen everything, we can't because sharpening the 7th just gives us the root.

Chris Kennedy Actually... C mixolydian: F Major C Dorian: Bb Major C minor: Eb Major C Phrygian: Ab Major C locrian: Db Major C Lydian: G Major

@@txcy8941 Similarly, you can also use that same logic to go darker, since the only difference between lydian and locrian is the root and so is the only difference between super locrian and major, you can go darker by flattening the 7th in super locrian just like mixolydian flattens the 7th in major, that would give you a scale called ultra locrian, if you flatten the third just like dorian does compared to mixolydian, you get ultra locrian bb3, and if you flatten the 6th just like aeolian does compared to dorian you get ultra locrian bb2 bb6, and that's as dark as you can go really because if you kept going you'd have a bb2 wich would just give you the root

wowzers, you have opened a new gate for me.

Damn, this comment just completed my modes puzzle

does Bruno Mars is moral?

@@yuhgetintoit3190 what

@@airconditioningunit9777 *does Bruno Mars is moral?*

@@b.luong2 *what?*

@@airconditioningunit9777 *DOES BRUNO MARS IS MORAL?*

*_S H I T_*

I laughed so hard at this. It also made me felt nerdy af hahahaha

I love this comment. Gave me a good laugh

Hey sharpen the first note of Mixolydian and tell me how it goes!

Accidentally creates D melodic minor

You’re welcome!

EllisThings lol 😂

Make it efficient, make it halftone up.

EllisThings E makor

Hey, that's not righ... No wait....

Db has 5 flats, if you sharpen all the notes you get C# major - obviously it sounds the same but the technicality itself is funny :)

😄

@@nuncanadie331 "Dorian can also create a sense of bittersweet sadnes". Touché, David (it's my first name too)

Birds Of A Feather....

another peculiarity of dorian mode: a palindrome, exact same structure from top to bottom, bottom to top...

@@pablojlascano8322 Yeah, every single one of the 7 modes mirrors another mode except the Dorian, it's like, "Nah, I'm fine, I will just go and mirror myself".

oooh hi silvi

@@rize12dz37 hiii

oj, tak!

Cumbia is mostly in minor and it is danceable and happy

what a surprise to see you here!

😅😅

Nice Kronk reference.

fuqinazhole stonks

except the F is Fm

H o l y s h i t

Kinks had some great stuff

Watching a bunch of 10 year olds getting excited about it made me sad for children today who don't even learn music theory in an average school.

I know. It’s funny how Bernstein plays a few bars and is like - see nothing mysterious here - just good old Mixolydian mode! (Sounds absolutely appalling and nothing like the kinks)... This is where theory, in reducing a problem down to it’s most fundamental components fails miserably. (Which I find fascinating). It’s like trying to understand why humans fall in love by starting with an X-Ray Machine. Science is on his side and Bernstein’s got the bare bones of the problem but in reality, most of it has escaped him.

From my understanding a diminished triad can resolve to I think 3 or 4 different keys depending on whether or not its a dim7 so that makes sense

It's just the altered scale. You can use it over any dominant chord in any song and it will work. Jazz players have been doing it for decades.

Bonus points if you can pull off a convincing parade march in super locrian.

Dorian has a nice antiquated flavor and it is a palindrome. The bottom half of a Dorian is a mirror of the top half

Some of the LOTR score is in Lothlorian mode.

@@gknipe ok funny guy

Ugh. 🤮

just the end of "exist" from avenged sevenfold made me really consider this mode more because of how great it sounded.

You should also check out Signals Music Studio, Jake Lizzio does a really good job too

Now I'm sitting here trying to figure out how many songs I've known forever are actually in modes with names I've never heard of until now, and WHICH ones they're in... I mean, my dumb un-musically educated brain is just like "Duh, song had half-step instead of full step! Song must be minor!" a lot of the time. :P

@@robinchesterfield42 when johnny comes marching home is dark. check out the locrian scale.. it is one of my favorite melodies for living in this satanic kingdom of lies, rape and murder

This reads like slam poetry

go watch the whole lecture! It's linked in the description.

Here you go: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EWtUCAYV3so.html . (While we're at it, here's the whole of "What is a Mode?" together in a playlist: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UGTT_VK2kVY.html .)

Ah, the Bernstein lectures are the greatest I've ever watched.

@@leocomerford Thanks, Leo!

It was a Locrian end, urges for resolution

Do you like the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly?

It's 'the dorian vamp'... basically the whole dorian scale summed up in two chords!

David Bennett Piano I always think of Dorian in terms of the chords: Heard It Through The Grapevine, She's Not There, Walk On By etc ( and disco, of course!).

Good Times

And I really like how that Dorian "i-IV" is used in the Rohan theme from LotR, and Rey's theme from Star Wars

Interesting how different people interpret that. Could just as easily be: Lydian: Mysterious, whimsical Major: Safe, happy Mixolydian: Adventurous Dorian: Regal, sombre, proud Minor: Melancholic Phrygian: Exotic, otherworldly Locrian: Tense, foreboding

@@RohannvanRensburg This is exactly how I interpret them too (especially mixolydian=adventure).

Locrian is evil because of diminished tonic

What about the blues scale?

@@ninj-as7710 Just sounds like blues to me 😂

😂

Melodic resolution's overrated

😂🤣🤣🤣

Major pentatonic is the brightest, prove me wrong

Conan Obrien

The whole tone scale could either be absolutely horrific like a slow decent into hell, or like that music that plays before a character has a flashback. It just depends on if you play it ascending or descending.

Dorian does have an inverse. It's dorian.

Ah, so dorian is a palindrome and hence the 'central' mode

I think you nailed it except for Phrygian is actually more brooding, but it does depend how the song is using it

kinky lmfao

Lol nice

“Hmmm kinky!”

I guess that would make Super Locrian bb7's description "Full Blown Psychopath."

I was actually thinking about this when I was writing the script! If I made the spectrum long enough for that scale though it wouldn't fit into the dimensions of a youtube video!

tfw so bright you have sharpened octaves

Pretty difficult to compare when S-U-H-M-M-Lydian doesn’t repeat at the octave, basically a 48-note scale 😂. Can’t belong to any key either. I think it’s mostly a harmonic tool, nothing to stop ya using it like a scale tho I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Xplayer007 that would be sickening

Jayjay McFly I believe Jacob Collier coined the term

I’m glad it was helpful Thomas!

Thanks!

Brian Sulway thanks 🙏

Wow, so the Dorian really is the the most balanced mode !

Can someone please explain this to me?

Nevermind, got it. 😊

@@thisisnotmyname4700 actually I'm still not getting it hah so if you could explain that would be fantastic!

@@smaradav_ Haha I had to revisit as I was confused again. Ok so they are saying that the 'scale' you use for each mode is as above. Pick any key then count. Say C. Lydian will have C, G, D, A, E, B, and F#. Just following the fifths around the circle. Does that make sense? That is the same as saying C, D, E, F#, G, A, B. Or saying Lydian is raised fourth.

You're very welcome! At my school, modes were taught in a very dry manner... 100% theory, 0% application or examples!

Pun intended?

Bill Pot you’re welcome 😊

I often consider the minor 7 flat 5 as a negative harmony chord sub for the V7. Or perhaps a Locrian modal interchange. In either sense I think it'd be rare to find a song rooted firmly in Locrian mode, even a jazz song. But I'm slowly transitioning from classical to jazz so there's still lots for me to learn

you're welcome!

Eugene Panfilov 🙂🙂🙂🙂

True

Well said

Just like if you were to sharpen the 7th degree in minor, your would get harmonic minor which is way darker than minor

The other way of finding a scale brightness in relation to another one is to play all the major scale modes, until completely internalizing them, and then create your own darkest to brightest sequence simply by using your ears.

Except they aren't random, the notes being altered is the circle or fifths. Starting from C Lydian, lower F#, then B, then E, then A, then D then G to get Locrian. The question I have is how do you compare two scales with the same brightness? Dorian, Double harmonic and Neapolitan Major all have the same brightness but sound very different. So is there a subtler distinction in brightness or another continuum upon which to arrange them?

Cheers!

Bill Johnson 🙏🙏

it's just the 7th mode of the melodic min scale...loc b4... the ion #4,#5 is just the 3rd mode of the melodic min scale. YOu can go like this...Push UP from A min towards A MAJOR. b3, b6, b7 b3, b6 Harmonic min G# b3 Melodic min F#, G# b3 #4 Melodic min #4 D# F# G# b6 Harmonic MAJOR C# b3, b5 b6 Harmonic min b5 Eb, G# b2, b3 b6 Harmonic min b2 Bb, G# b3, #4, b6 Harmonic min #4 D#, G# b2, b3 Melodic min b2 Bb, F#, G# b3, b5 Melodic min b5 Eb, F#, G# Ion #6 That's the A # note. A MAJOR C#, F#, G# You can also reverse the process...Push DOWN from C MAJOR towards min Use the 5 BLACKs on the keyboard to guide you. b6 = Harmonic MAJOR b3 = Melodic min b3, b6 = Harmonic min b3, b6, b7 = Natural min b3, #4 b3, b5 b2, b3 b2, b3, b6 b3, b5, b6 b3, #4 b6 it'll give 70-ea different MODES ( INTERVALS) 7 notes scales...variations. They had to term them something....I wasnt alive or greek at the time. I personally dont care what you term it..as long you know what the intervals are....Think of me as an eskimo..that dosnt speak, greek, english, german. french. chinese, spanish, french, italian...ect

It's just the altered scale. You can think of it as all tones of the major scale flatted, except for 1. There you go.

@ you could go like this too. Aeo Maj7 = harmonic min dor maj7 = Melodic min phry maj7 = harmonic min b2 mix maj7 = ionian loc Maj7 = Mix #2 The only different between dorian and aeo is maj6 or b6 dor b2 maj7 dor #4 maj7 dor b5 Maj7 aeo b2 maj7 aeo #4 Maj7 aeo b5 Maj7 if you play Harmonic min b5 and Melodic min b5 ( b6 and maj6) it's the Full diminished WHOLE/Half it;s 4th mode is Lydian dominant b2 or dorian b2, #4 ( Both) b3 and Maj3 Which is FULL DIMINISHED HALF/WHOLE. Becuase it's SYMMETRICALS. or inverted 4th/5th Play the BOTH over the SAME ROOT. lol or if you start with the full dim whole/half.. You could play the lydian dominant b2 ...with b3 and maj3 over the 2. 4, b6, 7 chord degree or if you start the with full dim HALF/WHOLE you could play the harmonic min b5/ with maj6 b2, 3, 5, b7 or 3, 5, b7, b9....note/chord degree...lol The N6 harmonic min b2 or melodic min b2 will make more sense.. from A min.....i could play A lydian b3 ( possible dimished) A min....C dim in C# min/E MAJOR once in C# min....play D7 E7 into A min again.lmao That's applying the (N6) or D maj7 E7 F# min/A Major A harmonic MAJOR = D min/dim E7 A Harmonic min = Dmin/dim E7 Or you could had played... A min B dim C# dim into D min ( melodic min) But what if I DID NOT TELL you that... and simply played into the D min chord.... or even do this, Amin, Bb maj7, B dim CMaj C# aug D min, Eb MAj E dim F Maj F# dim G Maj. G# dim into A min ????? lol G7 ( mix #4) A7 ( mix b6) into D min if you play Mix b6 with maj7 its just A HARMONIC MAJOR :-P or after you play the D min chord..You could had just play the Eb Maj7 chord to C MINOR G7 into C MAJOR or C min...works. but it's going to make all the sense in the world how you can basically play whatever chords over all 12 note degree and still be in C MAJOR/Amin.lol All 12 notes WORK.

Haha had the same

@@GodFirstnl it's just the loc b4... all that means is jazz head playing it 1, b4, b7...omitng the b5. Then stacking the b9 on top... or 1, b4, b6 ( augmented) You could just play the phry b4...if you wanna play the 5th..fukkk it just play both ( modulate) so you'll have the tritone as a passing/option note. or you could just play the Mix #2, #4...alter them bicthes like this 1, 3, 5, b7 or 1, #2, 5, b7....or 1, #2, #4 or 1, #2. #4, 6 or 1, #2, #4, b7 You also get this loc b4, bb6, bb7 :-P This way the C# MAJOR (VII) will make sense to ya when you play A7 into D min..Then C # Maj , Bb min, G min C7 into F MAJOR...in What a wonderful world by Louis Armstrong. You could play the G min as G7 it'll just be the IV ( mix #4) of D melodic min ..Play G7 into C7 into F MAJOR..( II, IV, I) The II chord had been alter to a dominant or Major. The beatles did it all the time.. It donst have to be jazz Just in a different KEYs When you play STAIRWAY to HEAVEN..the second chord in the song. The G# AUGMENTED is borrow from A melodic min...or notes from the G# loc b4..The b3 is stack on top