Modes and the Circle of Fifths

[Jean-Michel G]

In his last lesson, Brian touches upon the Dorian mode, and that reminded me of something I learned quite some time ago and found interesting.
DISCLAIMER: What follows may not be very useful in practice, but if you struggle with modes, this may help you see them from a different perspective.

In the attached pdf, page 1 represents all the modes that have C as their tonal center, I.e.:
– C Major (aka C Ionian)
– C Mixolydian
– C Dorian
– C Aeolian (aka C Natural Minor)
– C Phrygian
– C Locrian
– C Lydian

BE CAREFUL: those are NOT the modes of the C major scale!
The modes of the major scale are:
– C Major (tonal center is C… duh!)
– D Dorian (tonal center is D)
– E Phrygian (tonal center is E)
– F Lydian (tonal center is F)
– G Mixolydian (tonal center is G)
– A Aeolian (tonal center is A)
– B Locrian (tonal centre is B)

All the modes of the C major scale have the same exact notes as the C major scale, but they emphasize different tonal centers.
Here, we talk about all the modes that have the same tonal center (C in this case). They don’t all have the exact same notes! For example, C Mixolydian has the exact same notes as F major.

All these modes are represented on the circle of fifths. As you can see, if you start with the C major scale you can easily get the C Mixolydian scale by replacing the B with a Bb.
Next, starting from the C Mixolydian, you get C Dorian by replacing E with Eb. And so on and so forth.

Now, musicians usually associate flats with “darkness” and sharps with brightness.
Put differently, if you start from any particular reference note on the circle of fifths (for example: C):
– everything located in the clockwise direction wrt that note would be considered “brighter”
– everything located in the counter-clockwise direction wrt that note would be considered “darker”
Nothing is ever dark or bright in and by itself; it’s always “brioghter” or “darker” than something else.

So, for the tonal center C we can order the modes from “brightest” to “darkest” as follows: C Lydian, C Major (Ionian), C Mixolydian, C Dorian, C Aeolian, C Phrygian, C Locrian. You’ll find this on page 2 of the attached pdf.

As you can see, C Dorian is the most “balanced” mode with as many notes in the clockwise direction wrt to C as notes in the counter-clockwise direction.
This will always be the case: for any tonal center, the Dorian mode will always be “central”.
Maybe this is why this mode is so appealing?

[charjo]

Interesting perspective on modes and another way to see the circle of fifth’s. I’ve heard of the “brightness” concept but never seen it displayed so clearly. Thanks, Jean-Michel.
John

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