Modal Formulas For Finding The Seven Modes

The 7 modal formulas will show us how the other scales relate to ionian. We will start off by assuming that ionian is:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

One letter for each of the seven notes. By assuming this information, we can now label the other scales and have something to relate it to. I will explain further below.

The 7 modal formulas are:

IONIAN - 0 sharps, 0 flats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
DORIAN - 2 flats 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 1
PHRYGIAN - 4 flats 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 1
LYDIAN - 1 sharp 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 1
MIXOLYDIAN - 1 flat 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 1
AEOLIAN - 3 flats 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 1
LOCRIAN - 5 flats 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 1

What this means is that to get dorian (which has two flats) you would take ionian and just flat the 3rd and 7th notes. This is because it will be all of the exact same notes as ionian EXCEPT for the 3rd and the 7th, as the chart above shows.

Its a good idea to have these formulas memorized, but I found them difficult to memorize this way. We will go on to "the order of flats" as covering that now seems to make this easier to remember.

BackMenuNext


Sponsored Links

  • Shop Guitar Center
  • Free shipping at Booksamillion.com

Announcements

If this site has helped you, then please take a minute and donate something. From now on anyone who makes a donation of $10 or more will be sent a free Adobe .pdf booklet that includes all of the guitar and bass lessons in the modal section in a format that is easy to print, view, and take with you on a mobile device, etc. Just use any one of the Paypal donation buttons on the site. I will check this daily and e-mail the booklet to the address you use for paypal.

  • Share Us!
  • share on facebook
  • share lessons on Twitter
  • delicious
  • stumble theory lessons
  • share on reddit
  • digg guitar lessons