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9.3 · The Modes

The dark modes

Four modes carry the minor third, and one already has another name: Aeolian is natural minor. The other three bend it: Dorian brightens one note, Phrygian darkens one, and Locrian destabilizes the floor entirely. Every demo sits on A, so the comparison is direct.

The reference: A Aeolian

Natural minor over an A drone. The shadowed yardstick.

natural minor itself · shadowed, serious: half the radio (Unit 9!).

Dorian: raise the 6

Minor, but the 6th rises a half step. Cooler than sad. Jazz, folk, and every 'mysterious but confident' groove.

♯6

natural minor with a raised 6 · cool, rolling minor: Scarborough Fair · So What · Mad World.

Phrygian: lower the 2

The very first step up from home shrinks to a half step. Instant Spain, instant menace.

♭2

natural minor with a flat 2 · Spanish shadow, menace: flamenco & metal riffs.

Locrian: the unstable one

Flat 2 and flat 5: even the chord on home is diminished, so 'home' never feels safe. Composers visit; almost nobody lives here.

♭2♭5

natural minor with flat 2 and flat 5 · unstable. Home never feels like home: almost nowhere: that absence is the lesson.

Quiz

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Dorian is natural minor with…

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson.Name that mode →