Lets assume you’re playing in the key of C major and you want to use some different modes for extra colour. It seems as though some of the modes work better than others over a major key.
If you are jamming around a major key, typically Ionian, Lydian and Myxolydian modes seem to work best. Dorian can be used with care, and aeolian gives a “bluesy” kind of feel to the improvisation, especially if you use a pentatonic and bend into that blues note rather than using the full aeolian scale. Phrygian and Locrian become harder to work into a major key.
If you are playing around a minor key, say C minor, you would normally find that using the minor modes, Dorian, Aeolian and Phrygian is easier. These incidentally are the “major” modes of the relative major key. If you don’t believe this, start with C at the top and look at what scales you would be playing in order to achieve dorian, aeolian and phrygian mode. Now click on the relative major key to C minor (D#) so that it moves to the top of the circle. What scales would you use for the major modes in D#? Exactly the same set of scales you would use for minor modes in C.
Tags: chord, circle of fifths, key, major, minor, modes, scale
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