JohnnyoftheWell: Musical Modes Ranked

JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Opinions please, must be some theory kids out there. Am about 70% the Epic chorus is Dorian but would appreciate someone wiser confirming that one and Five String Serenade
twlight 05.17.19	dope list, i agree although Ionian would be higher for me becasue im highly emotional
SteakByrnes 05.17.19	1 is 1, that's always been my favorite mode to play in and to listen to
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	@ twlichty aha given that I was v tempted to stick a Solterra track (several options) in as a case study of Ionian, this surprises me not at all ;]
brainmelter 05.17.19	swell list dude
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Oh also! In my head this (or at least the first riff/verses) is mixolydian but that major 7th lead guitar is so sweet I'm not so sure atm - anyone care to weigh in? https://open.spotify.com/track/46xq8G76s0JI0YJiahL6Zf?si=uv6T8SEKQfKU5996iMFlSw
J() Alexander 05.17.19	Ranking modes? That's an odd one, I never thought about it... Uhhhhhhhhhh, going with, umh, Dorian for least favorite and uh, idk, Locrian for favorite, because those Locrian parts in Jeux are very cool, and it's the weird one.
Sinternet 05.17.19	aeolian is 1
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Endless aeolian can be a bit predictable/gloomy (depending on style) but it's a staple for a reason, for sure
ArsMoriendi 05.17.19	What mode is Inca Roads by Zappa in?
ArsMoriendi 05.17.19	Google said it's lydian. I vote for lydian as best then.
Bedex 05.17.19	Wonderful list concept, marvelously pretentious.
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	i can't believe you did not include maiden's powerslave and Scorpions's sails of charon under the phrygian tag in general, the phrygian is one of the most common modes in rock and metal music although very few musicians actually know how to use it well
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	Also, phrygian becomes a bit boring to use after a while. You can try and throw a little bit of the hungarian mode (which is one of my favorites), and you can come up with some really mysterious and eerie tunes.
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Yeah agreed on both its prominence in those genres (though nearly as much as aeolian) and its boringness with overuse - I stuck it up top because its versatility and compellingness at its best, but I wouldn't want to listen to a whole album of phrygian songs. Loses its mystique. I remember looking at the hungarian mode a while back, sounds like a more viable locrian mixed with horror house vibes, no?
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	With the "correct" effects and some fantasy thrown in the mix, yes, it may sound really spooky. I never correlated it with the locrian mode, though. To me, it sounds way too middle eastern. That's why some scholars may say that both phrygian and hungarian are pretty much interchangeable; there's only one note that makes the difference if i remember correctly. But to my ears, that note marks a significant change in the overall sound.
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	one correction if you allow me: "Sometimes it's essentially the harmonic minor with less overtly minor chords" I think that's not entirely accurate. The Phrygian dominant scale is the 5th mode of the harmonic minor which means that if you start playing from the 5th note of the phrygian and onwards, you're playing through the exact same note pattern with the harmonic minor scale. However, there is a huge difference: The gap between the first three notes. In Ph. dominant you begin with the root note followed by a minor second and a major third, whereas in the harmonic minor, the pattern is almost the "opposite".
bgillesp 05.17.19	Grateful Dead play a ton in Dorian and Mixolydian, so those should be higher
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	that of course unless we're not talking about the phrygian dominant, but the phrygian scale which is even further from what a modern harmonic minor scale sounds like
Kompys2000 05.17.19	Phrygian is a solid pick for # 1, though my poptimist ass stans Ionian all day long
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	"one correction..." Was hoping for comments like this! I get what you mean (and played the two through a couple of times to clock it) and see the difference better now - and yup, meant Phrygian dominant (not Phrygian minor) @bgillesp the reasons those two are low are the same as why I could never get into the Grateful Dead :[
0GuyMan0 05.17.19	Which one is the melancholy one?
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Aeolian, some Lydian or some slow Ionian (which is more bittersweet tbh)?
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	the pentatonic does not count i suppose nor it is worthy to discuss XD
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	"Which one is the melancholy one?" aeolian mode, or one of the following minor scales (harmonic, natural, melodic)
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	the minor pentatonic is also quite melancholic in nature but in its simplest form of expression it bears little resemblance with western music, it sounds more Japanese
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Haha diatonic only! I threw pentatonic up with aeolian because the brand of rock I associate with it probably comes closest to that, though And I remember watching a playthrough of a range of Japanese pentatonic scales, which were q interesting because they each captured some elements of some modes but in a way that seemed far less flexible (and I guess limited in chord progressions)
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	i see, it's all a matter of personal preference then, it's all good but no one can deny that every bit o a classic rock song out there has a little bit of pentatonic thrown in the mix
rockandmetaljunkie 05.17.19	johnny, check this video if you haven't, quite awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk
JohnnyoftheWell 05.17.19	Nothing wrong with a bit of nifty pentatonic ;] That vid is ace aha, love it
0GuyMan0 05.18.19	so I have played guitar most of my life, but don't read music and never took lessons. Have always had trouble describing why I like melancholy so much, and now I have Aeolian to learn about, so thank you.
Friday13th 05.18.19	dope list [2] "Pretty Ballerina" by Left Banke alone makes myxolidian top 5
loulou 05.18.19	Heart shaped box mix dorian and aeolian
bloc 05.18.19	Dorian is my fav minor, and Lydian is my favourite major
anarchistfish 05.18.19	dorian and phrygian are probably my favourites outside major/minor
anarchistfish 05.18.19	shit is heart shaped box really in dorian? thought it was A minor for sure
budgie 05.18.19	does anyone know why the modes are named the way they are? i just know they are classical names for areas in greece/turkey, at least, phrygia, aiolia, lydia, doria, locria
JohnnyoftheWell 05.19.19	I wouldn't have clocked Heart Shaped Box as Dorian if I hadn't read it somewhere; because the verse chords have so many classic rock vibes (so yeah, Aeolian), but I hear Dorian in the chorus
rockandmetaljunkie 05.19.19	@budgie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian Look it up, it's not that hard to figure out. "Aeolian or Eolian refers to things related to Aeolus, the Greek God of wind and patriarch of the Greeks of Aeolia" Also: "Aeolians, an ancient Greek tribe allegedly descended from Aeolus, son of Hellen" "Dorians, one of the main ethnic divisions of ancient Greeks" These main ethnic divisions, (mainly 4 races, the aeolians, Achaeans, Ionians & Dorians), were the first inhabitants of ancient Greece. They descended from the northern lands (the Balkan Peninsula), and established colonies. Each tribe had "songs" based on a motif, or an array of notes put randomly together. Without having a "form" or some kind of arragement, those modes were literally scattered notes of random tunes that passed on from generation to generation. The tunes represented each group. The Aeolian mode was named after the Aeolians and so on. After the 10th century AD, scholars tried to condense and rearrange these "scattered" notes and arrange them in a way you could "read" them. Thus, the scales were written. And Modes became what we have today. And the Aeolian mode became the natural minor scale and so on.
KjSwantko 05.19.19	You can basically just put Kirk Hammett for Phrygian, as I think it's the only scale of any type he knows.
rockandmetaljunkie 05.19.19	i hope i offered some insightful info
rockandmetaljunkie 05.19.19	@KjSwantko You mean, Malmsteen. Because what Hammett plays most of the time is the diatonic scales (pentatonic)
ramon. 05.19.19	Fantastic list. Lydian is probably my favourite mode, much for the reasons you stated. Makes up a lot of the dreamier motifs in Koji Kondo’s (and Nintendo by extension) repertoire which I adore. Definitely an easy mode to overdo, though maybe due to the OST nature of the stuff I appreciate it most in, a constantly varied context gives it more breathing room. I guess I’d have to agree on locrian being my least favourite, though that’s purely due to a lack of decent exposure. I’ve fucked around with it in alternate guitar tunings but seldom come back to it.
budgie 05.20.19	dude i just got a "recommended video suggestion" on youtube about bjork using locrian mode what the fuck!
J() Alexander 05.20.19	That video has been in my recommend for a couple months. I'll never watch it.
budgie 05.20.19	good me either it will probably possess us or something man
50iL 05.20.19	Bruh. Lydian is best, for sure. Specially Lydian minor, augmented, and b7. I also love altered forms of Dorian; b2, #4, al that jazz. Also, Mixolydian itself sounds pretty boring. If you b6 it, though, it is fucking awesome. Same if you b2 it, but that's technically Phrygian dominant.
ConcubinaryCode 05.20.19	This is so out of my depth
ramon. 05.20.19	@conc click on each of the timestamps in this video starting with the one at 4:20 (lol) and ending with the locrian one at 11:44 to get a quick idea of what each mode sounds like, modes aren't as scary as this thread might imply though there is certainly scope to get funky and big brane with them https://youtu.be/bwaeBUYcO5o
Space Jester 05.20.19	“This is so out of my depth” Not once you learn!
ConcubinaryCode 05.20.19	I kinda get it. It's like a sounds personality. I like Dorian and phrygian best by ear
ConcubinaryCode 05.20.19	Also locrian isn't as bad as the guy made it out to be.
ramon. 05.20.19	"It's like a sounds personality." yea, spot on. "Also locrian isn't as bad as the guy made it out to be." all modes sound great in a vacuum afaic, it is just an incredibly difficult mode to implement as the foundation of a fully structured song, hence there being so few songs out there that are based around it. but yea, some people have no mercy for locrian
Sevengill 05.20.19	I've been playing music for 25 years and majored in classical theory and I still don't understand modes. it just sounds like things being played in the wrong key, circling back to not-tonic. learning guitar lately has at least helped me understand how modes have become a thing, but they still makes no sense to me on a keyboard.
ConcubinaryCode 05.20.19	Would doubt by the cure be locrian?
BlindHouse 05.20.19	These names all sound like albums by The Ocean
Sevengill 05.20.19	I prefer to play in Orosirian mode