Do chord progressions have modes or is. It just scales. Take the C major scale for example. You play the scale over a progression in the key of G major. The tonal center of the scale changes to G. It is now a different scale, different key. But the same notes.
Now lets move to chord progressions. I play Folsom prison blues in G major a 1, 4, 5 progression. So the chords are G, C and D majors. I play sweet home Alabama with the same chords but the tonal center revolves around the D major chord. The progression is now 1, 4, 7. Same chords, different key, different progression.
Chord progressions don't have modes.
But there are some bits you've got confused...
If you play a C major scale over a progression that's in G, you're still playing a C major scale. The chord will not change the melody in any way - that's still a C major scale. Scales and chords usually compliment each other, but sometimes they don't - in the example you give, they don't, and that's OK (it's called bitonality - the chords are in one key, the melody in another)
Folsom Prison is in the key of G, so the I-IV-V chords are G, C, and D. Sweet Home Alabama is ALSO in the key of G: it's V (D) - IV (C) - I (G). Don't make the mistake of thinking the first chord is the key you're in - that's true half the time or less. Yes, I know there are lots of websites that claim the tune is in D - they're mistaken. What defines "key" is the tonal center - the point where everything sounds like it's come to a resting place. Play through the opening riff of Sweet Home, and notice where that happens - it's on the G chord. And that means G is the tonal center... which makes it the I chord.
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OK, I'm confused now. If I'm playing the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, F, over a G magor key, I'm still playing a C major scale? When does it become G (can't think of the mode name right now :-P)?
Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. I'm only just starting to seriously start working on major scales. I've been playing with pentetonics for a couple of years and noodled around with major and relative minor scales but not much beyond noodling. The articles I've read about modes are above my pay grade. I think I should look around for something along the lines of " modes for the completely inept "
It becomes a G scale if the tonal center becomes G.
Don't' feel bad about it - many of the articles about modes that I've seen may have been written by the completely inept. The bottom line is petty simple: almost all melodies will have a "tonal center", a place that feels like home. That tonal center is the note that names the scale. Tonal centers can't be identified by any mechanical process - you'll hear that they're the first note used, last note used, note used most often, etc. - but for every rule I've ever heard I can compose a melody that has a clear tonal center different from the one the rule implies. The tonal center is just the note that feels like home. If you're playing "Happy Birthday" starting from G, your tonal center will be C - because that's where the melody feels like its coming to rest.
If you change the chords to Happy Birthday but keep the melody the same, the tonal center stays C. The tonal center of a melody has nothing to do with the chords.
Chord progressions may also have a tonal center. In a chord progression, the tonal center is the point of rest following the point of greatest tension. This is often a V-I cadence.
The two tonal centers may agree, or not. If they disagree, they may do so convincingly... or not. People playing modal music typically keep things simple by avoiding dominant 7th chords in their progressions (which avoids many cadences), but there's no requirement they do.
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Ok, I tried playing those notes and changing the tonal center to play different modes but it either sounds like C major or A minor only it sounds off. I'm not sure how to make different modes work.
Think about them as altered scales.
For example, you should think of C Lydian as "C major with F#". If you try to think of it as "G major starting from C" you're thinking in the wrong tonal center (G instead of C). The notes are the same, but the approach makes all the difference.
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I think I'm gonna have to put aside some money and get your book because now that I'm thinking in about how things work rather than just what works I'm coming up with loads of questions.
The best approach to them is simply to forget you ever heard of them.
Yes, I mean that. Just forget they exist, play or compose in major or minor, then explore the sonic effect of altering individual notes as you see fit to get the effect you like.
Voila, problem solved.
The second approach is to think of them as alterations of the major and minor scales. Just like harmonic minor is natural minor with a natural 7 instead of a b7 and melodic minor is harmonic minor with a natural 6 instead of a b6.
Major modes:
Ionian = major scale (1_2_34_5_6_78)
Lydian = major scale with a #4 (1_2_3_#45_6_78)
Mixolydian = major scale with a b7 (1_2_34_5_6b7_8)
Minor modes:
Aeolian = natural minor scale (1_2b3_4_5b6_b7_8)
Dorian = natural minor with a natural 6 instead of b6 (1_2b3_4_5_6b7_8)
Phrygian = natural minor with a b2 (1b2_b3_4_5b6_b7_8)
Locrian = Phrygian with a b5 (1b2b3_4b5b6b7_8), unplayable, i.e. without a 5, you cannot make 1 sound like the root.
And of course, in order to make music sound "modal" you have to avoid the chords that will push back into normal major/minor harmony. This means that modes (if they are anything) are a composer's tool rather than a player's. In effect this means that modal music avoids dominant chords, avoids the V and avoids chord "progressions", instead tending to hang on one or two (not I-V) chords for a long time.
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Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
