THE MODES
You read correctly, I wrote “MODES” not “MODAL SCALES”.
The “Unaltered Diatonic Modes” are the basic structure of modal composition.
They can be altered, and in that case, their use is relative to the need to create tension or the desire to modify the color of the Mode, especially in the case of a composition in which we use only one Mode or a few Modes.
In any case, their use is not predominant but localized or rather ALTERNATED with the use of “unaltered diatonic Modes”.
In tonal compositions of various musical genres—jazz, classical, pop—we find recurring chordal patterns; these are articulated among themselves according to the rules and hierarchy of Tonal Harmony, where every chord has a specific function and is part of a chord progression that only has meaning when taken as a whole; the chords of such a sequence are like the elements of a mosaic, which have no harmonic meaning when taken alone. In Modal Harmony, the MODE, with the melodic line arising from it and its chords, can exist even on its own; it has an autonomous life. The melodic line may not even exist—it is not indispensable; when it is present, it is more of a refrain in the true sense of the term, something that returns from time to time during the composition and which, however, is expressed in different ways.
Modal Harmony is expressed through the Mode, viewed as an autonomous and complete harmonic environment; there are no preparatory chords to other chords, and there are no cadences as they are conceived in tonalism.
The D- in the II-V-I is often erroneously defined as D Dorian; in effect, it is so only regarding the spelling of the scale, therefore it is correct to speak of a Dorian scale rather than a Dorian Mode; its function is the II in the tonal harmonic progression II-V-I.
The Dorian Mode is absolutely not just a scale; it is a harmonic and expressive environment, an autonomous functional whole, not a chord or a scale within a harmonic progression. The recurring superficiality with which many texts treat Modal Harmony has favored the spread of the concept that to practice Modal Harmony, it is sufficient to know modal scales. This concept is erroneous; at the moment we dedicate ourselves to Modal Harmony, modal scales must be seen only as the alphabet—it is not enough to know vowels and consonants to speak; one must know a language and, moreover, above all, one must have mental content to express. Modal language uses modal scales to create the Mode, but one must know modal thought to appropriately use the Mode with the aim of being able to express oneself.
In Tonal Harmony, we can introduce the use of some concepts related to Modes, such as modal interchange, but more than that, such practice is linked to the substitution of one modal scale with another modal scale. The name Dorian, Mixolydian, or any other given name in Tonal Harmony for a scale is exclusively in relation to the spelling of that scale.
The Dorian Mode, or Phrygian, or any other Mode, is much more than a scale; it is a way of being, an emotional character, a style, a harmonic world, a self-sufficient harmonic system that goes far beyond the spelling of a modal scale, which on its own is not a self-sufficient harmonic system.
“The modal scale stands to the Mode as a two-dimensional photograph stands to three-dimensional reality.”
A Mode is neither major nor minor; it is itself and nothing else. It is often stated that Aeolian, Dorian, and Phrygian Modes are minor modes because they have a flat third in the scale, whereas Lydian, Mixolydian, and Ionian are major modes because they have a major third in the scale; this is not true. A Mode is neither major nor minor; it is itself. This definition of major or minor is the result of transposing the Western rational-tonal mentality onto the Mode. Awareness of this point is important because it changes the approach to the Mode: if we conceptualize the Mode within the framework of a tonal mentality, we achieve nothing; it is important to conceptualize the Mode outside of the tonal mentality. If we decide to create a composition with a sad, meditative character, we use the Dorian Mode; if we decide to create a composition that expresses an intense feeling of passion, we use the Aeolian Mode. The definition of minor given to a Mode solely in relation to the fact that it possesses a minor third is superficial and inadequate to what Modes truly express.