This video captures a piano improvisation of mine which I named A Dream in Gold and Grey. The modes and textures brought to my mind the image and feeling of a warm radiant golden light, gently glowing through a twilight grey mist in a floating dreamscape, where shapes lose their defined edges and light loses its harsh glare. It’s a dream of the last rays of sun passing through a dark bank of rainclouds at dusk that seem to glow from beneath despite their greyness, and the golden warmth of bittersweet nostalgia, and a sea mist of sorrow and shadowed memory rolling in.
Mode Table Showing Modes Used, Note Names, and Parent Scales
| Modes Used | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
| F♯ Mixolydian | F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – E | B Major | 5th mode of B Major |
| F♯ Aeolian (Natural Minor) | F♯ – G♯ – A – B – C♯ – D – E | A Major | 6th mode of A Major |
Interval Formulas
Mixolydian Mode Formula:
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Minor 7th
Learn more about the Mixolydian mode here.
Aeolian Mode Formula:
1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7
Root, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Minor 7th
Learn more about the Aeolian mode (natural minor scale) here.
Further Reading and Listening
Learn more about modes here: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
How to Improvise on the Piano — A Basic Method
Learn more about major scales here
Learn more about melodic minor and harmonic minor scales here
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