In this video you can hear me playing a piece of music I improvised on the piano and named A Flower Found Only in Dreams. For me, the music felt like stepping into a world of nostalgic warmth and sorrow with memories of hazy summer fields and echoes of vibrant hedgerows of fragrant blooms. But this world is ephemeral, and bookended by an ethereal and unsettling shadow of uncertainty. And what remains is the wonder and unanswered questions — was it all real? And perhaps some of that light and wistfulness was carried through with us to the other side.
My inspiration for the narrative for this piece faintly echoes a thought experiment by the English poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which was later written about by the Argentinian writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges in his essay The Flower of Coleridge.
P.S. Extemporaneously composed piano music can help rescue cats find homes. No, that wasn’t a typo. Should you wish to peer review this claim, you can examine the evidence here.
Mode Table Showing Note Names of Modes Used and Their Parent Scales
| Mode | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| E Lydian Dominant | E – F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D | B Melodic Minor | 4th mode of B Melodic Minor |
| B Aeolian (Natural Minor) | B – C♯ – D – E – F♯ – G – A | D Major | 6th mode of D Major |
Interval Formulas
Lydian Dominant Mode Formula:
1 – 2 – 3 – ♯4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Augmented 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Minor 7th
Learn more about the Lydian Dominant 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 here aka the natural minor scale.
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
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