Here is a video of a piano improvisation of mine which I named A Fractal Tempest. The title is inspired by the fact that structurally, this piece of music is a kind of fractal — where the micro architecture reflects the macro framework. The macro structure is C Aeolian, but within each chord in the C Aeolian chord progression is a Dorian chord-scale pairing. The Aeolian and Dorian modes share close similarities in their largely minor structure, but like fractals in nature, there are organic and dynamic variations. Like internal turbulence within a storm system, and micro gusts of wind within a larger cyclone, the music felt tempestuous in its geometry. 

I started this piece with harmonic progressions within C Aeolian, sticking closely to the mode, with its overriding darkness and elegiac colour.

Then I took three of the chords from the C Aeolian progression — Cm, Gm and Fm — and turned each one into a Dorian chord-scale pairing, cycling the three modes, frequently in the form of modal triads in the right hand over the minor chords in the left hand. The specific scale notes that transformed each root into a Dorian mode tonic added turbulence, energy, darkness and light in their displaced appearance within the overall Aeolian structure. 

The piece closed in C Aeolian, and this coda, like the introduction, stayed strictly in the mode, as opposed to chord-scale pairings of earlier, while the music drew to a sorrowful close, with the storm settling and quietening. 

Mode Table

Mode	Note Names	Parent Scale	Modal Relationship
C Aeolian	C – D – E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭	E♭ Major	6th mode of E♭ Major
C Dorian	C – D – E♭ – F – G – A – B♭	B♭ Major	2nd mode of B♭ Major
G Dorian	G – A – B♭ – C – D – E – F	F Major	2nd mode of F Major
F Dorian	F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D – E♭	E♭ Major	2nd mode of E♭ Major

Interval Formulas

Aeolian Mode Formula:

1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7

Root, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Minor 7th

Dorian Mode Formula:

1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7

Root, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Minor 7th

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

A Sun’s Darkness — Improvisation in F Lydian ♯2, D Aeolian, G Dorian, D Phrygian & D♯ Mixolydian ♭6

Half a Step Elsewhere — Improvisation in C Dorian & B Dorian

Elegy for the Edge of Indigo — Improvisation in B♭ Aeolian, D Lydian ♯2 & D Lydian