As is usual for me lately, the structure of this improvisation was entirely unplanned, but as I played I felt like I was following a map that was already drawn. Sometimes the music knows the terrain before we do, just like how the heart knows the truth before the head does. When naming this piece of music, I had an image of how our feelings and senses can seem to act like an internal cartography, revealing a landscape that words alone cannot describe. For me, the C Mixolydian mode (when not used in a blues or rock style) tends to have a nostalgic and grounded warmth with a hint of melancholy, and sometimes tranquility too, like a quiet acceptance. The transition into F Dorian sharp 4 brings with it more mystery and sorrow, and a little shade, but also some brightness due to its sharp 4 and lifted major 6th degree — a bit like the feeling of a quiet realisation.
This improvised piece of music starts slow and chordal, in C Mixolydian, and shifts into a texture involving fast broken chords in the accompaniment (often shared between the two hands) with the melody voiced through the top notes. I then modulated to F Dorian sharp 4.
In this piece of music, the harmonic pivot between C Mixolydian and F Dorian sharp 4 takes the tonic triad of C Mixolydian, which is a C chord (a C major chord), and moves straight to the tonic triad of F Dorian sharp 4, which is Fm (an F minor chord). This results in the C chord taking on the function of the dominant (chord V) in F minor — chord V to i in F minor (a C chord to an Fm chord) is a perfect cadence — very common (even inevitable) in functional harmony. For a moment this reinforces the idea that the Fm chord is the tonic triad of the mode we have transitioned into, taking us into the F minor sound world, as opposed to the parent scale of the F Dorian sharp 4 mode (which is C harmonic minor). This kind of functional harmony can give a sense of stability, but this stability was soon replaced by more shadowed terrain as the mode of F Dorian sharp 4 became more established.
When I returned to C Mixolydian I varied some broken chord textures I had used earlier by incorporating polyrhythms — 3s in the right hand against 4s in the left hand. I then closed in C Mixolydian with a return (with variation) of some of the slower opening ideas.
Mode Used, Note Names and Parent Scales
| Mode | Notes | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
| C Mixolydian | C D E F G A B♭ | F Major | 5th mode of Major |
| F Dorian ♯4 | F G A♭ B C D E♭ | C Harmonic Minor | 4th mode of Harmonic Minor |
Interval Formulas:
C Mixolydian: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
F Dorian ♯4: 1 – 2 – ♭3 – ♯4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
Further Reading and Listening
Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
Hazel Tree — Improvisation in D Phrygian Dominant, G Minor, E♭ Lydian Dominant & F Dorian
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