In this video you can hear me playing a piece of music I improvised and named A Marigold among Roses. The modal colours brought to my mind the image of a single sunny marigold amongst a bed of rich velvety red, fragile, yet thorny roses. In folklore, marigolds often symbolise optimism and light, but also grief, longing and remembrance. Roses often symbolise love and passion. It was an image of love enduring through sorrow; bittersweet truth and resilience amidst fragility; and nostalgic memory and optimistic hope kept inside a living fortress.
I started and ended this improvisation in A flat major, whose rich warmth and sweetness and conventional, stable harmonies brought to my mind the idea of red roses with their intense fragrance and traditional representation of passion. Frequent add 9 chords, suspensions and 11th chords created longing, and that tension between fragility and strength.
F Dorian brought a bittersweet reflective centre inside the safe A flat major container, its minor 3rd creating sorrow and its major 6th creating a glow of yellow-orange light and optimism. Its less conventional or classical harmonies created an unexpected presence within familiar surroundings.
Mode Table
| Mode | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♭ Major (Ionian) | A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G | A♭ Major | 1st mode of A♭ Major |
| F Dorian | F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D – E♭ | E♭ Major | 2nd mode of E♭ Major |
Interval Formulas
Major (Ionian) Mode Formula:
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7
Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Major 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
