Here is a video in which you can hear me playing a piece of music I improvised on the piano and named A Sea Mist of Stars. The music brought to my mind the image of a hazy, soft blue-green sea mist, and its twilight shade and secretive hidden core, and yet the sunlight catches its droplets of water like an iridescent shimmer of stars. Despite a mournful Aeolian lament, there is a brightening. Despite the deep and endless darkness of the sea and space, there are multiple points of illumination.

I started this improvisation in D Aeolian, which is sorrowful in its minor 3rd, 6th and 7th degrees, and yet a frequent occurrence of the major quality chords within the mode created illumination and hope within the lament.

D Phrygian is an inherently dark mode due to its minor 2nd degree, in addition to its minor 3rd, 6th and 7th. However I strongly leaned into the major quality supertonic chord (♭II) and rising melodic motifs, creating a paradoxical brightening within that darkness.

The A Mixolydian flat 6 mode created a mysterious and misty twilight in its hybrid major-minor sound of major 3rd degree combined with minor 6th and 7th. That bright major 3rd creates a shimmer of light, preventing the mode from tipping fully into darkness. 

Mode Table

Mode	Note Names	Parent Scale	Modal Relationship
D Aeolian (Natural Minor)	D – E – F – G – A – B♭ – C	F Major	6th mode of F Major
D Phrygian	D – E♭ – F – G – A – B♭ – C	B♭ Major	3rd mode of B♭ Major
A Mixolydian ♭6	A – B – C♯ – D – E – F – G	D Melodic Minor	5th mode of D Melodic Minor

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

Phrygian Mode Formula:

1 – ♭2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7

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

Mixolydian ♭6 Mode Formula:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7

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

The Star So Far Away — Improvisation in G Lydian ♯2 & B Aeolian 

Painting the Night Sky — Improvisation in G Dorian ♭2 & Phrygian; C, G & D Mixolydian ♭6; D Lydian & Lydian Augmented

The Unscripted Sea — Improvisation in C Aeolian & F Dorian ♯4

Laburnum Tree — Improvisation in G Dorian, B♭ Lydian & B♭ Lydian ♯2