Imagine a secret castle, the stuff of wonderlands, fairytales, bedtime stories, and dream imagery; where the kings and queens are under a magic spell, a princess is in an eternal sleep, and beyond the grand entrance there’s a maze of secret corridors and rooms deep within the dark recesses of the building. These are the sorts of images that came to mind when improvising with this combination of modes — the majestic, magical and twilit D Mixolydian flat 6 mode; the gentle and lyrical D Mixolydian mode; the dreamy and ethereal C Lydian mode; and the uncanny, dark and strange C Dorian flat 2 mode. This mix of bright, shadowed and otherworldly sounding modes brought to my mind the idea of a secret castle and its symbolism for the hidden power of what lies beneath everyday awareness, protected within the concealed passages of the mind. I recorded this improvisation one Saturday morning when I had a spare few minutes in between teaching lessons over Zoom, and had no idea (but plenty of curiosity) of what was going to come out — this is the result:
I used the modes in the following order:
D Mixolydian ♭6
The Mixolydian flat 6 mode has a hybrid dark-light feel due to its bright major 3rd degree and shaded minor 6th degree — for me this echoed the idea of exploring hidden passages and corridors in the secret castle that reveal not just the shadows we expect, but also the light we had forgotten. Both the darkness and wonder of a fairytale.
D Mixolydian
The gentle lyricism of the Mixolydian mode made me think of the comfort of a child’s bedtime story; and pastoral scenery — the castle hidden in some faraway land.
C Lydian
Then the Lydian mode embodies that sense of wonder, magic and expansiveness in fairytales, dreams and fantasy realms.
C Dorian ♭2
The Dorian flat 2 mode (aka Phrygian natural 6 mode) has an enigmatic and unsettling sound, making me think of a door opening onto a staircase that wasn’t there before.
I then moved back through C Lydian before closing in D Mixolydian flat 6.
Modes Used, Their Note Names, and Parent Scales
| Mode | Notes | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| D Mixolydian ♭6 | D E F♯ G A B♭ C | G Melodic Minor | 5th mode of Melodic Minor |
| D Mixolydian | D E F♯ G A B C | G Major | 5th mode of Major |
| C Lydian | C D E F♯ G A B | G Major | 4th mode of Major |
| C Dorian ♭2 | C D♭ E♭ F G A B♭ | B♭ Melodic Minor | 2nd mode of Melodic Minor |
Interval Formulas:
- Mixolydian ♭6: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7
- Mixolydian: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
- Lydian: 1 – 2 – 3 – ♯4 – 5 – 6 – 7
- Dorian ♭2: 1 – ♭2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7
Further Reading and Listening
Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
