In this video you can hear me playing a piece of music I improvised and named Half a Step Elsewhere. The two modes that I used were parallel, separated by a semitone, aka a half step. The chromatic slides between the two modes felt like moving between parallel universes, at times fully immersed in each one, sometimes sensing the nearness of the other with only a thin veil separating the two. The bittersweet nostalgia of each Dorian mode felt a bit like wondering “what if?” — what if we were in the parallel mode, the alternate reality? Almost like homesickness for an elsewhere that we can no longer access.
Both the C Dorian and B Dorian modes have sorrow and shadow in their minor 3rd degrees, but a warm and bright lift in their major 6th, leading to that wistful, bittersweet and nostalgic character. As they both share exactly the same structure of intervals and scale degrees, they were like two different aspects of the same personality, or two parallel universes where the people and places are the same, but something has subtly changed. That subtle change was a half-step difference between the two modes. At times I lingered on the pivot point between the two modes, where chromatic voice leading and alternations between chords from each mode resulted in that feeling of one foot in one mode and one foot in the other, like a portal where the barrier between two times becomes thinner.
Mode Table Showing Note Names of Modes Used and Their Parent Scales
| Mode | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| C Dorian | C — D — E♭ — F — G — A — B♭ | B♭ Major | 2nd mode of B♭ Major |
| B Dorian | B – C♯ – D – E – F♯ – G♯ – A | A Major | 2nd mode of A Major |
Interval Formula
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
Leave a comment