I recorded this improvisation mainly to note down some ideas before they slipped away, playing on rather tired fingers and with no clear plan — but it grew into a coherent narrative I didn’t expect, despite some technical imperfections: Nocturne in F Dorian.
This improvisation moves between F Dorian and D♭ Lydian, but it also touches on F Phrygian bringing in a darker colour. The texture is a development of one I used in a couple of previous recordings.
The musical texture
The right hand shapes the melody through the upper line of fast, descending broken four-note chords (semiquavers) — developing the theme of fast broken triads that I used in a previous improvisation.
Each group of four semiquavers forms a miniature descending arpeggio; sometimes the entire chord descends, creating a lot of upper extensions, while the top note carries the melody.
The left hand outlines the harmony with a slow pulse of root–fifth–octave — steady, anchoring, almost like a heartbeat beneath the shifting modal colours.
When the music moves to D♭ Lydian, the same texture continues, so that only the tonal centre changes while the rhythmic feel remains constant.
The F Phrygian section brings a sharper contrast: right-hand Phrygian triads and low broken octaves in the left hand, or arpeggiated figures in the left hand with single line melodies in the right hand.
The F Dorian material returns with the right hand playing the melody in block Dorian triads and parallel 6ths to vary the sonority, and with the addition of a diminished chord to give a darker edge to the Dorian sound. This chord has a diminished-coloured harmony – D–F–A♭ within a broader B♭7 shape – the chord functions as a B♭7 in third inversion, but the context (particularly the tritone in the bass) emphasises the diminished triad effect.
Reflections
I decided to publish this recording despite it starting out as just a sketch because something about it felt unrepeatable. The Phrygian section shaped a melody that seemed to compose itself, and the closing F Dorian passage found its own darker colour through those diminished chords which were purely instinctive as opposed to planned. The piece isn’t technically perfect, but the moments that emerged felt genuine — the kind of spontaneity that can’t be reconstructed once the moment has passed.
On the title “Nocturne”
Nocturne simply means “music of the night.” Field and Chopin may have defined its early voice, but later composers — Fauré, Scriabin, Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Barber — each reshaped it in their own time. My “Nocturne in F Dorian” follows that same spirit of evolution: a contemporary reflection on the night through modal harmony.
Listen to another Nocturne of mine here: Aeolian Nocturne in G — Improvisation with G Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian Modes
Understanding the modes
Each of these modes has its own parent scale and distinctive interval pattern.
For reference:
| Mode | Parent major scale | Formula (tone = T, semitone = S) | Characteristic note |
| F Dorian | E♭ major | T – S – T – T – T – S – T | Raised 6th (D natural) |
| D♭ Lydian | A♭ major | T – T – T – S – T – T – S | Raised 4th (G natural) |
| F Phrygian | D♭ major | S – T – T – T – S – T – T | Flattened 2nd (G♭) |
Each mode has a different tonal home, shifting its mood from the open, yet melancholy warmth of Dorian through the luminous expanse of Lydian to the shadowed intensity of Phrygian.
For further explanation of how modal systems relate to their parent scales, see my article:
A Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor.
Improvisational approach
In Nocturne in F Dorian, the improvisation unfolds without predetermined harmony. I just felt my way through chord changes diatonic to each mode (although the D♭ Lydian was more of a chord-scale pairing).
Each modal shift expressed a different feel: F Dorian establishes serenity, D♭ Lydian opens the sound outward, and F Phrygian darkens the tone before returning to rest.
Although spontaneous, the piece has a structure and themes similar to Fractured Light (A Shaft of Light in Darkness) which was a favourite of one of my friends, and probably why I felt inspired to develop its themes further.
You might also like:
You can download a free PDF showing all 12 Phrygian modes, complete with note names and their parent scales:
Leave a comment