This video captures an improvised piece of music of mine which I named Seven Colours. I chose the title because I used seven different modes, each having a colour of its own, like the seven colours of the rainbow. These seven colours or modes represent the spectrum of emotions and characters that can be found in life and human experience. The joys and sorrows, and all the colours between can be found in this rainbow; like the distinct modes each having a character of their own, but subtly blending into the next one, combining to form one piece of music with several sections.
I find a lot of inspiration in perceived parallels between science, nature and music. Isaac Newton was interested in the mathematics of acoustics and the idea of cosmic harmony. In around 1665, he passed white light through a prism, resulting in a refraction into several colours, and identified seven colours believing they followed the same ratios as the seven notes of a musical scale. His theory may have been discredited eventually, but it is nonetheless fascinating to think of how so many of the laws of physics do apply to both music and nature.
I started in F Mixolydian ♭6 — for me personally, the Mixolydian flat 6 mode tends to have iridescence as opposed to just one colour, as a shimmer between opposing colours like violet and green. It can have a magical quality in its changing half-light effect, due to its major 3rd (resulting in a major tonic triad) and minor 6th (aka flat 6).
I then modulated to F Phrygian which darkened and intensified the colour — for me, representing the indigo of the spectrum.
After returning to F Mixolydian ♭6, I then modulated to F Mixolydian which only required a single note change — the flat 6 changing to a major 6th. With this small change, the character brightened and warmed slightly, like the colour orange.
Then I moved to C Dorian briefly, whose melancholy and simultaneous lift (due to the minor 3rd and major 6th) make me think of a kind of blue speckled with some shimmers of a warmer colour; before another brief colour change into C harmonic minor — which darkened the colour again. A Neapolitan 6th within C minor (which is a major chord in first inversion built on the flattened supertonic) created a paradoxical brightening (due to being a major chord) at the same time as a darkening (due to being built on the flat 2), whilst creating a subtle bridge between these later modes and the use of the earlier mode — F Phrygian. F Phrygian is the third mode of the D flat major scale, and the Neapolitan 6th in C minor is a D flat major chord.
The Neapolitan 6th was followed by an interrupted cadence which created a pathway to the much brighter A flat Lydian mode. The sharpened 4th of the Lydian mode creates an increase in light and an expansiveness, and sometimes an ethereal feel. I tend to see the Lydian mode as the colour yellow.
Next I modulated to E flat major (Ionian), which due to its warmth, groundedness and light, I see as red.
I moved back through A flat lydian and C Dorian, into F Mixolydian flat 6, which is where I closed the piece.
Modal Analysis Table
| Mode / Scale | Note Names | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| F Mixolydian ♭6 | F, G, A, B♭, C, D♭, E♭ | B♭ Melodic Minor | 5th Mode of B♭ Melodic Minor |
| F Phrygian | F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭ | D♭ Major | 3rd Mode of D♭ Major |
| F Mixolydian | F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭ | B♭ Major | 5th Mode of B♭ Major |
| C Dorian | C, D, E♭, F, G, A, B♭ | B♭ Major | 2nd Mode of B♭ Major |
| C Harmonic Minor | C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B | C Harmonic Minor | Parent Scale (1st mode of C harmonic minor and relative minor of E♭ maj) |
| A♭ Lydian | A♭, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G | E♭ Major | 4th Mode of E♭ Major |
| E♭ Major (Ionian) | E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D | E♭ Major | 1st Mode of E♭ Major |
Interval Formulas / Structure List
- Mixolydian ♭6: 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — ♭6 — ♭7
- Phrygian: 1 — ♭2 — ♭3 — 4 — 5 — ♭6 — ♭7
- Mixolydian: 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — ♭7
- Dorian: 1 — 2 — ♭3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — ♭7
- Harmonic Minor: 1 — 2 — ♭3 — 4 — 5 — ♭6 — 7
- Lydian: 1 — 2 — 3 — ♯4 — 5 — 6 — 7
- Major (Ionian): 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7
- Neapolitan 6th (Chord): ♭II in first inversion (Major chord built on the ♭2)
Further Reading and Listening
Read more about modes in general: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
