Here is a video capturing a piece of music I improvised and named The Nightshade’s Ember. I chose this title because the image of Physalis came to mind — a plant with rich orange, paper lantern-like fruit (hence one of its alternative names: Chinese Lantern). It was a plant I was fascinated by as a child, and its majestic appearance still captures my imagination now. It is one of the more brightly coloured members of the nightshade family, and can symbolise protection due to its papery shell that encases the berry. I also see a metaphor for resilience and strength due to the defiant persistence of the lanterns through a long cold winter. The nightshade in general can symbolise the duality of peril, poison and dark magic vs protection, beauty and transformation. In this piece of music, the duality was represented by taking the distinctly dark flattened 6th of the Mixolydian flat 6 mode, and transforming it into the tonal centre for the brightest mode — the Lydian mode. Like finding a glowing ember within a shadow.
The Shadow Becomes the Light
In this improvisation, I cycled between C Mixolydian flat 6 and A flat Lydian. This modulation takes the very note that adds “Nightshade” darkness to the Mixolydian ♭6 mode — the A♭, which is the flat 6 —and turns it into the foundation of something bright. By transforming the ♭6 into the tonic of the Lydian mode, which is the brightest of the modes, the shadow becomes the landscape — a new, brighter landscape. It is a musical metaphor for resilience: finding the light within the darkness.
Mode Table, Note Names and Parent Scales
| Mode | Notes | Parent Scale | Modal Relationship |
| C Mixolydian ♭6 | C, D, E, F, G, A♭, B♭ | F Melodic Minor | 5th Mode of Melodic Minor |
| A♭ Lydian | A♭, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G | E♭ Major | 4th Mode of Major |
Interval Formulas:
- C Mixolydian ♭6: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7
- A♭ Lydian: 1 – 2 – 3 – #4 – 5 – 6 – 7
Further Reading and Listening
Learn more about modes: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
