This video captures a piano improvisation of mine which I called The Silver Mosaic. Whilst improvising this piece of music, I was carried along by the ambiguous half-light glow of each of the modes, and the feeling of wanting to remain in that introspective space between major and minor, much like a grey area, but with more reflectiveness, like silver. Each mode was from an unrelated key, but sharing certain tone colours, like the fragmented and imperfect beauty of a mosaic, where the disparate pieces come together to form a unique whole. 

I started this improvisation in C Mixolydian, which has a bright shine in its major quality tonic triad, reminding me of polished silver; but the minor 7th adds a shadowed tarnish, like oxidised silver, these darker crevices sometimes serving to enhance the brightness of the lustre, and the combination creating a bittersweetness. 

The C Dorian mode leans further into this bittersweetness, with its sorrowful minor 3rd, creating a minor quality tonic triad. The lightness of the major 6th prevents this minor flavoured mode from falling fully into darkness, by offering a glint of light and shimmer. 

The G Mixolydian flat 6 mode maintains this major-minor duality, but reverses it by using a major 3rd with a minor 6th, creating an exotic mystery and wonder, a bit like the unique radiance of the silver mosaic.

Mode Table

Mode Used	Note Names	Parent Scale	Modal Relationship
C Mixolydian	C – D – E – F – G – A – B♭	F Major	5th Mode of F Major
C Dorian	C – D – E♭ – F – G – A – B♭	B♭ Major	2nd Mode of Major
G Mixolydian ♭6	G – A – B – C – D – E♭ – F	C Melodic Minor	5th Mode of C Melodic Minor

Interval Formulas

Mixolydian Mode Formula

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7

(Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Minor 7th)

Dorian Mode Formula

1 – 2 – ♭3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – ♭7

(Root, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Minor 7th)

Mixolydian ♭6 Mode Formula

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – ♭6 – ♭7

(Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor 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

The Fairytale and the Prophecy — Improvisation in D Major, Lydian, Lydian ♯2 & Mixolydian ♭6; B Aeolian

Through and Back — Improvisation in A♭ Lydian ♯2, A♭ Lydian & D Lydian

Cycles of Coloured Sands — Improvisation in F Dorian, D Aeolian & G Lydian