The Submerged Sundial moves through three different modes – G Aeolian, G Phrygian, and Ab Lydian – the former two being dark and each casting its own shadow; the latter providing brief moments of illumination. 

(You can hear another improvisation of mine that combines G Aeolian and G Phrygian in a very different way: Aeolian Nocturne in G — Improvisation with G Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian Modes)

The Aeolian and Phrygian sections have distinct chord progressions with a lot of upper extensions, while the Ab Lydian passages centre on a tonic pedal: broken octaves on Ab in the left hand with changing harmonies above.

Outside the Lydian section, the left hand often roils with rolling broken chords that feel turbulent. At times the right hand includes broken chords too, sometimes moving in contrary motion to the bass; at others it shapes the melody through shifting triads. A lot of time is spent in the Phrygian mode. The result feels restless and dark, a texture and harmonic rhythm in constant motion, seemingly contradicting the sometimes static bass which adds tension. 

For me, this improvisation evokes the sense of something long submerged — movement beneath stillness, memory beneath light. The Lydian brightness flickers briefly, like sunlight refracted through water, before darkness gathers again.

A submerged sundial is actually a real invention — a timepiece built to keep time underwater, where refraction bends the light and distorts the shadow lines. The image struck me as almost musical: light and motion filtered through another medium, patterns still traceable but altered by depth and distortion. It feels like a metaphor for this improvisation — and perhaps for memory itself — where sound, emotion, and time all continue to move beneath the surface. Even through the turbulence and darkness, there are flickers of light that manage to reach through, their felt sense intact, their meaning distant but not lost.

To learn more about modes, read my complete guide to modes of the major, harmonic minor and melodic minor scales.

Both the Aeolian mode and the Phrygian mode can be quite dark, but it is also possible to have melancholy with a slight lift, as in the Dorian mode. In my improvisation titled “Ionian Ghosts” I have predominantly explored the Dorian mode, along with splashes of Lydian brightness and Phrygian darkness, and sections of nostalgic Ionian light.

Here is another improvisation exploring the Aeolian mode: Other, Part II — Improvisation in B Aeolian, B♭ Lydian ♯ 2 & A Phrygian Dominant