Here is a video capturing an improvised piece of music of mine which I named The Sundial’s Shadows Speak. In my mind I had an image of a sundial in a beautiful, hidden garden that I encountered a long time ago. In a sundial, the gnomon is the arm that casts a shadow — and the shadow is the only thing that provides the measurement and tells us what the time actually is — without that shadow, the stone is “silent”. For me, it represents the idea that even in the shadows there is truth — the shadows “speak” the truth. The sundial can also remind us of the inevitable movement of time, the fleeting nature of the light, the passing of shadows, the endlessly recurring cycles of days, and conversely — impermanence.

The A Phrygian and A Dorian flat 2 (aka Phrygian natural 6) modes in this piece of music felt to me like they could convey the darkness of the shadows, and enigmatic magic of a secret garden. The Phrygian mode can also have that ancient quality, like an abandoned overgrown garden with a hidden gothic sundial. 

In my mind, the A Dorian mode sounds like the warm glow of the sunlight due to its lifted major 6th degree, with mystery in its minor 3rd, and magical wonderment in this combination, along with nostalgia for what has passed with the movement and cycles of time. 

I cycled between these three modes a number of times, starting and ending in the more grounded Dorian.

Modes Used, Note Names and Parent Scales

Mode	Notes	Parent Scale	Modal Relationship
A Dorian	A, B, C, D, E, F#, G	G Major	2nd Mode of Major
A Dorian ♭2	A, Bb, C, D, E, F#, G	G Melodic Minor	2nd Mode of Melodic minor
A Phrygian	A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G	F Major	3rd Mode of Major

Interval Formulas

A Dorian:

1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7

A Dorian ♭2:

1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7

A Phrygian:

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

Elegy on a Shore — Improvisation in D & F Phrygian, E♭ Dorian, F Aeolian, A♭ Major, D♭ Lydian