Understanding modes

Modes are scales, but a specific type of scale. They have some useful applications when composing music and we can use them to create specific moods.

Let's take a look at some more of the scales in the stamp tool of the Piano roll we saw in the preceding section. If you open the stamp tool again, you'll notice there are a series of scale names. Some of these scales may feel unfamiliar to you if you haven't studied music theory before. For example, you can see the scales Aeolian, Pentatonic, Dorian, Locrian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian, as shown in the following screenshot, as well as many others:

Figure 3.9 – Modes

What are these? These are modes. Modes are a type of scale. The seven modes in their logical order are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. They are related to each other. To explain how, we need a visual.

Use the stamp tool to select Major Scale and place this on...