A
Key of A as Triads
|
Mode | Color | Alterations | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII
|
Lydian | bright | raised 4 | A | B | C#min | D#dim | E | F#min | G#min
|
Ionian | neutral | no alterations | A | Bmin | C#min | D | E | F#min | G#min
|
Mixolydian | less bright | lowered 7 | A | Bmin | C#dim | D | Emin | F#min | G
|
Dorian | dark | lowered 3, 7 | Amin | Bmin | C | D | Emin | F#dim | G
|
Aeolian | darker | lowered 3, 6, 7 | Amin | Bdim | C | Dmin | Emin | F | G
|
Phrygian | darkest | lowered 2, 3, 6, 7 | Amin | Bb | C | Dmin | Emin | F | G
|
Locrian | unusable | lowered 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 | Adim | Bb | Cmin | Dmin | Eb | F | Gmin
|
Key of A with 7ths
|
Mode | Color | Alterations | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII
|
Lydian | bright | raised 4 | AMAJ7 | B7 | C#min7 | D#min7b5 | EMAJ7 | F#min7 | G#min7
|
Ionian | neutral | no alterations | AMAJ7 | Bmin7 | C#min7 | DMAJ7 | E7 | F#min7 | G#min7b5
|
Mixolydian | less bright | lowered 7 | A7 | Bmin7 | C#min7b5 | DMAJ7 | Emin7 | F#min7 | GMAJ7
|
Dorian | dark | lowered 3, 7 | Amin7 | Bmin7 | CMAJ7 | D7 | Emin7 | F#min7b5 | GMAJ7
|
Aeolian | darker | lowered 3, 6, 7 | Amin7 | Bmin7b5 | CMAJ7 | Dmin7 | Emin7 | FMAJ7 | G7
|
Phrygian | darkest | lowered 2, 3, 6, 7 | Amin7 | BbMAJ7 | C7 | Dmin7 | Emin7b5 | FMAJ7 | Gmin7
|
Locrian | unusable | lowered 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 | Amin7b5 | BbMAJ7 | Cmin7 | Dmin7 | EbMAJ7 | F7 | Gmin7
|
Notes
- The Ionian mode is more commonly called "the major scale" (and is the most commonly used major scale)
- The Aeolian mode is commonly called "the natural minor scale" (and is the most commonly used minor scale)
- Lydian, Ionian, & Mixolydian are considered major modes because their "I chord" is major.
- Dorian, Aeolian, & Phrygian are considered minor modes because their "I chord" is minor.
- The Locrian mode is so dissonant that it is usually unusable.
Credit: Shane Adams
A Ionian
* * * * * * *
5|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|
2|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---||-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|
|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-||---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|
4|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-||-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|
1|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-||-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|
5|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|
A Dorian
* * * * * * *
5|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|
2|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---||-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
7|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-||-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|
4|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---||-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|
1|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---||-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|
5|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|
A Phrygian
* * * * * * *
5|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-||---|-3-|---|-4-|---|
7|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---||-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|
4|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---||-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|
1|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---||-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|
5|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
A Lydian
* * * * * * *
5|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-||-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|
2|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---||-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|
|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-||---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|
|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-||---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|
1|---|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-||-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|
5|---|-6-|---|-7-|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-||-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|
A Mixolydian
* * * * * * *
5|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|
2|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---||-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|
7|---|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-||-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|
4|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-||-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|
1|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---||-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|
5|---|-6-|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---||-5-|---|-6-|-7-|---|
A Aeolian
* * * * * * *
5|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
2|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|---||-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
7|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---||-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|
4|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---||-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|
1|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---||-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|
5|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---||-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
A Locrian
* * * * * * *
|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-||---|-6-|---|-7-|---|
|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-||---|-3-|---|-4-|---|
7|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---||-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|
4|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---||-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|
1|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|---||-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|
|-6-|---|-7-|---|-1-|-2-|---|-3-|---|-4-|-5-||---|-6-|---|-7-|---|