How to create modes from any Musical Scale

A lot of people do not truly understand how to create a mode from a scale. The goal of this article is to teach you how to create a mode from ANY scale pattern be it major, melodic, or some exotic Spanish scale.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Your Brain
• and Instrument
• A Piece of Paper

1. When working with modes, it is easiest to view them in terms of formula's. Understanding that a mode is nothing more than an alternate starting point within a formula for a scale is the first step towards understanding them. Formula's for scales are expressed in terms of steps, a.k.a. tones and semi-tones. We will use the formula for the major scale as an example. This is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Write this out of a piece of paper.

2. 

   As I said earlier, modes are merely different starting points within the formula. However many steps there are in the formula represents however many modes you will be able to create from a given scale.
   We start with W-W-H-W-W-W-H and move the first note to the end of the formula. This gives us the next mode' s formula which is W-H-W-W-W-H-W. If one continues to take the first note and drop it to the bottom of the formula, one will eventually list out all of the possible modes, and end up with the formula you started with. You should notice that the 6th mode on this chart is actually what you know to be the minor scale.

3. Try doing this with different formula's for different kinds of scales. It will work with all of them. Here are some other formula's to get you started:
   Melodic Minor:W-H-W-W-W-W-H
   (notice that the fifth mode of this scale is actually the Hindu scale)
   Hindu: W-W-H-W-H-W-H
   Hungarian Minor: W-H-W+1-H-H-H-W+1
   (W+1 in formula notation means you are skipping two frets instead of one, or on the keyboard, two keys)

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that steps are the spaces in between notes
• If you are playing guitar, a whole step would be skipping one fingering (fret), a half would represent the next fret.
• on piano a whole step skips a key, a half step is playing the next note

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on 5/26/2008 If you have any questions, let me know and I will add to the article.