Learning Modes - Finding the Relative Major

In my last article on modes we discussed how you can find a given mode by playing a major scale at a given interval from the original note.

First take a look at this slightly confusing table.

Mode	Tonality	Steps Down	1/2 Steps Down	Interval Down	1/2 Steps Up	Interval Up
Ionian (Major)	Major		0/12	Unison/Octave	12/0	Unison/Octave
Dorian	Minor	W	2	Major 2nd	10	Minor 7th
Phrygian	Minor	WW	4	Major 3rd	8	Minor 6th
Lydian	Major	WWH	5	Perfect 4th	7	Perfect 5th
Mixolydian	Major / Dom	WWHW	7	Perfect 5th	5	Perfect 4th
Aeolian (Minor)	Minor	WWHWW	9	Major 6th	3	Minor 3rd
Locrian	Diminished	WWHWWW	11	Major 7th	1	Minor 2nd
(Ionian)	Major	WWHWWWH	12/0	Unison/Octave	0/12	Unison/Octave

If you look at this chart you will get a quick reference to where you will find the scale you are needing.

Lets take a example:

Say we are playing a G major chord, we have 3 mode options that might sound good with it. Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian since they are the 3 "major" tonality modes (that is the 3rd is a major 3rd in the mode). So how do we get to G Ionian, G Lydian and G Mixolydian? I always have an easier time going up an interval rather than down so in the chart above, I have converted the intervals down from the WWHWWWH pattern we talked about in the previous article to ascending intervals.

• G Ionian = G Major, since Ionian = Major
• G Lydian is the major scale starting a perfect 5th above the scale in question. So a perfect 5th above G is D. So G Lydian = D Major
• G Mixolydian is the major scale starting a Perfect 4th above the note in question which is C, so G Mixolydian = C Major.

How about minor? If we are playing an F minor chord and want F dorian, F Phrygian or F Aeolian, then we find

• A minor 7th above F is Eb. Eb Major is F dorian
• A minor 6th above F is Db.Db Major is F Phrygian
• A minor 3rd above F is Ab. Ab Major is F Aeolian

Now something you may have noticed is that if we are playing F minor, why don't we play an F minor scale? We actaully do!. When we play Ab major as F aeolian, we are playing F minor. Since Aeolian is the same as natural minor.

So now we can grab a mode from a given chord.