By far, the easiest way to learn modes is to toss out all the garbage about "Ionian", "Dorian", "Phrygian" and instead reduce the entire system to simply numbers. For example, instead of "D Mixolydian", it's "G5". That's so much simpler. "D Mixolydian", as it is now, means to first know that Mixolydian is the 5th degree of the scale. Then one must ask, "What major scale has D as the 5th degree?" It's G. What a ridiculously convoluted system. Just say "G5" and that means, "Play a G maj scale starting on the 5th degree". That's all there is to it.

@LearnMusicTheory

2 жыл бұрын

This is very true! That being said, the more familiar you get with modes, the more you think of the new scale itself and less about the scale it's related to. For example, anytime I see Lydian, I think #4. Every time I see Mixolydian, I think b7. I think this is because it is convoluted to think back to the original scale and way more practical to think of the new modifications. Jazz musicians will tell you that the best way to think about modes is through internalizing the modifications so you can apply them on the fly. Your system of using the scale name plus the scale degree would work but for the fact it would get confusing when they overlap with chord symbols and pitch locations. For example, G5 means an open G chord (no third) but it also means G in the 5th octave. Including the meaning of D mixolydian to G5 could get a little more confusing. I think the best way to use modes is to get familiar with how they sound and understand their use cases. That way, it will feel more intuitive when you go to apply them.