The difference between Relative and Parallel modes

in music modes are different patterns you can use to expand your songwriting palette because each mode has a different feel a different vibe that lends itself to different styles of melody and different chord progressions that can really make your music sound varied and interesting and in my modes playlist i explain how these different patterns are formed how they're all really just permutations of the same pattern of the major scale pattern here we're going to look even further at modes to see how there's some special connections some special symmetrical geometric connections that explain how they're all different and also related taking a step back first though just thinking about modes they can seem overwhelming when you first get into them because not only are there different types of modes there's also two sets of modes two different types relative versus parallel and combined there are actually 13 different modes in a given key which on the surface can seem like a lot but really they're easy because they're all just permutations or variations of the same pattern the major scale pattern which we'll look at in detail here and by looking at these patterns more closely you can start to really make sense of the differences between these modes but also how they're connected because like i say there's special symmetrical geometric connections between these patterns that inform how music is this intricate network of patterns this intricate web of relationships that's beautiful and once you see how it works you can really wrap your head around modes and make use of them much more easily starting with relative modes in the table format like this we have ionian dorian phrygian lydian mixolydian aeolian and locrian so seven different modes and in this example they're in the key of c where they're all based on the c major scale the ionian mode is the c major scale itself c d e f g a b c the dorian mode just starts on the second scale degree of the c major scale and ends on the second scale degree so d is the starting point in the end point d e f g a b c d the phrygian mode in the key of c starts on e the third scale degree and ends on e and it sounds like this it's all the same notes but because we begin and end on a different note this pattern has a different vibe it has a different feel to it and going down the line each mode has its own feel f lydian g mixolydian aeolian and b locrian looking at the same table we can see if we replace the letters with numbers or the scale degrees we can see if we make each respective scale degree the one of its own mode then ionian is the standard one two three four five six seven one or eight of the major scale dorian the intervals are one two flat three four five six flat seven and one phrygian is one flat two flat three four five flat six flat seven and one or eight and so on down the line if you think of each mode as a series of stepping stones so an ionian for example if you skip from one to two three four five six seven and eight there's a certain kind of rhythm or cadence as you jump from one stepping stone to the next if you start on d it's the same underlying pattern of whole steps and half steps but because of where you begin your feet kind of move in a different pattern and it creates a different kind of cadence or rhythm in fact if you think of these different modes as rhythms you can see how each one has a different feel in the phrygian mode for example you start with the half step and move to a whole step that's a longer beat a long beat long beat shorter beat long beat long beat in the lydian mode it's a long beat long beat long beat short beat long beat long beat short beat etc the different patterns of beats in our metaphor or interval spaces in pitch result in different patterns different modes that each have their own vibe and looking at these modes in a table format like this gives us a good view of how they're all related since they're just variations of the same pattern but at first glance it can also seem like a lot and even a little overwhelming so to simplify things here's a little trick that helps and that is to reduce all of this down to cyclical pitch space where the 12 basic notes of the chromatic scale form a loop like this and from this pattern we can then pick out the major scale in our example c major made from notes c d e f g a b c as you saw before this is just another name for c ionian and since each mode just begins and ends on each respective scale degree we're already looking at all of the other relative modes as well including d dorian e phrygian f lydian g mixolydian a aeolian and b locrian with each of them shown in pitch space like this it's even easier to see how they're all just permutations of the very same pattern so relative modes are really quite simple because they're just permutations or variations of the same underlying pattern parallel modes also work in a very similar way they're all derived from the major scale pattern but they kind of come about in a different way here's what i mean if we look at the c parallel modes the ionian c ionian is the same pattern as we saw before it's c d e f g a b c and following the same idea of dorian starting on the second scale degree of its source pattern see dorian is derived from b flat because a whole step back is b flat and we have the second scale degree of b flat is c so c dorian comes from the b flat major scale the phrygian mode starts on scale degree 3 of its underlying scale going back two whole steps from c we have a flat so c phrygian c d flat e flat f g a flat b flat c if we fill in these notes b flat and c is really just a permutation of the a flat major scale and so on here's another look at that same basic pattern so if we align all of these c notes because they're parallel c parallel modes c ionian is the c major scale of interval pattern one two three four five six seven eight c dorian starts on the second scale degree of b flat but saying that c is one the pattern becomes one two flat three four five six flat seven and eight c phrygian is the third scale degree of its underlying pattern so going back two whole steps that's a flat c phrygian the interval pattern is one flat two flat three four five flat six flat seven and eight but it's just a permutation of the a flat major scale and so on down the line this table format shows how all of these parallel modes are formed but again using a circular format to clarify c ionian of course is just the c major scale and then looking at c dorian since the dorian mode begins on scale degree 2 of its source scale this means that when we go back a whole step this is the major scale that c dorian comes from which is b flat major [Music] c phrygian begins on the third degree of its source scale so reverse engineering that out we land on a flat so the c phrygian mode comes from the a flat major scale [Music] c lydian likewise comes from the g major scale c mixolydian is derived from f major c eolian is from e flat major and c locrian [Music] is the seventh mode of d-flat major all of the different modes are just permutations or variations of an underlying major scale pattern so then why is there a distinction between relative modes versus parallel modes if they all come from a major scale pattern what's the difference there's a key difference and a way to think of it is how the major scale pattern that forms the different modes is like the host of a party and the different modes are guests at that party and so depending on who the host is and who the guests are that's the difference between relative and parallel modes let me show you what i mean looking at the key of c for example we have the c major scale and the c major scale is what gives context to all of the different modes that are derived from it c ionian is just the c major scale itself d dorian is a permutation of that pattern e phrygian is a permutation of that same pattern and so on so in this case c major is the host of the party it gives context to every pattern every guest at that party all of these relative modes are just guests at this party and in a circular formation you can see that's the case down here you have c ionian which starts on c d dorian begins on d e phrygian f lydian g mixolydian aeolian and b locrian each one starts on a respective scale degree but really all of them are just permutations or variations of the same underlying pattern the c major scale is the context for all of these modes they're just guests at the same underlying party thrown by the host c major in this case in contrast all of the c parallel modes are really permutations of other major scales c ionian is itself the c major scale c dorian comes from the b flat major scale c phrygian comes from the a flat major scale c lydian from g major c mixolydian from f major c eolian from e flat major and c locrian from d flat major but by aligning all of the c notes in this way we say they're parallel because we're looking at things from the perspective of c but in this case c is just a guessed from various parties and the circular diagrams illustrate this as well each circle is a different major scale in this case we've aligned all of the ones at the top to say that they're parallel but each pattern is from a different major scale it's the same interval pattern of whole steps and half steps but in the case of c dorian for example c is a guest at b flat's party in the case of c phrygian c is a guest at a flat's party in the case of c lydian c is a guest at g's party and so on so hopefully this analogy of hosts and guests and different parties helps you kind of see the difference between relative and parallel modes and so looking at these modes in summary this explains why there's 13 different modes in a given key so in the key of c for example we have up here all of the relative modes and the second row is all of the parallel modes c ionian is in both but then all of their relative modes are permutations of c major because c major is the host of all of these parties and then all of the parallel c parallel modes show that c was a guest at a variety of parties where each respective major scale was its own host and c was a guest in each one but to further solidify your understanding of the similarities between modes and the differences between relative and parallel modes i mentioned earlier that there's this geometric symmetry that informs how these different modes are connected relative versus parallel so to show that even more if you look again in the key of c at these c relative modes notice how they all slant down to the right with c ionian at the top and b locrian at the bottom and looking again at all of the c parallel modes these modes slant down to the left and when we overlay these patterns you can see that there's a perfect symmetry between the relative and parallel modes in a given key the c relative modes are like a reflection of the c parallel modes and this isn't just a pretty diagram it goes deeper than that looking at the ionian modes for example c ionian is the same in both the relative modes group and the parallel modes group this pattern begins and ends on c c is on either end the dorian mode in the c relative group begins and ends on d so over here we have d and then in the parallel group the dorian mode c dorian is derived from b flat so we have b flat over here and these two notes d and b-flat are symmetrical around c because they're both spaced at a whole step interval on either side of c looking at the phrygian patterns the phrygian mode in the relative modes group begins and ends on e while in the parallel modes group c phrygian is derived from a flat and these two notes e and a flat are also symmetrical around c they're both spaced at two whole steps on either side of c in the relative modes group c relative modes the lydian mode begins and ends on f while in the parallel modes group c lydian is derived from the g major scale so f and g likewise are symmetrical around c and continuing on f and g share similar relationships in the mixolydian mode e flat and a in the eolian mode and d-flat and b in the locrian mode looking at this in yet another way if we take all of the c parallel modes and arrange them into a circle of fifths formation we can see how all of the keys from which the c parallel modes are derived are neighbors in the circle of fifths all of the hosts that through the parties in which the c parallel modes appear are all next to each other in this pattern now the circle of fifths pattern just shows how all of the keys in music overlap forming a daisy chain sequence where each major scale is made up of equal parts of the keys on either side which i explain in another video but focusing here on all of the keys that share a connection through the c parallel modes we can see in the circle that the c note shows up multiple times in these different locations in the key of g the c note is the fourth scale degree and when you begin a parallel mode on the fourth scale degree you get the lydian pattern c ionian begins on c c mixolydian begins on the fifth scale degree of the f major pattern so c is the fifth scale degree of f major so we have mixolydian here and then moving into counterclockwise we have c dorian coming from the key of b flat major ce olean begins on the sixth scale degree of e flat major c phrygian begins on the third scale degree of a flat major and c locrian begins on the seventh scale degree which shows up right here in the key of d flat major so all seven of the c parallel modes move in a counterclockwise direction in the circle of fifths and then all of the c relative modes technically are just permutations of the c major scale so they're found here in the circle of fifths but the tonics of each relative mode progress in a clockwise direction in this pattern c major is the ionian mode d is the second scale degree of the c major scale e is the third scale degree etc all of the relative modes in the key of c progress in a clockwise direction so again counterclockwise we have all of the parallel modes and clockwise we have all of the relative modes ionian in the case of c is centered around c the mixolydian and lydian modes are mirror images dorian eolian phrygian and locrian are also symmetrical within the circle of fifths not only within a single key like the key of c but the symmetry appears in all 12 keys so all of these different modes relative modes in parallel modes are similar but also different they're similar because they're all permutations or variations of the major scale pattern but they're different in how you arrive at them using the host versus guest metaphor hopefully helps but then also seeing how they're symmetrical geometric connections that inform how these patterns are formed and relate helps make it more concrete so it doesn't feel arbitrary or man there's a lot of modes to wrap my head around there are but there's a method to the madness there's an order to the logic music theory is inherently cyclical symmetrical and there's an underlying geometric nature to all these things so hopefully this was helpful and if so please let the algorithm know actually i forgot to say that there's a pdf with all of these diagrams in the community there's a link in the video notes so definitely check that out and i will see you in the next video you

Channel: Mike George

Views: 18,305

Keywords: music theory, guitar, learn guitar, songwriting, colormusic, scale degrees, intervals, patterns, color wheel, geometry, key, scales, composition, circle of fifths, piano, learn piano, keyboard, music, learn to play, music lesson, guitar lesson, piano lesson, piano theory, guitar theory, chromatic scale, notes, modes, parallel modes, relative modes, ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, locrian, symmetry

Id: VtFuQmSaUU0

Length: 16min 50sec (1010 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 10 2022