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Now that we have looked at how the Diatonic Scales work, I want to summarize what we went over and wrap it up before I give you some tools to make using the modes easier.

A scale is made up of 7 notes that selects from the chromatic scale (meaning all notes available) in a pattern. From these 7 notes, you can change which one is used as the main note to change modes. All the notes stay the same, but the mode changes the personality of the scale to get a different ‘mood’.

Here is a quick summary reference for the modes:
I. Ionian has a happy, bright, Major and normal sound used in pop
ii. Dorian has a minor sound with a touch soul or maybe sadness
iii. Phrygian has a dark minor sound great for rock and metal
IV. Lydian has a Major sound by not the happy bright like Ionian
V. MixoLydian is Major sounding with a strong blusey flavor
vi. Aeolian is the natural minor and it sound like the Ionian as a minor
vii. Locrian is a little awkward sounding and goes well with jazz or any music that is a little on the edge.

Just to illustrate this clearly, let’s use the key of C:
C d e F G a b

Now, the key of C just happens to be the Ionian mode. Tada, you got that one down.

Now, the Dorian mode with these same notes is called D Dorian:
d e F G a b C

Also, the Phrygian mode with these notes is E Phyrgian:
e F G a b C d

As you may have noticed, I have specific letters capitalized and lower case. This is because of the kind of chord that note forms in this particular scale/mode. We will talk more about that later. For now, just notice it.

You can guess F Lydian, right?
F G a b C d e

Let’s continue with G Mixo:
G a b C d e f

Now, notice how close A Aeolian is to the C Ionian:
a b C d e F G

I will talk more about that one when we are talking about chords.

B Locrian:
b C d e F G a b

For making music on Windows, I love FLStudio. I started off with Hammerhead. So, FLStudio was a very natural crossover for me. It is great for all kinds of music and approaches.

If you are on a Mac, then sure, use ProTools.  I actually got an MBox Mini 2 for the microphone.  It came with ProTools.  However, I had so many problems with it being picky about the setup (and not doing what I wanted it to do) that I just threw that aside.  FLStudio was so much easier to work with and make it do what I want.

(Will put link to the mic that I have later.)

If you want to check it out, use this like for a 10% discount on FLStudio:
Get me a discount

Scale:
Locian Mode

Sound:
The Locrian Mode has a very unique sound. It is mainly used in jazz because of the diminished chord. Though, please to do not think that this is the only mode that jazz uses. They are just the main ones who make use of this sound.

Artists:Jazz

Example:
Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G

Locrian:
b C d e F G a

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locrian_mode

Hype Machine

Aquarium Drunkard

Pitchfork

Scale:
Aeolian Mode

Sound:
The Aeolian mode is also called the ‘natural minor’. It sounds like the Ionian mode, but as a minor. So, if you want to take the ‘major’ key and drop the happy bright sound, this is an easy choice.

It is another one of my favorites. It is great when I want something more mild, but I want to maintain the sweet minor sound.

Resources

Example:
Chromatic
Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F#

Aeolian
a b C d e F G

Take note of where the A shows up in relation to C. Notice that when you make a chord of Am (meaning A Minor) that it includes 2 notes from the CM (meaning C Major) chord. That means these chords have only a 1 note difference. This is why this mode sound so much like the Major counterpart.

This knowledge is very valuable because it introduces you to something else: Transitions. When you go from one chord to another, you can throw in the natural minor(s) of the chords before going to the major chordal movement.

References:

http://www.tonalcentre.org/Diatonic.html