Understanding Modal Harmony: Building Chords from Modes

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Just as the major scale and the minor scale have their own harmonies, so do all of the modes. The difference with modal harmony is that we must convince the ear that the root of the mode is the most important pitch. Without this, the tune will simply begin to resemble major or minor harmony.

The root of the mode can assert its importance in one of two ways: the first, through frequent, repetitive modal cadence; a cadence that continually pulls and pushes back to the tonic of the mode. The second is through a tonic pedal—a series of chords in which the tonic note of the mode drones as the bottom note. We will explore both methods here. Before we do we’ll build our diatonic chords with all of the modes. We’ve already covered major harmony and minor harmony, so we’ll exclude those. We’ll also exclude the Locrian mode because it is rarely used. (The curious student can learn more about this mode through self-study.)

In modal harmony, we will also try to emphasize the characteristic pitch of each mode. The characteristic pitch is the note that distinguishes a mode from the other scales. It may be ideal to try to include this pitch somehow in all of the chords we use.

For instance, in the Dorian mode, the natural 6^th is the characteristic pitch. That’s because it is the only minor mode with a natural sixth.

Mode	Characteristic Pitch
Dorian Mode	Natural 6^th
Phrygian Mode	♭2
Lydian Mode	Augmented 4^th
Mixolydian Mode	♭7

The harmonies for the modes will be created the same way that they were for the major and minor scales.

Dorian:	I^-7	II^-7	♭III^maj7	IV⁷	V^-7	VI^-7♭5	♭VII^maj7
Phrygian:	I^-7	♭II^maj7	♭III⁷	IV^-7	V^-7♭5	♭VI^maj7	♭VII^-7
Lydian:	I^maj7	II⁷	III^-7	IV^-7♭5	V^maj7	VI^-7	VII^-7
Mixolydian:	I⁷	II^-7	III^-7♭5	IV^maj7	V^-7	VI^-7	♭VII^maj7