Modes (Part 4)

In Part 3, we figured out all the 7-note scales drawn from the usual 12-tone scale and obeying an extra constraint: there’s at most a whole tone between consecutive notes. We got a total of 21. They come in 3 groups of 7:

• the modes of the major scale
• the modes of the ascending melodic minor scale
• the modes of the Neapolitan major scale

Let’s start getting to know them better! You see, the great thing about modes is that they’re not just mathematical entities: each has its own flavor, i...