: Using the Dorian Mode I've been composing for years but know very little about modes, just stuck to major and minor. If I took a chord progression from Cmajor, ie I - IV - V - I which would be C,F,G,C and then switched into

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

There's a song you should check out: an Irish song called "Star Of The County Down." The prominently featured cadence is Fmaj - Cmaj - Dmin in D Dorian. It's not functional harmony per se, but organic (as in organum) harmony. That is, the 5 chord has no particular relevance to the voice leading. Rather it is the movement (up) from the b7 which forms this particular sound. Irish humor, you know. It happens on the word "Down". Go find the song on YouTube. It's a great example of using the Dorian mode.

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

You can use the dorian mode as you mentioned in your question. But if you analyze modal pieces you will notice that each mode has its preference for certain progressions. In dorian, you will often find the bVII, the IV, and the III chord in addition to the I chord (in D dorian that would be C, G, and F). But of course any chord made up of scale notes can be played. Obviously you can also add other chords by altering one or more scale notes, but then you're not strictly in the dorian mode anymore. Adding chords from other modes is called "modal interchange" and it helps to spice up your composition by adding some flavor from other modes to it.

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Sure, that kind of modal shifting using the same root relationships is generally quite effective. In your particular example, you might want to raise the 7th scale degree (C to C#) for V and vii chords (much as you might do in minor) in order to get a stronger drive to the i chord, but then you wouldn't strictly be in D Dorian. Either way works but has a rather different character.

A lot of music in Dorian doesn't use V as often to lead to I as in Major. VII - I (in your D Dorian example, C major to D minor) is quite common and effective.

The only mode in which I - IV - V - I root relationships tend to not "work" quite as well is Locrian. The diminished fifth above the tonic tends to throw things off. For example, in B Locrian (BCDEFGAB), the I chord would be a diminished triad, and that tends to weaken its use as a tonic. Most composers will raise the fifth scale degree so that the I chord is just minor. Also, in both Locrian and Phrygian, the II chord is used very often to lead to I. For example, in E Phrygian (EFGABCDE), F major moving down to E minor.

So to sum up, yes, the same sort of root relationships often do "work" in a similar though complementary fashion in the other church modes, though sometimes a scale degree is altered for some chords. However, new progressions specific to these other modes, such as bVII - I in Mixolydian and Dorian and Aeolian and bII - I in Phrygian and Locrian, also sometimes start getting used in their place (or in addition).