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Welcome to my Harmony and Theory Bible series.

These articles will aim to teach you how to approach theory and harmony in a fun and creative way. Here you will find everything from beginners' areas like intervals, chords, scale construction and modes, to more complex harmony analysis and soloing approaches. Whether you are total beginner or somebody looking to recap on some knowledge, this is the place for you.

In today’s article we are focusing on the 6th mode of the major scale – Aeolian mode.

 

 

Aeolian mode

Last time we discussed Mixolydian mode and its harmony. Today we are focusing on Aeolian mode which is original natural minor scale. We will cover formula of this mode as well as cadences (chord progressions) that describe Aeolian mode. By the end of this article you will have an improvisation example of my approach over A Aeolian mode. Let’s get started.

A Aeolian mode is C major scale played from 6th scale degree. For example, C major scale has following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C (as octave). A Aeolian mode in C major scale is the 6th mode starting from the 6th scale degree. We therefore end up with C major scale starting on the 6th note - A, B, C, D, E, F, G and A. Notice how A Aeolian mode has different order of half and whole steps. This is what essentially makes each mode unique and interesting! A Aeolian mode is associated with minor type chord (minor triad or minor7th chord) simply because these chords exist on 6th scale degree of any major scale. Mode itself has very sad sound and is used in all styles of music. Very important thing to remember here is to associate Aeolian mode with minor type chords. Why? Simply because it is mode built on the 6th scale degree in major scale and our chord on that same scale degree is minor triad or minor 7th chord. So remember, every time you see minor chord or minor7th chord with tensions 9, 11 or b13 (in modal situations b13 works great), you can play Aeolian mode. Let’s now move onto construction formulas of Aeolian mode.

 

Here are 3 types of formulas for Aeolian mode:

 

  • Interval formula from Root of the mode: Root, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Minor 7th and Octave
  • Formula using whole and half steps: Root, W, H, W, W, H, W and W
  • Formula using numbering system: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 and 8 (same as 1)

 

Aeolian Cadence

In one of the previous articles we have covered importance of cadence. For those of you who missed that, short and quick version is following: Cadence is a chord progression that describes given scale or mode. We have also covered 3 chord families where everything falls in. Those families are Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant. Any chord from major scale falls under one of those 3 chord families. In order to have a strong cadence, we have to use chords that contain Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant sound. If we just want to have a simplified version of the cadence we would have Tonic and Dominant sound. When you think about Tonic functioning chords, your ear should tell you it feels like home harmony. Subdominant functioning chords go a little but out while Dominant functioning chords are really out there and have tendency to resolve back to Tonic functioning chords. Think of those 3 chord families as different levels of consonance and dissonance. Tonic being most consonant and pleasant to Subdominant which is in the middle while Dominant is the most dissonant of all.

One final thing worth mentioning is following: Every mode has characteristic note or notes. Those notes must be contained in the chord progressions (cadence) as they give complete sound to given scale or mode. Aeolian mode has minor 6th (b6 or minor 13th, b13) and major 9th as characteristic notes. How do we know this? Well simply by checking interval formula for all minor type modes. Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolian mode are all minor type modes (minor triad is assigned to all of them). Difference between those modes lies in the type of 6th or 9th they have. Dorian has major 6th and major 9th; Phrygian has minor 6th (or b6) and minor 9th (or b9) while Aeolian has minor 6th (or b6) and major 9th (or 9). All other notes in those modes are common or the same. For example, difference between C Phrygian and C Aeolian is the fact that one has A (major 6th) and Db (minor 9th) while the other has Ab (minor 6th) and D (major 9th). By using this method, we came to know characteristic note(s) of the mode.

Now we will look at A Aeolian cadence using Tonic type chord and chord containing tensions with characteristic note(s) of the mode. Characteristic note of A Aeolian mode is F so our characteristic chord should contain F in it. Another important note (not as important as minor 6th in the mode though) is the 9th which is B note. By following that rule, we should try to use F and B notes in our characteristic chord. Here are couple of examples using Tonic type chord with characteristic chord.

Example 1a (3 part harmony)

//: A min / G maj ://

 

Example 1b (4 part harmony)

//: A min7 / G7 ://

Both examples 1a and 1b use Tonic type chord first (A min chord describes that we are using some sort of minor mode in A) while chord with characteristic notes gives us rest of important information of that mode (G maj or G7 contain B and F note which is major 9th and minor 6th from A – essential note for A Aeolian mode). Let’s look at two more examples now:

 

Example 2a (3 part harmony)

//: A min / D min / E min / A min ://

 

Example 2b (4 part harmony)

//: A min7 / D min7 / E min7 / A min7 ://

Here we have typical Aeolian (natural minor) cadence using Tonic (A min or A min7) going to Subdominant (D min or D min7) to Dominant (E min or Emin7) to Tonic (A min or A min7) type chord. Feel free to mix those cadences or change the harmonic rhythm to add more variety.

 

Improvisation and Assignment

We have now reached the final chapter where I am providing you with my improvisation in A Aeolian mode. Notice how I used example 2b as a backing track and improvised using A Aeolian mode. Perfect assignment for all of you is to:

  • Transcribe my improvisation and analyze what I did
  • Record your own improvisation, transcribe it and analyze what you are doing right or wrong.


My improvisation example

With all this information I will leave you to enjoy audio examples of A Aeolian cadences and my improvisation. Study each cadence carefully and try to apply it in your playing/improvising/accompanying/composing.

Feel free to leave comments, ask any questions you might have or simply share your opinion regarding this article. I will be happy to respond and help everybody.

Have fun studying this material.


Pedja Simovic

 

Related articles:

Harmony and theory bible (part 9) - Mixolydian Mode

Harmony and theory bible (part 8) - Lydian Mode

Harmony and theory bible (part 7) - Phrygian Mode

Harmony and theory bible (part 6) - Dorian Mode

Harmony and theory bible (part 5) - Ionian Mode

Harmony and theory bible (part 4) - Major Scale modes

Harmony and theory bible (part 3) - Major Scale

Harmony and Theory Bible (part 2) - Chords (Triads and 4 Note Chords)

Harmony and theory bible (part 1) - Introduction to intervals and chromatic scale