The seven modes of the major scale, each with a unique character and color. Click any mode to explore all 18 keys with diagrams, audio, and theory.
The natural major scale — bright, resolved, and familiar.
Explore all keys →Minor with a raised 6th — warm, jazzy, and soulful.
Explore all keys →Minor with a flatted 2nd — dark, exotic, and tense.
Explore all keys →Major with a raised 4th — bright, floating, and dreamlike.
Explore all keys →Major with a flatted 7th — bluesy, driving, and earthy.
Explore all keys →The natural minor scale — melancholic, expressive.
Explore all keys →Diminished tonic — unstable and unresolved.
Explore all keys →The color palette for each mode is inspired by music-color synesthesia — a neurological phenomenon where people perceive colors when hearing music. While each synesthete's associations are unique, there are common patterns: bright major sounds tend to evoke warm golds and yellows, minor modes lean toward cooler blues and greens, and darker or more dissonant modes often map to deep reds, purples, and grays. These colors are a creative interpretation of those tendencies, designed to make each mode's character immediately visible.
Modes are scales derived from the major scale by starting on each of its seven degrees. Each mode uses the same seven notes as its parent major scale but treats a different note as the tonal center, producing a distinct musical character.
For example, the C major scale contains C-D-E-F-G-A-B. If you play those same notes but start and resolve on D, you get D Dorian. Start on E and you get E Phrygian. Each starting point creates a mode with its own unique flavor — from the bright stability of Ionian (the major scale) to the dark instability of Locrian.
Modes are fundamental to jazz, rock, classical, and world music. Understanding them opens up a vast palette of melodic and harmonic possibilities beyond the basic major and minor scales.
| Mode | Degree | Formula | Quality | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | 1 | W–W–H–W–W–W–H | Major | Bright, resolved |
| Dorian | 2 | W–H–W–W–W–H–W | Minor | Warm, jazzy |
| Phrygian | 3 | H–W–W–W–H–W–W | Minor | Dark, exotic |
| Lydian | 4 | W–W–W–H–W–W–H | Major | Floating, dreamlike |
| Mixolydian | 5 | W–W–H–W–W–H–W | Major | Bluesy, driving |
| Aeolian | 6 | W–H–W–W–H–W–W | Minor | Melancholic, expressive |
| Locrian | 7 | H–W–W–H–W–W–W | Diminished | Unstable, tense |