hey can anyone explain me how to use modes. like dorian,phrygian etc. Is there any formulas?

Question

Guitar

Answer 1

It is sort of what the last person said...but with mispellings and such...

If you start from C on the piano (or any instrument...but piano will help it be more visual if you can get to one)...
at C, if you play a scale upwards of only white notes and end on the C an octave higher, this is of course the major scale, but it is also known as the Ionion mode.
do same from D to D (only on white notes) - this is called Dorian mode - it is like a minor scale except it has a raised 6th scale degree (the B natural)
E to E = Phrygian mode - like minor except it has a lowered 2nd scale degree (the F natural).
F to F = Lydian mode - like major except it has a raised 4th scale degree (the B natural)
G to G = Mixolydian mode - like major except it has a lowered 7th scale degree (F natural)
A to A = Aeolian mode - it is the same as the natural minor scale - like Ionion, it is just an alternate name.
B to B = Locrian mode - the weirdest one (due to it's tri-tone and diminished chord possibilities) it is found most often in jazz (and also modern classical). It is like minor except it has BOTH a lowered 2nd scale degree and a lowered 5th scale degree, (C and F natural, giving it the tri-tone instead of a P5 and a diminished chord; B-D-F).

These modes can, of course, be transposed into any key (by changing the pitches but keeping all of the intervallic relationships the same) Sorry I am only giving "white notes" instead of the actual intervals - it just takes too long...

Think of these modes just like any other scale....and what is a scale anyway? Just a collection of notes that occur within an octave (at least the basic ones...there are non-octave repeating scales, etc ,etc...but that's for another discussion!)

Answer 2

first of all, do you know what modes are? (i have in an hour an exam with them :P ) .. you can use them, what's the point? do you ask how they are build? take the piano and play from C, 8 notes up, only on white keys: this is Ionian.
take 8 notes from D only on white keys.. that's Dorian... etc etc... Phrigian on E, Lidian on F, Mixolidian on G, Eolian on A, Lokrian on H (ti)...
and then you can use them like tonalities, but there are specific cadences and other stuff...

Answer 3

Sorry, I'm not sure what you want to use them for.

Think of modes as different types of scales. The two most common modes we have are major and minor. In the major scale, you start on the main note and then go up by a whole step, another whole step, a half step, a whole step, a whole step, and so on. This pattern of whole and half steps defines the major mode.

Here's a page that you might find helpful:
http://www.josaka.com/Features/2005/Modal-Theory.htm