Tonality of Modes and Their Degrees
Tonality of Modes and Their Degrees
Tonality of Modes and Their Degrees
Q: When I hear E in A Maj I think 5. If I were to hear C in G Maj, I think 4, no confusion. Here is the confusion: I have a video by Vinnie Moore that says F lydian is in the same key as C Ionian, just starting on a different degree of the major scale. He says ‘So if someone says lets jam in D dorian you would know that you are in C Ionian.’ Then he plays the 7 modes over a B note vamp so you can really hear the different tonalities of each mode. Then he says that they were all in different keys, that B Ionian is not the same key as B dorian or B phrygian but that they were played over the same root note.
A: I haven’t seen the Vinnie Moore video so I’m only going on your word but I assure you that the key of F lydian is a completely different tonality than C major. To use your examples, if you play a C in F lydian it will sound like the 5th. If you play an F in the key of C major it will sound like the 4th. Therefore, these key centers are not the same. If someone says lets jam in D dorian you do not think C major you think D Dorian because you are in the key of D dorian not C major. By the way if you understood my Ear Training One Note Complete you would have realized this is true.
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