top of page
rbedwell3

A Messiaenic Complex: The Modes of Messiaen Part II

The whole tone scale has a symmetrical pattern of notes separated by a tone, this is called Mode I of limited transposition by Messiaen, and in C it would be:

C D E F# G# Bb= 1 2 3 #4 #5 b7

(I have used Bb instead of A# as the 7th is more usable but A# is the enharmonic equivalent which we will get to shortly).

Now, my approach to using this scale is the same as with eight or more note scales: find out where the music is going and then alter the notes, or in this case omit a note, depending on the desired outcome. So we are going to start with a seven note scale and see what we get. The A note is missing in the above scale formula, which when added gives us the following options:

C D E F# G# A Bb = C Lydian Dominant + (Mode III of A Neapolitan Major)

C D E F# G# A# B = C Lydian + #6 (Mode II of B Neapolitan Major)

C D E F Gb Ab Bb = C Major Locrian (Mode V of F Neapolitan Major)

The notes outside of the whole tone scale are the 6th, 7th, 4th respectively. These are the notes that govern the choice of scale depending on the sound required. We can now see one of the uses of Neapolitan Major, it works great over any whole tone derived sound, ie Dom 7#5/Dom 7b5 etc. In fact, one could say that the whole tone scale is really only a Neapolitan Major with a note omitted, either A in C Lydian Dominant+, B in C Lydian +#6 or F in C Major Locrian. But, the fascinating thing is that in all cases the seven note scale is always the Neapolitan Major scale, which means we can now place it in any musical situation as we can now work out the root.

Now the really great thing is that the three Neapolitan scales can be combined so that the modes of Lydian Dominant +, Lydian +#6 and Major Locrian all get a chance to have their part. You don’t have to learn lots of different scales either, just the modal positions from Neapolitan Major, and if you know the Melodic minor modal shapes already, it’s no biggie.

In the Modal Method I describe how to work out where the root of any scale begins in any key because all scales are interconnected and so are accessible at any time in any situation. When playing in G Major, the first Neapolitan Major scale is found on B, which gives us the point of reference for the other two. So now we have three seven note scale choices that replace the whole tone scale and also the context of where to place them.

This means that these scales are always usable, and not only when played over a Dom 7b5/#5 chord. Forget chords, it’s just a sound that works in the correct key setting. The whole tone scale creates a sound of its own, but moving beyond that, knowing the scales that it is part of helps to place it in a wider setting as opposed to just playing a lick using the 6 notes over the typical whole tone chord choices. Thus you can use the whole tone scale to lead to new places for the music by filling in the gaps and making a choice. For example:

C Messiaen Mode I = C D E F# G# A# = B Neapolitan Major = B C D E F# G# A#

Now flatten A# to move to A Melodic:

A# Alt bb3 (B Neapolitan Major mode VII)( -1) = A Melodic

And then resolve to A minor using the Harmonic minor scale:

F# Aeolian b5 (-1) = F Lydian #2 = A Harmonic minor

One of the things I always disliked about the whole tone scale was the pattern for the fingers, so now that is not an issue anymore.

This was just a quick chat on Mode I before I get to the Mode IV. See you soon.


3 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Σχόλια


bottom of page