Fun with Modes

Here are some helps to understanding modes and being able to hear and identify them:

David's video explanation of the modes (about 8 minutes)


Terence Hansen demonstrates modes on his double neck guitar (about 8 minutes)


This jazz based intro to modes may also be helpful (about 13 minutes)
(note, though, that he says "church modes" when he means "modern modes." Church modes are different.)


And the Modal Cycle (3 songs about modes):

Ms. Mixolydian and Dorian song

The Phrygian Song

The Locrian Song


For more (written) information about modern modes, Wikipedia has a fairly in-depth review that is (at the moment, anyway) quite accurate, and perhaps a bit redundant. Worth reading if you're still not clear on things:

Wikipedia on Modern Modes

Practice Test

Here is a practice test for you to get ready for our upcoming test!

This is a bit shorter than the actual test.

First, download the pretest and print it out, unless you kept a copy I handed out in class.

Pretest 1

When you're ready and comfortable, listen to the audio of the test. You may want to be sure to have a good pair of headphones, for the best audio quality.

Download Music - Audio Hosting -
Finally, when you're done the test (and only when you are done) you may view the following PDF file and see how well you did.

Pretest 1 Answer Key