Enjoy the Modes instruction book

What makes modes different? When do you use them? How do you use them? Is this song in a mode?

This book is for everyone who has heard of modes and doesn’t know what to do next. Take advantage of how harpers use the same hand position for major and minor chords: change your levers or pedals to hear the differences between Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian on the same strings. Available in hard copy and PDF.

What’s inside Enjoy the Modes

• Learn the two or three essential chords at the foundation of each mode.

• Understand how to identify the mode or modes a piece is in.

• Experiment with exercises for improvising, composing, and arranging in each mode.

• Compare 40 color-coded pairs of scores in contrasting modes.

• Get lead sheets for 29 modal pieces from over a dozen nations.

• Add your own harmonies to 15 additional melodies.

• Find key signatures, scales, and chords for all the modes on a fully levered harp tuned in flats.

• Use simple graphics to visualize the music theory behind the modes.

• Practice segueing between modes and meters.

This book contains practical information for all musicians and is written especially for harpers. The scores are in keys from two sharps to three flats. They fall within the range of a 22-string harp starting with the lowest note of G below middle C. 161 pages.

Enjoy the Modes is available in hard copy and PDF. Here’s the first chapter.

Chapter 1: Modes: Why aren’t they obvious?

See if this story seems familiar: 

1. Music is music.

2. Major sounds different from minor.

3. A teacher/therapeutic music program/festival workshop/website said there are other musical situations besides major and minor. They’re called modes. Now what?

4. I found a list of songs and chord progressions for each mode. I’M SO EXCITED!

5. So, I was talking to this awesome musician who says “Greensleeves” is Aeolian, but this other musician that I love insists that it’s Dorian. And my modal chord progressions say to use C, F, and G chords for Ionian; G, F, and C chords for Mixolydian; and F, G, and C chords for Lydian; but…those all sound…the same…? I’M SO CONFUSED…

Why isn’t a song’s mode “obvious” in the same way that Corvettes are obviously different from Ferraris, that gouda is obviously different from muenster, or that John Lennon’s voice is obviously different from Paul McCartney’s? Here are some reasons:

• We forget how long we spent learning to decipher those “obvious” differences.

• There isn’t a definitive method for learning modes.

• Sometimes, the mode isn’t obvious.

If you’re thinking that different sports cars, cheeses, or Beatles aren’t actually that different, then you’re not alone. But you can probably identify “obvious” differences among lagers or skincare regimens or wood veneers that make less discerning people look at you funny. Whatever subtleties are in your wheelhouse, I guarantee that you weren’t born knowing these things. You expended time and effort. But you might not remember how hard it was or how long it took, because you enjoyed it so much that the time flew by. 

This book will help you enjoy putting time into learning the modes. Here’s my philosophy:

• Use comparisons. Hear unfamiliar modes against more familiar modes, pinpointing the differences based on what you already know.

• Listen in the same range. Compare apples to apples by hearing and reading the differences between G Dorian and G Aeolian, rather than wondering if D Dorian sounds different from A Aeolian just because it’s played four strings away. 

• Learn exceptions gradually. Start with the fewest possible distinguishing characteristics for each mode before you step off into progressively subtle nuances. Don’t fret about creating poetry until you learn basic grammar.

Therapeutic musicians can get CEUs

Enjoy the Modes is on the list of books that are approved by the Music for Healing & Transition Program as eligible for continuing education units (CEUs). Find out more about MHTP CEUs➚, and see the full list of approved books and videos.

What readers are saying about Enjoy the Modes

“This book is IMMEDIATELY accessible and useful. I'm learning how to think about the modes, and also I started playing some great tunes right off the bat. Looking forward to future publications from Karen!” — Bobby C., satisfied customer

“Enjoy the Modes brings a new approach to using the modes in harp playing. It offers extensive information on identifying and using the modes and includes many good tunes that can be played in more than one mode. The new approach is in relating the modes to the circle of fifths. This makes it easier to understand how the modes relate to each other and easier to move confidently from one mode to another, as you could do from one key to another in the circle of fifths. For me that is a whole new way to understand the modes, and I expect to be able to use them more effectively in improvisation.” — Lawrence J., satisfied customer

“I studied modes for about 2 minutes as a college music major. I never really realized how common and useful they are until taking a class from the author and buying this book. What it has, that I haven’t found anywhere else, is the harmonic structures of modes. I was only taught the scales. Harmonic structures allow you to have a better understanding of popular and folk music and give you some great ideas for improvisation! It also has music you can play on any harmonic instrument, like piano, harp, and guitar. Also interesting for melodic instruments as they can use the lead sheets and gain a better understanding of the harmonics. Highly recommended!” — Nancy S., satisfied customer

Two ways to purchase Enjoy the Modes

Click either option to see the table of contents, list of songs, reviews, and sample pages from the book:

If you’re very new to modes, check out my list of free modes resources, which has links to videos and other books.