One of my favourite modes is the aeolian. To me, every mode and scale has its own character and associations, and it’s important for a songwriter to know them all. True, you could cheat and have someone else master keys for you, but using automatic tools wont help you develop the songwriting pallette needed to be a truly talented songwriter.
Character
The Aeolian mode is also known as the minor scale. Or rather, it is in pop music. When a classical musician says ‘A minor’, they don’t quite mean the same thing as the popular musician. If you want to be technical, you could call it the ‘natural’ minor scale, but for most pop musicians ‘minor scale’ will do.
The aeolian mode can be used in your ‘normal’ minor key songs such as ‘Ain’t no sunshine’ which mostly uses chords i, iv and v, all minor.
However, if you focus on chords VI VII and i, you can get a sense of grandness that has been frequently used in pop and heavy metal. In fact that progression is one of the things that defines heavy metal as a seperate style from hard rock.
Construction
I prefer to compare modes to the ‘normal’ major scale. The major scale has these intervals:
- First
- Major second
- Major third
- Perfect fourth
- Perfect fifth
- Major sixth
- Major seventh
- Octave
The aeolian mode has minor intervals instead of minor, except for the second:
- First
- Major Second
- Minor Third
- Perfect Fourth
- Perfect fifth
- Minor Sixth
- Minor Seventh
- Octave
So, starting on an A note you’d have: A B C D E F G A
E Aeolian: E F# G A B C D E
G Aeolian: G A Bb C D Eb F G
Chords:
imin7 iihalf-dim IIImaj7 ivmin7 vmin7 VImaj7 VIIdom7
eg. Amin7 B half-dim Cmaj7 Dmin7 Emin7 Fmaj7 Gdom7
In the major scale, the fifth chord is important in cadences. For the Aeolian you can also use the fifth chord, though the ‘gravity’ from Emin7 to Amin7 is somewhat weaker than from G7 to C. More effective, in my opinion, is the use of the seventh chord. For example moving from G to Am can sound ‘finished’, moving back to G can sound unresolved.
This post is my second to look at a specific mode. Here’s the first: Know Your Modes – The Mixolydian
And here’s another good post on chords, from Gary Ewer: Chord Progressions that Change Key
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