MODAL INTERCHANGE

Welcome! This table allows you to see all the possibilities for modal interchange around a chosen tonal center. To perform modal interchange is to use chords and notes from parallel keys in your chord progressions and melodies. Each row of the table contains all the possible chords within each mode. Most often, a song will use chords from only one mode, but occasionally chords from other modes are included to change the color or mood of the song. So start off my choosing a tonal center, and then experiment with starting with playing chords in one mode, and then insert some chords from other modes to create interesting sounds. There are so many possibilities!

Mode Chord 1 Chord 2 Chord 3 Chord 4 Chord 5 Chord 6 Chord 7
Ionian
Dorian
Phrygian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian
Locrian
Harmonic Minor
Melodic Minor

EXAMPLES
Here's a chord progression written with modal interchange. The tonal center is C:
CMaj7| D min | EbM | FMaj7
While on the CMaj7, D min, and Fmaj7, play C Ionian. But on the EbM play either C Dorian or C Aeolian.

Select a Tonal Center

Tip 1: Try starting your progression with a few chords from Ionian, then try throwing in one chord from another mode and then go back to chords from Ionian to start to hear what how the color of the progression changes!
Tip 2: Some typical modal interchange examples include starting in Ionian, then mixing in a II, III, IV7, bVI, or bVII chord.
Tip 3: When writing melodies for your progression, use the notes from the mode that your currrent chord is from. For example, let's say your tonal center is C. Your first two chords are C and F, which are chords from C Ionian. Over these, play notes from C Ionian. Then, let's do some modal interchange and use a chord from C Aeolian: AbM, which is the bVI chord. Now while we are on this chord, our note choices for the melody should be from C Aeolian (C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb). For our last chord, let's go back to C Ionian, and use the V7 chord, which in this case is G7. Over this chord, play notes from C Ionian.