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Originally Posted by mawmow
I went through that some years ago.
Mode is just starting a scale on any other note of the scale than the tonal note.
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"Starting on" is not enough. That's often how we are introduced to modes, and how we first practice them. It's not how they work in real music. It's much better to understand modes the parallel way.
E.g., you don't get D dorian by starting C major on D. You get it by starting from D minor and raising the 6th. You have to hear D as keynote, and Dm as home chord, that's the point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mawmow
So, if you play the key of C starting on the second note D, the whole scale will appear to sound differently because the notes appear to be in different intervals than our ear would expect from a standard C scale, but it is still the same key.
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If it's still the same "key" - i.e., C still sounds like the keynote - then that's not D dorian mode. It's just C major with an emphasis on the 2nd note.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mawmow
Some musicians are known for their use of different modes since they taste differently.
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Yes, because the music is actually composed differently, not because they play differently.
D dorian mode is not in the key of C major. Its key chord is Dm, and it sounds like the key of D minor, but with B natural instead of Bb.
If a song is in C major, there is no way of playing it so that it sounds like any other mode. Likewise, if it's in D dorian, you can't play it so it sounds like C major, or any other mode.
That obviously doesn't mean you can't change the feel or the mood by how you play! You just can't change the
mode. Unless you actually re-write.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mawmow
The key is : If it sounds good, it is good.
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Sure! But theory is about defining terms as unambiguously as possible. Theory doesn't make judgments, it just names the sounds and categorizes them. Keys and modes are two different ways of making music, of organizing the notes and the harmonies.