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There is a general principle used to describe the intensity of a mode. The more flat notes there are in the formula of the mode, the darker it sounds. So the Locrian scale is the saddest/darkest mode, because it has 5 flats: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7.

Then how can for example A Locrian sound dark and sad, but it has the same key signature as Bb major? Major keys are the same as the Ionian mode, and the Ionian mode has no sharps and flats in the formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. So the major key sounds happy and bright. So if the tonic is A, it sounds sad, but if the tonic is Bb it suddenly sounds bright and happy? How is this possible ?

An easier example : C Major and A Minor.

Stallmp
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2 Answers2

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It's all about context and emphasis. When we say that something is in a particular key or mode, we are describing what sounds like the home or most important note. So the reason we would say we're in C major instead of B locrian is that the emphasis is placed on C and everything is compared to that. When we look at keys/modes, we can look at how the other notes within the mode sound compared to the root. The flat scale degrees are more dissonant when played with the root than would be the natural/major scale degrees found in a major mode.

You can also consider this in terms of chords. It may be easier to recognize that the combination of some notes sounds more bright/consonant or dark/dissonant. If you take those chords and consider a scale/mode that goes with them, then consider that being your tonic, you should be able to see how that set of notes, within the context of that chord, sounds more dissonant than the same set of notes against a major chord derived from them.

So it's all about context. You have to consider what is happening in the music and what is the focal point of the melody and harmony.

Basstickler
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    @Stallmp - Glad to provide some insight for you. I'd also point out that there are other modes, some of which you may think of as darker, that don't come from the notes of the major scale. Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor modes are pretty fun and some are quite dark sounding. – Basstickler Jan 11 '18 at 16:55
  • Arent harmonic and melodic minor scales brighter than the natural minor scale, since it lowers less notes than the natural minor scale? – Stallmp Jan 11 '18 at 17:43
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    Yes and no. If you look at them as modes, you will see that not all of them are brighter. For instance, the altered scale, which is built off of the 7th degree of ascending melodic minor, is very dissonant. This would also be an example of flat scale degrees not necessarily being the key factor in determining dissonance. – Basstickler Jan 11 '18 at 18:09
  • Great answer, +1! I'm used to thinking about darkness/brightness of a scale in terms of color (e.g., A major is brighter and Db major is darker). Does dissonance also translate into *that* type of darkness vs. brightness? Or are you more thinking more about "happy" and "sad"? – jdjazz Jan 12 '18 at 00:40
  • @jdjazz - It's a little subjective when you start talking about "brightness" and "darkness", in the same way that "happy" and "sad" are very subjective. People tend to say major is happy and minor is sad but it's fairly easy to find examples of that not being the case, even just playing a major 7 chord compared to a minor 7 chord changes that a bit for me. I don't tend to find that particular keys are brighter or darker inherently but you can find some tendencies based on the instruments playing them. – Basstickler Jan 12 '18 at 19:23
  • It seems that the lower the bass note, the darker a piece will sound, so if you're on guitar, E will usually sound darker than Eb. Different instruments also have different timbres in different registers as well, so the perceived brightness/darkness of a song may be very much impacted by the register of the instrument as well. When we talk about consonance and dissonance, we step outside of the realm of subjectivity, as it can be measured. – Basstickler Jan 12 '18 at 19:26
  • @Basstickler, check out this other interpretation of brightness/darkness, which depends on how many flats vs. sharps a key has: https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/43168/are-sharp-keys-bright-and-flat-keys-dark – jdjazz Jan 12 '18 at 19:28
  • @jdjazz - Yes and I've heard it elsewhere, most recently it was Jacob Collier speaking about it (who you should definitely check out if you're a theory geek). I think it's really all relative. When you modulate up, it tends to sound brighter and vice versa, but due to the arbitrary nature of our naming system, this gets sticky. If I modulate from C# to Ab, I'm going from 7 sharps to 4 flats, which should be darker but that's enharmonically equivalent to G# (8 sharps), so what happens there? Even the answers from the question you linked to mention that it is subjective. – Basstickler Jan 12 '18 at 19:54
  • @Basstickler, I haven't heard a ton of Jacob Collier, but I love his recording of Fascinating Rhythm! I definitely agree that some aspects are definitely relative (and there are some gray areas as you point out--C#Maj obviously isn't brighter than DbMaj). But I also have the feeling that there's something objective given how many people experience, e.g., the difference between Amaj and EbMaj. I wonder if the particular mode is another fact that impacts this perceived quality of brightness/darkness. – jdjazz Jan 12 '18 at 20:02
  • @Basstickler, I've posed the question here: **https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/65619/are-all-modes-scales-in-a-given-key-signature-equally-bright-dark** and would be interested in your thoughts – jdjazz Jan 12 '18 at 20:18
  • @jdjazz - Common doesn't necessarily mean objective. People commonly thought that alcohol warms you up and would give it to people dying of hypothermia, only to later realize that the warming sensation was your blood thinning, along internal heat to rise to the surface and actually expedite their loss of heat and therefore death. If we can't find a definitive way to measure it, it's subjective. Happy/major and minor/sad is the best musical example because it is incredibly relatable but easily debunked. Look up Jacob Collier talking about theory. His music is cool but the theory is insane. – Basstickler Jan 12 '18 at 20:40
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Every mode shares a key signature and a pitch set with some major key. But the different 'tonic' gives its scale a different colour, as you state. That's the whole POINT of modes!

Laurence
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