Troubles when writing with modes
It’s easy, especially when writing in modes of the major scale, to accidentally make your music sound like it’s actually the parent scale instead of the mode. For example, if you were writing in Dorian and wrote Im7 IV7 bVII it would actually sound like a IIm V7 I in Ionian (Major). This is always something to be mindful of.
Tips to avoid this issue:
- don’t use
VIIº - only use this kind of movement in a very brief fashion
- use pedal points
- don’t use traditional functional harmony