As you may know, I am writing a collection of short instrumental sketches inspired by the feelings I get from different musical scales.
The project is called “Moods and Modes” and it’s summarized in another page of this website.
After exploring pentatonic scales, the blues scale, the pentascales, and the C major scale I wrote three pieces inspired by the sonorities of the minor scale
Natural minor scale
The minor scale (Aeolian mode) is a scale generally associated with feelings of sadness and seriousness. Judge by yourself:
Improvising over a simple chord progression I came up with this simple piano melody:
I took the chord progression from an improvisation exercise by Forrest Kinney aptly named “Glimmer of hope”. I kept this name for my whole piece, since the image of a troubled journey filled with obstacles overcome by grappling to determination and hope was well suited to the melody.
For the first time, I tried my hand with an orchestral arrangement for this piece. That’s the final version of “A Glimmer of Hope“:
Harmonic minor scale
The harmonic minor scale (Aeolian #7 mode) is a scale born out of harmonic needs, as a base for chords (you can read more about it here).
Used as a scale, it has a distinct “cliché” middle eastern sound:
Imprivising with this cliché mood in mind, I came up with this theme:
With an arrangement of Oud, Zither, middle eastern percussions and flute, that became the piece named Scheherazade:
Mixed Mode
More often than not, the minor scales are used together, forming a melodic and harmonic palette united by a common “minor mood”.
Here is a theme I wrote based on such “mixed” minor scale:
I don’t know why, but the melody reminded me of the atmospheres of the soundtrack of ‘70s horror movies, so I tried a retro synth rock arrangement for “The Sound of Past Moments”:
That’s how the tracks number 10, 11 and 12 of my Moods and Modes project were made. I’d really love to know what you think about it. They, together with 3 pieces on the major scale are collected in the Moods and Modes vol. II EP, available on Bandcamp
Thanks for reading!
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- Subscribing to my newsletter. By doing so, you will be informed of every new release, ang get a free download of Sail Away, the second track of the project
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Stay tuned for the next releases! Coming next: Dorian Mode!