Weekly Scale Degree & Modes Mastery Plan - Month One

Week 1: Major Scale Degrees & Functional Awareness

🎯 Focus: Understanding what each degree does in a major scale.

- Learn the Roman numeral system (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°).

- Analyze how each degree resolves or creates tension.

- Play melodies emphasizing different degrees over chord progressions.

- **Superimposition Exercise**: Play the major scale over different chords and listen to how each note functions differently.

Week 2: Minor Scale Degrees & Functional Awareness

🎯 Focus: How the minor scale degrees differ from major and how they function.

- Compare natural, harmonic, and melodic minor.

- Understand why the V chord is often major in minor keys (harmonic minor).

- Experiment with secondary dominants in minor (e.g., V7 of iv).

- **Superimposition Exercise**: Play the minor scale over its tonic major chord and see which notes feel consonant/dissonant.

Week 3: The Modes (Overview & Parallel vs. Derivative Thinking)

🎯 Focus: The **seven modes** and how to approach them.

- Learn modes in two ways:

1. *Derivative* – Seeing them as variations of the major scale.

- 2. *Parallel* – Comparing them all starting from the same root (C Ionian vs. C Dorian vs. C Phrygian, etc.).:

- Play the same melody in different modes to hear the shifts in color.

Week 4: Ionian (Major) & Lydian

🎯 Focus: Major scale and its dreamy cousin, Lydian.

- Recognize Ionian as the baseline mode (bright, resolved).

- Lydian’s #4 gives a floating, unresolved feel (e.g., "Simpsons Theme").

- **Exercise**: Play a I-IV-V-I progression in Ionian vs. Lydian and hear the difference.

- Improvisation: Create melodies emphasizing the #4 in Lydian.