SON:
You keep telling me to practice the modes. What even is a mode?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
It\u2019s a scale that\u2019s had a couple of drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
So\u2026 a scale in a good mood?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
Exactly. Ionian likes to play basketball. Dorian\u2019s the moody one with an axe to grind. Phrygian is the person at the party pretending to be mysterious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
And Lydian?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
Lydian\u2019s the one that married money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(He plays a showy Lydian sequence on the piano.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
So this is supposed to make me a better musician?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
No, it\u2019s supposed to make you interesting at parties. Look, anyone can play C major. Try playing something that confuses people into thinking you\u2019re a genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(He points\/ commands him to play. The son strums first thing that comes to him.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
Beautiful. You sound like a man underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
You\u2019re not very supportive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
I am supportive. I don\u2019t believe in false hope. Play the note until it sounds like you mean it. Then stop. No one likes a solo that needs talk therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Son laughs.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
Alright, listen. Each mode has a different color, a different mood. Play Dorian and you\u2019re walking home after a breakup but it\u2019s raining just enough to look cinematic. Play Lydian and you\u2019re floating above the mess, pretending you\u2019ve got your life together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(He plays again, something clicks. The sound glows.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
It\u2019s weird. It feels like the notes are thinking for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
That\u2019s it. Music\u2019s like an open stage at the comedy bar. Half the time it\u2019s killing, half the time it\u2019s bombing, but shows up for the next gig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SON:
So what do I practice tomorrow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FATHER:
Practice not pretending. Harder than a scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SON:You keep telling me to practice the modes. What even is a mode? FATHER:It\u2019s a scale that\u2019s had a couple of drinks. SON:So\u2026 a scale in a good mood? FATHER:Exactly. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"Layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-rockbob","post-9187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-tales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}