Major Major Modes

The three bright major modes — ionian, lydian, mixolydian

The major major modes — ionian, lydian, and mixolydian — are the three major modes that contain the major triad and the major pentatonic. "Major" at the outer level refers to the 7-note mode family; "major" at the inner level refers to the bright, major-3rd quality these three share.

They differ only in their 4th and 7th degrees: ionian is the default major scale, lydian raises the 4th for a floating brightness, and mixolydian flattens the 7th for a bluesy edge.

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