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Hi, I'm Pedro. 
I'm going to show you how you 

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can create surprising harmonic 
landscapes by using a technique 

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called model layering. 
It consists of doing exactly 

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what the name says, which is 
adding a mode on top of the 

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other. 
If you were a piano player, it 

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is like having a mode on the 
left hand and another on the 

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right hand. 
I'm going to go step by step 

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through the thought process and 
procedures that I use throughout

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the piece of music that you will
hear near the end. 

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O let's get right into it. 
The whole A section is basically

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a harmonic melody created by a 
tenth interval relationship 

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between the left and right hands
moving in parallel. 

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The left hand is using C Aeolian
mode or C minor, while the right

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hand is on C Lydian flat 7. 
Momentarily, I adjusted the 

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right hands to get the notes 
from C Lydian because I was 

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hearing something different in 
those places. 

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So I experimented with it. 
Let's hear how it would have 

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sounded if I had stayed with the
C Lydian Flat 7 throughout. 

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And again, what I ended up with 
a bit more dramatic. 

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I suppose the difference is with
using either AB flat or AB 

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natural. 
I much prefer the overall 

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harmonic effect of the last one,
but this is completely for you 

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to decide based on your personal
taste. 

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As for the scene solo on top of 
this harmonic base, the obvious 

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choices would be using the mode 
either from the left hand, the 

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right hand, or even mixing them 
up and thus introducing some 

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chromaticism. 
Overall, what I chose to use was

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C minor pentatonic and some 
notes from the diatonic and 

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using the occasional F# that can
be considered either the 

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augmented 4th or blue note of 
the pentatonic, or because of 

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harmonic context, it's the F# 
from the Lydian modes. 

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In the second-half of the solo, 
I used C Lydian only to return 

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to C minor pentatonic. 
As for everything that happens 

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on the B section, the general 
approach is the same, but with 

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some differences. 
I still divided the modal 

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layering to the left and right 
hands, but this time the right 

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hand is doing chords. 
Again. 

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The general principle is the 
same, in which you think about 

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the harmonic melody or a melody 
that dictates how the harmony 

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will move. 
The technique for this type of 

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harmonic movement is called 
parallel harmony or harmonic 

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planning, where chord voices 
move all at the same time and in

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the same direction. 
The bass is doing a melodic 

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phrase that repeats throughout 
the whole section. 

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The overall vibe is of C minor 
pentatonic, but the way I 

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created the line was thinking in
C minor pentatonic mixed with C 

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Lydian flat 5. 
As for the chords on the right 

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hand, I used chords made by 
stacking forth intervals and 

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thus creating what is also 
called as quartal harmony. 

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Mind you that when you go about 
creating these type of harmonic 

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effects, you will want to think 
of a melody for the harmonic 

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movement. 
You can either pick the root or 

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the top note of the chord 
structure for that purpose. 

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I did both and in the first half
of the B section I chose C 

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region to define the direction 
of my harmonic melody on the 

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bottom. 
Then I stacked perfect 4th 

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intervals on top of each note 
that I chose for the harmonic 

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melody. 
And then for the second-half, I 

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chose the top notes of the chord
structure using C Lydian flat 7.

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This time I added fourths that 
would belong to the modes I am 

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using. 
Mind you that the bass is mixing

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the modes C minor and C Lydian 
flat 7, so I thought of also 

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doing that. 
Here. 

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There are four voices in each 
chord from the top down. 

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The 1st is the harmonic melody 
in C Lydian flat 7 and the 

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second is a natural 4th found in
that mode. 

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The next two 4th intervals 
belong to C minor Aeolian and 

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that is how I got those 
harmonies 

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along with the bass. 
The whole section as a sounding 

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out type of vibe caused by means
of layering modes. 

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Or we can also refer to it as 
polymodality. 

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Here's how it sounds all put 
together. 

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There is a solo in the 
second-half of this section. 

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For the most part, I followed 
the harmonic melody that is 

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underneath and added some extra 
notes all from Cilidian Flat 7 

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for a bit more weight in that 
direction. 

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And now the whole piece put 
together As usual, it consists 

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of an A&B section with their 
respective synth solos. 

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And with no further ado, here's 
the complete piece of music. 

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As always, these were just my 
choices for layering modes and 

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create this type of effect. 
My suggestion is that you play 

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around with these materials and 
then explore the same approach 

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using different modes as each 
combination will have a 

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different vibe. 
And if you want to suggest other

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ideas to implement this 
approach, please leave them in 

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the comments. 
Finally, if you haven't, please 

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subscribe and check out the 
links in the description that 

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supports some of the music 
theory implied in this episode. 

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Also check out the Beyond Music 
Theory blog that has online 

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courses, online music lessons, 
and the Beyond Music Theory 

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ebook. 
Check them out. 

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Thanks for watching and until 
next time.