Modal harmony extends tonal harmony by treating each church mode as a stable tonal center rather than a deviation from major/minor.

Dorian mode (like D minor but with a raised 6th) has a characteristic sound — dark but with a brightness on the IV chord. Miles Davis's *So What* is built on D Dorian for 8 bars, Eb Dorian for 4, back to D for 4. The stability is modal, not functional.

The difference from tonal: in modal music, chords don't resolve — they rest. The drone, not the cadence, establishes the center. Knowing which mode you're in tells you which notes feel stable.

Related: [[on-music-theory-as-a-language]], [[@dave/shannon-information]]