Manual

ModusCycler runs in the browser at app.moduscycler.com and as an app for Android and iOS. The interface is organized into four sections, reachable via the pills 1 · Chords 2 · Modes 3 · Shapes 4 · Session — on the phone you simply scroll top to bottom through the same sections.

The sticky bar

• Transport: ▶ Play loops the chord progression, Selection plays only the current selection, plus Pause and Stop. Next to it the tempo (BPM) with ▲/▼.
• Chord progression: each pill shows its chord with the assigned mode (e.g. "1. Am — A Aeolian"). ✏️ opens the editor, ♪ plays the single chord, ✕ deletes it. Clear removes everything, Modes recalculates.
• Key badge (e.g. "A minor / C major"): shows the detected key and opens the mini circle of fifths for transposing the whole progression.
• Instrument switch (piano), language (six languages in rotation), theme (light/dark/system) and ? for the guided tutorial.

The narrow strip at the top edge of the sticky bar is the beat indicator: during playback the beats blink along (beat 1 in red).

Everything starts with a chord progression. Section 1 offers four input paths — as tiles at the top of the section:

• Manual (wheel picker): choose root and chord type on the wheel — from major/minor to Dom7, Maj7, 13 and more — then + Chord.
• Circle of fifths: pick chords visually from the circle. Related chords sit next to each other — ideal for building coherent progressions.
• Table (modal interchange): the borrowed-chord table shows which chords can be "borrowed" from parallel modes — the direct route to modal colours.
• Song database: load ready-made progressions of well-known songs as a starting point.

Below the input, Analyzed tonic continuously shows which root the app derives from your progression. The Major | Minor | Auto switch sets whether the display uses major, minor or automatic detection. Enharmonic spelling (♭ or ♯) always follows the chosen key — D♭ major shows D♭, E♭, F instead of C♯, D♯.

Key logic: the first chord anchors the key

ModusCycler derives the key from the first chord of the progression — that keeps the analysis stable and easy to follow. But when you replace or delete the first chord of an existing progression (for instance while experimenting in the modal-interchange table), re-anchoring automatically would often be wrong: usually you mean a borrowed chord within the old key, not a modulation.

So the app asks you at exactly that moment: "Stay in the key" reads the new chord as a borrowed chord within the current frame and visibly pins the key (📌 on the key badge in the sticky bar) — "Change key" reads the whole progression from the new centre from now on; analysis, global modes and the MI table follow. The pin remains until you clear the progression, load a song, or later decide to switch after all.

Section 2 answers the core question: which mode fits my progression — and why? There are three approaches:

• Global Mode: one mode for the entire progression. The app rates all candidates and shows the best one with a percentage score (e.g. "A Aeolian · 100%"). Exactly right for most situations.
• Smart Substitutions: like Global, but the app suggests substitutions in fitting places that bring more colour into your improvisation.
• Flexible / Chord-Scale: the supreme discipline — a separate mode for each chord. Every chord pill gets its own assignment, which you can override manually.

A * next to the mode points to equally valid alternatives. For every mode the app shows the character note — the one note that makes the mode audible — plus avoid-note hints. For deeper study: the circle-of-fifths module with explanations and the modal-interchange table right inside the app.

The theory behind it all — why modes sound the way they do — is covered in depth on www.moduscycler.com.

Section 3 translates mode + chord into something playable. For each chord you get a tile with the matching scale in the best Kiltz/CAGED position — the progression deliberately stays in one calm hand position instead of jumping across the fretboard for every chord.

At the top of the section you switch the view — it applies to all chord tiles:

• 🎸 Guitar / TABs / 🎹 Piano / 🎼 Notation / 🃏 Cheating: five representations of the same scale — Piano shows the notes on the keyboard (horizontal or vertical).
• Positions: either only the best position or all positions.
• 🎯 modes·explorer on every tile: opens the embedded course right for that chord (see chapter 8).
• ⛶ Fullscreen: all scale diagrams as a stage view with a mini transport — for practicing and the rehearsal room.

Print worksheet / PDF produces a clean practice sheet of your entire progression — the browser print dialog allows "Save as PDF".

• Save internally: offline in the browser/device — including mode assignments and the jam-session arrangement.
• Export / Load: save as a .json file and load it on any other device — that's how a song travels from PC to phone.

The jam session turns your chord progression into a practice backing band. When you open it (pill 4 · Session) the sticky bar gets an orange frame and five channel chips: Chords · Tick · Drums · Bass · Instrument.

The heart is the grid: 4–32 bars that you fill with chords. On first open it fills itself from your progression (two bars per chord); empty bars keep playing the previous chord. The active chip decides what you "paint":

• Chords: tap a chord, then tap bars — tapping again clears the bar.
• Instrument (✨): piano embellishments per bar — from curated patterns or generated via 🎲 by the built-in randomizer.
• Bass (🎸): an independent bass line as a second voice, with a selectable bass sound (rock, jazz, slap, cello or NuMetal picked bass).
• Tick: the metronome — always runs in sync with the app's bars and drives the beat indicator. Drums are planned as an expansion.

Grid and embellishments travel with the song export; the mixer settings deliberately stay a device preference. Play always loops the grid — the current bar is highlighted.

The eScalator is the printable reference of all seven positions of the major scale — per root, in the Kiltz finger-string system with CAGED mapping plus the 3NPS borrowed positions.

• Kiltz / CAGED ↔ 3NPS: switch between the box positions and the seven 3-notes-per-string patterns.
• Horizontal ↔ Vertical: every view in two orientations — classic rows or the vertical all-positions board. Your choice is remembered.
• Transitions: guided position changes — curated slides onto target notes in the hierarchy root → third → fifth → seventh, upward and downward. Arrived? Then you continue right from the new position.
• Printing: every view falls back to the classic reference boards in print colours.

The modes·explorer is the interactive course for the interim-scale method. You find it embedded on the website and in ModusCycler (section 3, per chord) — there it opens right away with the matching root and mode.

The core are the four steps you click one after another:

• 1 · Starting point: the major scale of your root in the chosen position.
• 2 · Shift: the scale moves to the interim base — you see the shift directly on the fretboard.
• 3 · Find: where does your root sit inside the interim shape?
• 4 · Feel: play the mode — with its character, mood and interval formula in mind.

The free web version includes Lydian and Aeolian; the app version adds the remaining church modes plus further scales such as harmonic minor, Phrygian dominant or whole tone.

• No sound? Tap ▶ Play once (browsers only allow audio after a touch) and check that the iPhone's ring/silent switch is not on silent.
• Sound gone after the lock screen? The app detects this and repairs the audio engine automatically on wake-up — just press Play again if needed.
• Tempo: the app is the conductor. If you change the BPM in the sticky bar, the metronome follows — if you turn the tick's tempo wheel, the app adopts the value.
• Songs between devices: via Export as a .json file — importing works the same on PC and phone.
• Watch the tutorial again: restart it anytime via the ? in the sticky bar.

Questions, wishes, bug reports: contact details in the imprint.