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Some of you are aware I went a little crazy with modes for the challenge.
I came across this video this morning and it’s a good illustration of the derivation and context of modes.
It breaks modal concepts into the RELATIVE and the PARALLEL, ie. You can relate each mode back to the parent scale or you can relate each mode in parallel to the same root.
Seeing all the modes as created from the same root lets you see and hear the differences and you could improvise a modal sound over a modal chord progression based on the new mode in that root’s position.
My May challenge tried to take that one step further. How do you play the new modal sound in different positions and relate it to the chord changes.
John -
One other approach to sound melodic over the changes in a minor blues would be to play the appropriate pentatonic of each chord.
ie. for a simple A minor blues, Am, Dm, Em you can play Am pentatonic over the Am, Dm pentatonic over the Dm and E minor pentatonic over the Em.
Each minor pentatonic scale is a minor 7 arpeggio with an added 4th. When you add up the notes of all three pentatonic scales you have the full A minor scale but you are following the chord changes.
The trick and skill is to play all 3 scales in one position with each chord change to sound really melodic. Very different sound than just playing the A minor pentatonic over the whole progression.
John -
Hi John, I was quite excited about your Challenge post as modes have scared me off until a few days ago, when I started to work on EP611. I really liked when you mentioned that modes can cause RAM and CPU overload with you – so it’s not just me, haha.
Thanks again, I will rewatch your challenge video and study this one here,too.
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Such explanations really helps. I’ve tried so often to apply the modes consciously in practice. Theoretically, the principle is already clear to me, but it’s probably also because I haven’t really memorized the scales on the whole fretboard in my subconscious. But I’m currently working on improving this with a course by Marty Schwartz, for example. I’ll download this video too, of course. Thank you very much.
Dieter
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I did a deep dive into modes a couple of years ago, and here’s one thing worth mentioning: Quist and other Youtube producers of backing tracks have created some excellent jamtracks designed for all the modes. Just do a Youtube search for “Dorian backing tracks for guitar” or whatever, and lots of options will appear. I downloaded a bunch of those jamtracks and just noodled around with them in order to get a feel for the actual “sound” of the various modes.
Sunjamr Steve
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It fascinates me that each mode plays out as a different shape of the major scale. At first one thinks there’s so many scales to learn… flat 3 and flat 7, flat 2 and flat 5, etc. But when you actually put these on the fretboard, each is one of the 5 patterns, just starting on a different root. This, in my brain, connects the relative and parallel points of view pretty nicely. It still takes practice to get familiar with which root note and shape constitute each mode. And then, as with your challenge video, moving them to different positions is the next complication… but still falling into one of the 5 shapes. It helps a lot to have the 5 major scale patterns connected in one’s mind, allowing for traveling more easily up the neck and staying in the given scale.
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That’s how I understand modes. D Dorian is inside the C Major Diatonic scale…just start on the D note instead of the C note. Etc. Not that I understand everything else in John’s video but this is the way I basically think of modes.
Joe
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge
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Jimmy Bruno just refers to them as pitch collections. When emphasizing them as modes the question is more focused on the notes you are targeting. And to have something sound modal, it’s much more important how you end a phrase than the note you start on.
So, say you are playing a song like Shady Grove, which is typically in D Dorian. You want to emphasize the raised sixth, and are likely to end a phrase on a C moving to D. To really drive home the Dorian sound, you would target the D with a phrase that moved 671. Or maybe 6271 (BEC D).
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This is how I see the modes. Dont think the 5 scales as modes, but think 5 patterns instead, its easier, because the 5 patterns can be used in different ways, not only in modes.
I will try to explain using G-major, aka the “Do-Re-Me” scale, in all examples.Way nr. one we have to look at, is how does the G-major scale look if you want to move it up the neck, and not only allways play it from 3. fret.
The attached file “MajorScales-5-Pattern-OnTheNeck.jpg” show where the notes are, when you move up the neck. It is the same G-major(“Do-Re-Me”) scale, but played in 5 different positions up the neck. The 5 patterns look different, because the notes are placed different up the neck. It has nothing to do with modes, just how to move the same scale up the neck, so you know how to play the G-major scale all over the neck.Way nr. 2 to look at, is how to use the exact same 5 patterns as the 5 modes.
The sequence of the modes are allways Ionian-Dorian-Lydian-Mixolydian-Aeolian. BUT you can never say that pattern 2 is allways Dorian and pattern 4 is allways Mixolydian and so on. It will change dependig on from which fret you choose to play your G-major scale.
If you play the G-major scale from fret 3 on the neck, you can move pattern 4 to pattern 1’s place(3. fret), and you will play G-mixolydian from 3. fret. And so on – if you move pattern 3 to pattern 1’s place(fret 3), you play G-lydian.BUT if you now want to play G-major scale(Do-Re-Me)longer up the neck, lets say you want to play G-major from 7. fret, you just play pattern 3 on 7. fret exactly as shown i attached file “MajorScales-5-Pattern-OnTheNeck.jpg”. Then you play G-major from 7. fret.
And now you want to change to G-mixolydian on the same place(fret 7).
The number for mixolydian is 3. If you look at the sequence for the modes and count then mixolydian is 3 modes away from ionian(G-major). You are in ionian on 7. fret, and count dorian-lydian-mixolydian, it is 3. In the same way you count the patterns. You are playing G-major scale on fret 7 by using pattern 3. Then you count 3 patterns forward – pattern 4, pattern 5 and pattern 1 (when you reach pattern 5 you start all over again with pattern 1). That means you play G-major on 7. fret using pattern 3, but can change to G-mixolydian by playing pattern 1 on 7. fret instead.Im learning so much in here, thanks to you Brian, and I hope to give back a little, if this will help anyone to better understand modes.
Br. Søren
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