What the heck is a mode? with Quizzola

[mapletrees]

The word 'mode' will pop up occasionally in this section here..just thought I'd point out in one spot what the word means....this is a very simple concept as long as you have a grasp of what intervals are....

When you play a scale...any scale...your ears will hear a root note (the starting note) and then hear the rest of the notes of the scale relative to that root note...

...that's the key part....the rest of the notes are heard relative to the root...how the rest of the notes sound depends on how far they are from the root...put diffferently...how the rest of the notes sound depends on what intervals they form with the root....


Consider our familiar friend the C major scale...

C major = C D E F G A B C

The note C is the root note hear...and when we play that scale from C to C our ears will hear C and the following intervals...

D is the major 2nd
E is the major 3rd
F is the perfect 4th
G is the perfect 5th
A is the major 6th
B is the major 7th
C is the octave

Again, all those notes are heard relative to the root note of C....

Now, if we choose a different note of the scale as our root, these SAME EXACT notes are going to sound very differently than they did with a root note of C

We can start the C major scale ( or any scale) on any one of its notes...

Start on the 2nd note and we call the major scale the Dorian mode...here that's

D E F G A B C D....the D Dorian mode (one might say D is the dorian mode of C major or similar language)...one more time...it's just the notes of the C major scale but we now hear them relative to a root note - a bass note - of D....doesn't sound like the same scale anymore at all...play it...emphasize the F down to D part...since it doesn't sound the same it's worthy of a new name...


Start on the 3rd note and we call the major scale the Phrygian mode...here that's

E F G A B C D E ....the E Phrygian mode (won't sound the same as C major...won't sound the same as D dorian....not at all....

Start on the 4th note and we call the major scale the Lydian mode...here that's

F G A B C D E F ...the F Lydian mode

Start on the 5th note and we call the major scale the Mixolydian mode...here that's

G A B C D E F G...the G Mixolydian mode

Start on the 6th note and we call the major scale the Aeolian mode...here that's

A B C D E F G A... the A Aeolian mode

Start on the 7th note and we call the major scale the Locrian mode...here that's

B C D E F G A B ...the B Locrian mode

Now, look at how the modes of the major scale differ in terms of intervals

C major = C, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, C (happy, proud, triumphant)

D dorian = D, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, D (darker - it has a minor 3rd - but not too dark, smooth and bluesy but not too blue)

E Phrygian = E, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, E (creepy, sinister, and very dark...)

F Lydian = F, 2, 3, #4 or b5, 5, 6, 7, F (can sound lost, foggy, questioning, mysterious, plaintive - especially with string bending...but can also sound quite pretty)

G Mixolydian = G, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7, G (majorish.... but bluesy, funky, and bend baby bendy - twang it)

A Aeolian = A, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, A (this is the same as the minor scale - the natural minor scale as opposed to melodic minor or harmonic minor.....it would also be known as the relative minor of C major....it's dark and heavy but not evil sounding like the Phrygian (Phrygian has that creepy minor 2nd interval whereas the Aeolian has the major 2nd...very different....use it in soloing over the Stairway to Heaven solo progression....dark, sad, and heavy - but nothing sinister sounding like some metal type tunes...)

B Locrian = B, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7, B (woke up on the wrong side of the bed and then the day got worse....no pleasant sounds here...)... Mrs. Mapletrees was feeling a bit locrianesque the other day....


You could do out this process with any major scale...each major scale produces 7 different modes...


Just for your info..

You can also consider modes of scales other than the major scales...for example...the 4th and 7th modes of the melodic minor scale yield two very useful scales...Lydian Dominant and Super Locrian (Altered scale)

we need a quiz.....

[ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[mapletrees]

Quiztime....

first, another example as a sample quiz question...

If I asked something like...

C Lydian contains the same notes as what major scale?....you would reason out something along the lines of the following......

Well, the Lydian mode is the 4th mode of the major scale...and C is the 4th of the G major scale...so....drum roll......C Lydian contains the same notes as the G major scale....and if it was October you'd get a pumpkin sticker on your paper....

G major is G A B C D E F# G

play that from the 4th to the 4th and you get the Lydian mode of G major

C Lydian = C D E F# G A B C

again, same notes as G major but it doesn't sound like G major.....

QQQUUUUIIIIIZZZZZ (Answers separated off in following post)

I'll give a mode, and you tell me what major scale it was derived from...(the major scale that contains the same notes as the given mode)

1. A dorian

2. D mixolydian

3. E Aeolian

4. C Lydian

5. D Lydian

6. F# Aeolian

7. E mixolydian

8. B dorian

9. E dorian

10. A mixolydian

11. B Aeolian

12. G Lydian

[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[mapletrees]

1 to 4 all represent various (and useful) modes of the G major scale..

5-8 all represent various (and useful) modes of the A major scale...

9-12 all represent various (and useful) forms of the D major scale...

pumpkin sticker....?

remember this is all getting done because you'd like to be able to make other people say "geez, I'd like to be able to play like that..." when you go off on an extended imitation of Jimmy Page playing the Stairway solo...

...instead of having people snicker....

be a snicker fixer....

[phoenixcager]

That's great info.

I've always wondered about the usefulness of learning the modes.

I've heard that the Phrygian is used in flemenco music. What about the others? Do they tend to pop up in certain kinds of music?

[mapletrees]

phoenixcager....

modes and 'modal ideas' pop up all over the place...

like Whack-a-Mole at the State Fair....

we have much to be grateful for in America...

the basic 'move' in jazz is the ii-V7 or ii-V7-Imaj7

for example in the key of C that would be

Dm7 - G7

or

Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7

those chords all 'live' within the key of C...but to solo effectively over them you need to be able to target the chord tones.....

if you can't view the C major scale as D dorian....you're probably not finding the chord tones (and color tones) of Dm7 very well..

likewise...if you can't view C major as G mixolydian....you're probably not nailing the essential tones of the G7 chord (G dominant chord)....and probably will be really lost when trying to nail the altered tones (b5, #5, b9, #9 of G dominant)

as far as rrrrrrrrrock....

"Ya **** kids....growin' your hair long and playing that....that....that...that.....Devil's Music....etc...."

......thinking of my Grandfather....

as far as rock....you definitely hear modal stuff.....

Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters'....

the main part of the soloing progression is

Em/Em/D/C

and instead of just playing E minor pentatonic you hear the major 2nd of E Aeolian (the note F#) - that one note yields a completely different sound that would have been obtained if only E minor pentatonic was used......very good solo... why? ....it's melodic...you can hum it right back...you can instantly recognize it...it's good...period...don't ever become a jazz snob....if it's hummable...it's good...

....remember...a very famous jazzer said "if it sounds good, it is good"...or something TTE

don't know how I got on that toot...hmmmm...did I perhaps encounter a jazz snob at a guitar shop recently?...hmmmmm...toasted him at his own game...

I like jazzy stuff....but I do not for the life of me understand why some people get of the opinion that "if it's not complicated...it's not good"....

just don't get it.....

kissing Mrs. Mapletrees is not complicated....

it's still good....

too many beers tonight....

acting 18 (I guess that's now 21) tonight....

the ever wonderful Mixolydian mode...

the mixolydian mode is essential to funkier and more sophisticated blues styles...

since...

the mixolydian mode 'matches up' with dominant chords...(and bluesy progressions contain many dominant chords)

ex) G7 chord is G B D F and the G mixolydian mode is

G A B C D E F G...it's a scale that contains all of the chord tones of G7...the basic minor pentatonic or blues scale does NOT contain all of the chord tones.....you're missing out if you only use those scales...

If you want to learn to solo well in a sophisticated (or not) blues style you should check out Robben Ford's two instructional book/CD's

Playin' the Blues

and

The Blues and Beyond

To me, Robben Ford sounds better picking his nose than most players sound picking their best licks...

For crying out loud don't start with the second book...you didn't start learning the alphabet at 'm'....learn how to get good, funky, and sophisticated sounding with one scale over one chord and THEN move on.....save yourself a lot of struggling....there are good and bad things to say about these 2 books......the content is good but some things could have been changed to make the instructional points more clearly stand out...

where was I....

got to finish this...

I'm just writing now to remind myself to finish......bedtime...

The Black Crowes version of Hard to Handle...contrasting mixolydian with minor pentatonic and the suggestion of major pentatonic with added b3........the guy nails the major 6th bend to the b7 (mixolydian) as well as was ever recorded...it rules...

SRV's Couldn't Stand the Weather...
the Bm/A7/G7/F#7#9 part of the solo (not the intro)...he uses a 'blanket approach' ...just B minor pentatonic...until switching to G minor pentatonic the 2nd time around on the G7....how about modes of melodic minor and harmonic minor?

4th mode of D melodic minor (G lydian dominant) sounds very good with the G7

5th mode of B harmonic minor (F# phrygian dominant works well with the F# altered)

Blend these scales with the B minor pentatonic so as to not lose the rock/blues feel (and to not lose the #9 of the F#7#9 chord) and bend, bend, bend.......there is 'overlap' amongst these scales...bring that out through bending to sound like SRV on steroids.....

nite, nite...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ 04-29-2001: Message edited by: mapletrees ]

[phoenixcager]

Wow!

I'm going to take a long hard look at what you wrote...and, of course, go off and learn those modes immediately

[mapletrees]

overlap, overlap, overlap..... I'll be back....king of the unfinished post....

actually I'm back...

what you don't want when you try use more advanced scales is something like the following...

Ever notice coporate sponsorship in sporting events?.....such as...It's Super Bowl time....and "This Kickoff brought to you by Pizza Hut....etc...

You don't want to be soloing along with B minor pentatonic in SRV's Couldn't Stand the Weather and then all of a sudden have a complete break in thought, theme, direction, and feel....and get something like "This non-pentatonic adventure in G Lydian Dominant brought to you by Tostitos...Tostitos, the official snack chip of Those Who Don't Know What Notes Are in Their Scales and Don't Know What the Heck They're Doing."...and then hit a lame lick with a more advanced scale....

B minor pentatonic = B D E F# A and

the B Blues Scale would be B min pent with the added b5....which for B is the note F....

Now what's G Lydian Dominant....

G Lyd Dom = G A B C# D E F G with the 'important notes' of

G B D F (chord tones)

and the C# (the note that brings out the sound of the Lydian mode)

Note there's common notes in those scales...how are you going to bring out the sound of Lyd Dom while essentially just playing easy and straight-forward (though awfully good sounding) blues licks?