Basic Modal Boom

Willem186

Have you ever struggled with modes, never really been able to get a hang of the theory, I know I damn well
did, I tried to learn the patterns and notes and fingerings but could never get my head around it. Untill one
day I was like shit, thats kinda simple, using the modal formulas! The modes in order are, Ionian, Dorian,
Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. I will explain the differences in sound and use in another
post, but... hopefully I can help some of you who struggle with the basic concept of modes. Soooooo.....

C Ionian is just a fancy name for the C major scale, consisting of C D E F G A B and then finally C, there

are no sharps or flats. The formula looks like so,

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C Ionian - C D E F G A B

The numbers represent the notes and the order in which they proceed, so 6 would the be A, and so forth.

1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
D Dorian - C D Eb F G A Bb

So you see, to be able to play Dorian, which is the first minor mode, all you do is flatten the 3rd note and
the seventh note of the C major scale, the same principle applies to all the other modes aswell, so lets look
at the other formulas.

E Phrygian - 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
C Db Eb F G Ab Bb

Again all I did was look at the formula and change the notes accordingly to yield Phrygian, the 3rd mode.

F Lydian - 1 2 3 4# 5 6 7
C D E F# G A B

So with Lydian, the 4th mode, all you do is raise, or augment the 4th note being F, to F#.

G Mixolydian - 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
C D E F G A Bb

Another easy one, Mixolydian, the 5th mode, you need only flatten the 7th.

A Aeolian - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
C D Eb F G Ab Gb

If you noticed, see how similar all these scales really are, changing only 1 note of the major scale gives
you 2 completely new scales, Mixolydian and Lydian, now with Aeolian, the natural minor, we changed the 3rd,
the 6th and the 7th note respectively.

B Locrian - 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7
C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb

Locrian is the final mode of the major scale and is classified as a Half-Diminished scale, we flattened the
2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and then finally the 7th, and thats all the formulas.
Now that we know how to build amode, lets try some examples.

F# major, it looks like so, F# G# A# B C# D# E#(F)

Now which mode to choose? Lets try an easy one, mixolydian...
What notes would I change to play an F# mixolydian scale?
Thats right, F# G# A# B C# D# E, we flattened the E#(f) note to give us the E for F# Mixolydian.
What about that Locrian Bastard, whats the formula? 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 sooooo.....
Well... F# G A B C D E, thats it, thats all there is to it, try it for yourself with every key, and have fun.

MikeM

I think I understand it!!!

Thanks man - High 5

andrewjbryson

lol@ Locrian bastard....

Dirk

Good one Willem

JohnnyReggae

Excuse my ignorance about modes..... but a theory noob question......

What is the use of the various modes in any given key ? eg. If you're playing in the key of C, you have these various modes available based on C.... why would you use them and when would you use them ? I could see that it would give you a wider range of notes to play .. ??

FatBoy

*stares up at the clouds and this post that just went straight over my head*

andrewjbryson

JohnnyReggae wrote: Excuse my ignorance about modes..... but a theory noob question......

What is the use of the various modes in any given key ? eg. If you're playing in the key of C, you have these various modes available based on C.... why would you use them and when would you use them ? I could see that it would give you a wider range of notes to play .. ??

Modes are different tonalities or versions of the Major Scale.

So it would be a good idea to learn the normal "Major Scale" as a start.

Your normal major scale is your normal "DO-RAY-ME-FA-SO-LA-TEE-DO" scale for a lack of better explanation...

There are 7 modes, which means there are 7 versions of this MAJOR Scale.

Each Mode has a different formula (either by sharpening or flattening "notes" or "degrees" within the scale)

The most important thing to remember is the most easy to remember :

The formula for the Major scale (1, 2 ,3 , 4 , 5 ,6, 7)

Now lets look at Lydian mode for example , Its pretty much the same except for the 4th "degree" or 4th note.

Lydian - 1, 2 ,3, 4 (SHARPEN) , 5 , 6 ,7

What does it mean to Sharpen a note? well simply play the next logical note (going up) on the Fretboard.

Just as flattening a note - is 1 fret down on the Fretboard.

How can you use modes in music :

Well , with these different tonalities come interesting flavours and I can give you a few examples of my personal interpretations of the modes .

Ionion - resolution / prestige
Lydian - Open / Mysterious / Vague / "Leading to / Seeking"
Aelion - Sad / Lonliness

The fun starts when you use your modes with their corresponding backing chords. (Using the cycle of chords)

This is determined by the modes' intervals and its specific formula

Hope this helps...

arjunmenon

+ 1 with AJB. In addition, e.g when you take the major scale and its modes, it tells you what key you're playing in and also gives you info on available chords and building of progressions. So let's say you've started off playing C Major/Ionian, now you know that the chords available are:
C major, D minor , E minor, F major etc etc
But this is determined by the formulae of the modes...i.e. we know that the " ii " in the key of C major is D minor because the second mode is the dorian ( formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7). And you can funk D minor out by adding the b7th.
Same thing applies all over the place.
I especially love the locrian ( 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7) and the super locrian (1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7) because depending on the intervals that you emphasize you could make it sound happy, sad, strange, suspicious, sleazy, dark, mysterious, bag-pipey etc etc (you get the picture)
It ok to start understanding this stuff by playing the shapes and comparing them to the shape of the ionian to really see the difference, but once you've understood the formula, then throw the shapes out the window and play the notes anywhere they appear on the fretboard.
Kaboom...modes no mystery!

andrewjbryson

+1 Arjun

And by the way:

It would appear that you have been watching the Frank Gambale : Modes No more Mystery Series...

Frank is a master of explaining the stuff.

Frank also recommends you draw up 7 different charts, 1 for each mode.

Then draw out the modal patterns for a given key. (and highlight the root)

Sounds like fun , but that's something to do on a rainy day...

JohnnyReggae

Thanks AJB and Arjun.... did some additional reading on modes. Was a little confused at first with the various flat notes with the changing modes, but it is quite simple as to how they are derived. Just had to concentrate a little more when reading ?

Now to play around with the various modes to see how they work in practice....

arjunmenon

andrewjbryson wrote: +1 Arjun

And by the way:

It would appear that you have been watching the Frank Gambale : Modes No more Mystery Series...

Bugger..lol ? Saw it a while back and it made a lot of sense to me right away.
Then got into using a book called "Guitar Grimoire" by Adam Kadmon.
Seriously rad book with scales and modes all the way from major to pelog, kumoi etc etc
Some of the modes for the last few scales in the book don't have names..mostly because they are extremely rare in western music.
Anyways, enough of my ranting and raving.

zappa

C Ionian: C D E F G A B C
D Dorian: D E F G A B C D
E Phrygian: E F G A B C D E
F Lydian: F G A B C D E F
G Mixolydian: G A B C D E F G
A Aeolian: A B C D E F G A
B Locrian: B C D E F G A B
?

FenderBender

Great posts guys! Helped a lot ?

arjunmenon

@ Graeme : Glad you're benefitting from this ?

@ Zappa : Good one. Now, figure out the intervals and the resulting formulae for the modes of the major.

Just a quick one with regards to how to remember the names of the modes of the major:

" If Dora Plays Like Me All is Lost"

Ionian - If
Dorian - Dora
Phrygian - Plays
Lydian - Like
Mixolydian - Me
Aeolian - All
Locrian - Lost

zappa

Well I decided to throw caution to the winds and do some scales 'cos Ive been slack for a while, and give Willem186's scales a go.

The first two went ok. If Dora was listening she'd be proud of me.

Then dang, I got to the toid scale, the E fridgidareian, C Db Eb F G Ab Bb and by golly that was tricky. First off, I noticed after a while that there was no E in the notes of that E scale, so I tried gliding my finger over the E note on the way to the F note via the E flat, but everytime I did that the nail of my pinky finger would catch or hook on the fifth fret of the second string, causing some discomfort, until the nail actually split, and I had to apply some super glue to stick it back together, do not try that at home folks. So I took myself to Dream Nails in Sandton and had a false one attached to the pinky by some luscious blond lady who was very sympathetic and soon cheered me up. But after I got the bill I was grumpy again, so off I went home thinking "to hell with that E fridgidarian scale, I'll skip it and go to the next in line".

So I gets home and grabs the AXE, tossed it around a bit to warm up, and got stuck into the F Lesbian scale. Eish, I was struggeling harder than before and after stopping for a coffee and slice of cheeze cake from some deli I passed, then taking a phone call from my agent who wanted his money back for the last gig 'cos I had to play with 4 strings after two snapped and I'd forgotten to take spares, ag, anyway, once again I see the F Lesbian scale has NO F note in it.

So I gave up and am throwing myself at the mercy of this forum to help me out here.

TIA

Keira-WitherKay

i never saw why there was such a fuss on modes........ heheheh it's nothing but the scale played starting on the next note..........
you guys have showed the major mode ..... then there's the modes for the harmonic and melodic minors too........... in fact any scale can have a mode..........same as every scale has a chord built up on each note of the scale..........

for my acoustic music though i find i tend to favour the harmonic minor scale (with it's classical feel in the major7th to root pull) for classical and the phrygian dominant scale (which is simply the 5th mode of the harmonic minor .... hence the use of 'dominant" ) for flamenco

yeah and i find chord tones and their harmony notes to be very helpful too .........

but yeah i wanna explore more modal playing in future...........

peace and light
keira

arjunmenon

@ Keira : I don't think "harmonic minor scale (with it's classical feel in the major7th to root pull)" & "phrygian dominant scale (which is simply the 5th mode of the harmonic minor .... hence the use of 'dominant" )" explain anything for beginners trying to get into modes.

Keira-WitherKay

Arjun Menon wrote: @ Keira : I don't think "harmonic minor scale (with it's classical feel in the major7th to root pull)" & "phrygian dominant scale (which is simply the 5th mode of the harmonic minor .... hence the use of 'dominant" )" explain anything for beginners trying to get into modes.

hey Arjun . i wasn't trying to explain these scales /modes just pointing out that these 2 are for me and my style the most useful .... so maybe the lesson in that statement is one learns all the modes on all the scales not just the major scale......but then settles on the ones that suit your style best .......

anyway in my humble opinion.......... modal playing is for the more advanced players...or even the advanced players among the advanced players heheheh .... not cos the basic modal theory is difficult but that one needs to have all the knowledge at your fingertips.....and not just the modal knowledge but all theory as it all ties in .... ...

since i was taught to use modes in 2 ways either by using modal scales as chord scales , so each chord has a a different mode used on it........... or secondly treated as key centres in their own right..... with a few chords that fit each modal scale.....
so anyway i think one needs to be 100% theoretically sound before attempting modes or it can lead to much confussion...... cos playing like this is not easy even for advanced players to do well ... without it sounding like scale practise rather than music........... heheheh

peace and light
Keira

arjunmenon

Keira WitherKay wrote: anyway in my humble opinion.......... modal playing is for the more advanced players...or even the advanced players among the advanced players heheheh .... not cos the basic modal theory is difficult but that one needs to have all the knowledge at your fingertips.....and not just the modal knowledge but all theory as it all ties in .... ...

Agree with you there, however, i believe that in order to get the most out of it, one needs to become initimately familiar with the workings of any scale/mode and its chordal interpretation. Also, at some primal level, we are all beginners to some extent (and in various contexts) because what i/we know about music, in all its glory, is about less than 10%. Again, how do you learn if you don't consciously make the effort to put yourself outside your comfort zone?

Keira WitherKay wrote: since i was taught to use modes in 2 ways either by using modal scales as chord scales , so each chord has a a different mode used on it........... or secondly treated as key centres in their own right..... with a few chords that fit each modal scale.....
so anyway i think one needs to be 100% theoretically sound before attempting modes or it can lead to much confussion...... cos playing like this is not easy even for advanced players to do well ... without it sounding like scale practise rather than music........... heheheh

This is closer to the truth. ?

chris77

Each to his own. I like my comfort zone ... I agree with the motto of "You dont work guitar, you Play it" and drowning myself in advanced theory sounds like work. I admire the skill and knowledge of the guys/gals who not only know the theory but can actually implement it as well, but the commitment needed for that is not one I am willing to make. (besides, I dont have a fraction of Arjun an Keiras talent!) I am in my happy place and the only scales here are the minor and major ones... [sits back calmly on the cool grass next to Fritz, waiting for some more posts to fly past over my head...]