This
lesson follows on from parts one,
two and three.
If you haven't read these lessons yet, I strongly
recommend you do so before starting this one.
Last
lesson you learnt the horizontal patterns for
the major and minor scale. I hope you've been
practising these and have found ways to use
them to link up the Caged and three-notes-per-string
patterns. This will take a long time to do well,
but the results will be worth it. Even if you
can play very well at the moment, knowing how
to link up all the different patterns will be
invaluable to you later on. Soon you will be
shredding up and down the neck like a pro!
This
lesson I want to explain modes. What are they
and what are they used for?
Firstly,
a mode is different from a scale. Remeber from
the first lesson that a scale defines a series
of specific notes. Well a mode does the same
but is not related to the key of its root note.
To explain this let me show you the seven modes
used in western music:
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 |
The seven modes. Their names are derived
from Latin.
If
you study them closely you will notice that
the C Ionian is actually the same as the C major
scale, and the A Aeolian is the same as A minor.
You should also notice that they all have the
same notes, in the same order, except they are
shifted one to the left every time you go down
a mode. So they are all variations of the major
scale.
A
good way to visualise this is to imagine a piano.
Starting on C if you play all the white notes
you will get the C major scale, or C Ionian
mode. If you then move up one white note and
start on the D, and then play all the white
notes, you will get the D Dorian mode. The different
modes are simply the same notes in the scale,
but starting on a different root note. So if
you take any scale and start playing it from
the root note, it is the Ionian mode. If you
start on the second note, it is the Dorian mode.
Third note, Phyrygian mode... and so on.
Let's
take a random scale, say Bb major: Bb C D
Eb F G A Bb and work out the Phrygian scale
from it. This is the third mode so we start
at D and get D Eb F G A Bb C D. Now if we
compare this to the D major scale
D
Major D E F# G A B C# D
D Phrygian D Eb F G A Bb C D
we
find that the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th are all
flattened to make the D Phrygian mode. If
you do this to all the scales you end up with
the following intervals:
Ionian
Mode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dorian Mode: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
Phrygian Mode: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
Lydian Mode: 1 2 3 # 4 5 6 7
Mixolydian Mode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b 7
Aeolian Mode: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
Locrian Mode: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 |
Using
this you can work out all the modes for the
major scale in any key.
Using
what you now know, take a look at this diagram
and convince yourself that it is true.
They
are the same because if you play the G major
scale starting on the second note, A, you get
the A dorian mode. This simply shows the fingering
further up.
Click
on the link to see a diagram of some usable
patterns for each mode.
Mode
Patterns
