Modes: most of the important ones

mike_l

photek said:

Phew, I don't have a 7 string guitar yet so I don't need to learn this until I do  Great stuff viz thanks for sharing.

Corrected for you.

Jalapeno

Not my gag, but love it anyway .......

Modes ?  We don' need no stinkin' modes !

viz

There's 168 scales there - 1 for every hour of the week, which is nice.

mike_l

Shit dude, 168 scales. I need a lie down...... :-S

Even if I learnt them all, I'd still pick the wrong one for soloing......... (

viz

Just tell 'em it's the 4th mode of Persian minor, that'll do it.

mike_l

I usually use the "it's the 4th mode of the minor pentatonic"......sometimes it really works........ #:-S

viz

Lol :-)

Van_Hayden

mike_l;30208" said:

I usually use the "it's the 4th mode of the minor pentatonic"......sometimes it really works........ #:-S

Call it the Man Gong and really confuse them. To be honest I quite like the third mode, Egyptian over sus chords.

It's all very well knowing this stuff, the trick is knowing how and when to use it.

randomhandclaps

mike_l said:

Shit dude, 168 scales. I need a lie down...... :-S

Even if I learnt them all, I'd still pick the wrong one for soloing......... (

Calm down dear, technically there are only 5 as everything else is relative.

There is sometimes an overawed and over complex attitude taken to the modal system, which puts a lot of people off.  It fundamentally more important to understand where the relative notes are on your fretboard.  It is what you are playing over, not the notes you play that determine the 'mode' (or mood) and the key is to learn to exploit and highlight this.

C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian & B Locrian are all the same scale, it's the emphasis and relativity of the notes that change in relation to the chordal bed.

 

Good work though Viz, I think it's a great exercise to see what is going on in each various scale.

 

viz

As soon as I work out how to record myself on my pewter I'm going to try to write some interesting little choons on some of the lesser known scales. And Mr RHC is correct, for each scale, its 6 modal variations are using the same notes, just with different starting points in the cycle.

Even so, there are still 24 different scales to choose from though, so get writing everybody

mike_l

@randomhandclaps ; Don't take everything I say so seriously....

Van_Hayden

But only 12 notes...

Some of the best jazz players I know couldn't tell you a single mode....

randomhandclaps

mike_l said:

@randomhandclaps ; Don't take everything I say so seriously....

I wasn't taking you in particular seriously , but a hell of a lot of people do view it a bit like that.

viz

@Vanhayden - completely agree, It's like writing a book. There's only 26 letters but knowing what order to put them in and how many to use can help, through a combination of teaching and life experience. It's not enough just to reel through the alphabet quickly.

Van_Hayden

I wnok, tbu omtsiems ew mocpiletac intghs oto uchm

viz

You wonk tub tom's semi what mate?

Van_Hayden

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

Van_Hayden

Basically - yes I agree . But we sometimes we over complicate things. Modes are more useful as an analysis tool than an improvisational tool. Although they do have a lot of use in composition.

viz

Absolutely, I don't disagree. Just as writers could hardly say they used an alphabet to write a novel. They use language. And although I could quite easily sink a couple of hours noodling around in the 4th mode of the enigmatic major scale, I would hardly call it art.

Van_Hayden

But then I think of notes as colours....