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Applying Modes Question


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Thank-you. I actually printed out your guide p90jr but I also like experimenting as sometimes reading it and doing it trial and error helps me to remember it more than one way.

 

Oh yeah, experimenting is where it's at... and as you learn this stuff enough to hear it in the playing of others, you'll notice the people who are really good mix it all up, put it where it probably shouldn't go and purposefully misuse them but make it sound so good!!! A common thing I hear, and I instinctively have always done, is throw in a pentatonic minor blues run in a solo that otherwise uses a major scale... but when I would do that in my stepdad's jazz band he'd scream at me that it was wrong!!! I hear it in rock solos all the time, and it's very cool.

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Hi folks- I'm still at it.

 

I'm making progress but it tasks lot of patience.

 

I've learned that you really have to learn and internalize a mode before moving on to another ,mode. I was finding that i'd be fluid in the Dorian mode and then tackle the Mixolydian. But once I did that, i was shaky on the dorian again.

 

So, I must have played the dorian a million times now and I have internalized it. So now i am safely omg the Mixolydian- which i imagine i should play a million times.

 

But I'm high;y motivated and I am being musical as I learn these things and then start from them.

 

I'll update you as I go. Thanks!

 

Also understanding what harmonial contexts fit behind the two modes, which is good.

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Also understanding what harmonial contexts fit behind the two modes, which is good.

& kinda the point, eh ? :cool:

 

Yer next /eventual assignment will be finding new contexts for them that still maintain musical integrity...but take that as it comes rather than pushing it.

d=halfnote
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Well, since you guys have been so patient with me, i thought I'd post and example of me playing a solo using the Mixolydian mode. A few notes:

 

My goal in this excursive was simply to play the entire length of the neck without stopping while remaining in the mixolydian mode throughout. I was not trying too be "musical". I was just trying to get fluid with hitting all the notes.

 

It sounds great when i actually use this mixolydian or dorian mode to be musical. When i do that, I am playing more thoughtfully to a backing track. What you are hearing on this track is not that; it's simple stepping through the modal notes throughout the neck.

 

About 4 months ago, I thought I'd never understand what a mode was, let alone learn how to play it. Again...thanks for hanging in with me. Here is the link

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gcX4CGbRCO-GNrJlL_uuIAj8o2n-7adc/view?usp=sharing

 

 

 

 

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Coming along well! Something else I'd suggest is working on your phrasing. Right now, you are playing the notes in order, one after the other. Try picking three of those notes and just moving around between them using different timings. Try skipping a few notes here and there. Try different groupings of notes (like four notes then a rest, then four more etc.)

 

Now that you know which notes are available, mess around with them. Change them up. You are progressing well. Keep it up!

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Craig- you are dead on. When I play the mode musically, what i mean is that I go with feel, often times experimenting and purposefully skipping notes, or jumping to notes within that box or into the next box that I ordinarily would not do. What happens when I do this, with a musical intent, is that some great surprises emerge that sound great and not at all robotic and some mistakes emerge, that I also learn from..

 

I am not at the point yet where I randomly change between a particular mode and some other approach, easily. However, i have tried switching between Dorian and pentatonic, Mixalydian and pentatonic, Dorian and Major, as well as pentatonic and major, and I am able to do so with varying results. This is where the deep learning is coming in. Because when i do this type of interchange, I am beginning to learn what works and what doesn't.

 

I once was in New York city in a cab, and I asked the cab driver how they managed to drive each day and avoid accidents- because it was crazy driving there.

 

He attributed it to 2 things:

 

1. Having an accident is very costly because it keeps you of the road for a while- so cabbies are very aware of that and are motivated to avoid accidents at all costs.

 

2. He described driving a cab as being a fish in an aquarium. He said that when you watch fish in an aquarium, they just instinctively know how and when to move for other fish or around obstacles. He said aa a cabbie, you develop that ability.

 

In keeping with point 2, I want to be able to instinctively know what works and what doesn't. But there is a lot of learning to do.

 

1. i plan to learn at least one more mode before going on to step 2 below.-Right now I know the Dorian and Mixolydian modes, the pentatonic scale and the major scale. And I know them throughout the entire neck. I want to add one more mode- for now.

 

2. Then I want to practice simply playing each mode and scale back to back to appropriate backing tracks. this is important to me because although I know each of the tools I mentioned fluidly, I don't trust myself entirely to not get mixed up between Dorian fingering and Mi=xoluydian, for example. So playing every tool i know back to back, will help me .

 

3. Doing interchanges. Meaning- switching between tools on the fly and learning when it is appropriate relative to the harmonic contexts (backing tracks).

 

All this will take a ton of time but I am dedicating a lot of effort and it is becoming more and more fun.

 

If you have any suggestions, as always, i am open to them.

 

And, by the way, i could not have done this without your help and the help of people on this board.

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Hi guys:

 

So here is another example. This time, I used the Dorian mode over top of a Santana backing track. This time, i went through the entire mode up the neck. But on the second pass, i did what Craig suggested and improvised by skipping notes and not moving religiously and down the mode, as I did in the first pass.

 

The second pass sounds a little more interesting musically, but it's a bit sloppy cause I'm not quite ready for that yet, but it does seem to show how the solo becomes more interesting as you use the mode notes more randomly.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X1jdLq3s28e0vo52RCli3buhHz4Sblve/view?usp=sharing

 

 

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That is coming along really well. Good job!

 

There are things to note, changing modes and scales, during a solo, CAN make for some interesting sounds, but 90 percent of the time, solos tend to pick one and use it. Secondly, some of the modes are ones you will never use. I've found there are two or three for each style of music (Some overlap, of course).

 

As for remembering the fingering, this goes back to what I was trying to teach at the beginning. Play the C Major scale (A minor scale on the 5th fret only start and stop on C). All of your modes can be played using this pattern. Then, you can change the key by moving it. If you learn the two main patterns and where they connect, you will then have all the modes and all the keys with only two patterns.

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Coming along well! Something else I'd suggest is working on your phrasing. Right now, you are playing the notes in order, one after the other. Try picking three of those notes and just moving around between them using different timings. Try skipping a few notes here and there. Try different groupings of notes (like four notes then a rest, then four more etc.)

 

Now that you know which notes are available, mess around with them. Change them up. You are progressing well. Keep it up!

Also, notes that you stop on can have a big affect. Like adding drama to, lightening or resolving a bar.

:thu::2thu::like:

d=halfnote
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I am not at the point yet where I randomly change between a particular mode and some other approach, easily. However, i have tried switching between Dorian and pentatonic, Mixalydian and pentatonic, Dorian and Major, as well as pentatonic and major, and I am able to do so with varying results. This is where the deep learning is coming in. Because when i do this type of interchange, I am beginning to learn what works and what doesn't.

-------------------------------------------

Then I want to practice simply playing each mode and scale back to back to appropriate backing tracks. this is important to me because although I know each of the tools I mentioned fluidly, I don't trust myself entirely to not get mixed up between Dorian fingering and Mixoluydian, for example. So playing every tool i know back to back, will help me .

---------------------

Doing interchanges. Meaning- switching between tools on the fly and learning when it is appropriate relative to the harmonic contexts (backing tracks).

The one thing I would stress again, is that at some point step beyond the intellectualities as you play & select the sounds you want to hear or that express what you want others to feel.

You can go back & decide how to analyze stuff afterward.

 

In any situation, many things might work/be correct/etc but what you express will be what makes you special.

Sometimes that might even be contrary to what's "correct".

 

Consider the intro of this song

[video:youtube]

 

Or the chord change [i #V ] used in the refrain of this one

[video:youtube]

[/i]

All this will take a ton of time but I am dedicating a lot of effort and it is becoming more and more fun.

That's great !

& that's why teams are better than the alternatives !

If you have any suggestions, as always, i am open to them.

 

And, by the way, i could not have done this without your help and the help of people on this board.

d=halfnote
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Hi folks. Thanks for the continued encouragement and advice.

 

Craig: I need to think about what you suggested. I'm not sure I know how to do what you are suggesting. But I'm intrigued cause it sounds efficient. Let me think about it. Or if you can list the first few notes I'd be playing an on what strings, that would help. I am sure you've done this before, but my learning is evolving and some things weren't and probably still won't click immediately.

 

I take your point about switching between modes throughout a solo. I found it sometimes works when I am switching between the minor pentatonic and them moving it all back 3 frets. But most of the time, when changing between modes, it doesn't work. But that has also been part of my learning. Sometimes, you have to burn your hand on the stove before you know not to touch it..lol

 

I also recognize the value of passing, or using silence and skipping notes. Can add a lot of interest and as someone said, sense of drama. My moving swiftly through the mode, was simply to become fluid with the mode. Buy in no way do i envision it as as good approach to, soloing. It would sound robotic and simply passing through the motions.

 

And d- yes, sometimes just going with your gut is best. I think my ear is better trained, and perhaps my movements are better honed to be able to move with more confidence and with better results.

 

The next mode I'd like to learn is the one that is used to sound "Flamingo ish". Not sure which that is but I am nowhere ready for it. Maybe I will make it a point to concentrate on the most useful modes in terms of usability and learn the rest in good time but not as an immediate thing.

 

I'll keep checking in and practising.

 

Thanks to everyone. I'm nowhere near as clueless as I was when i first posted to this thread...lol

 

 

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Well, MF, I think yer best bet to sound flamingoish would be to study this song

 

[video:youtube]

 

Or maybe this one

[video:youtube]

 

Hey MF, we know yer far from clueless even before ya came to visit us !

"Airbody" can make a typo.

 

But if ya wanna dig into flamenco, ya might wanna start by playing a [!V bIII bII I] progression & see where that takes you.

I'm not sure there's a single "flamenco mode" since tunes vary sometimes on the 3rd & otherwise.

 

Consider these perfs

This version specifically chosen to highlight that not all great guitarists are who we think they be.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmNPXqG6ovg

 

A similar kinda sorta

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVz88IHK4o

 

More here...hear ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco#Structure

d=halfnote
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@ Craig

 

If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting I play the following

 

Low e string 8th fret

A string 5th fret

A string 7th fret

D string 5th fret

D string 7th fret

G string 5th fret (which is a C)

 

Is this right?

 

If so, how does this help me realize modes in different places? I'm sorry..I know we have been through this but obviously, i still don't get it.

 

Thanks for your patience.

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Play/learn this:

 

-------------------------------------5--7--8--

----------------------------5--6--7-----------

-------------------4--5--7--------------------

-------------5--7-----------------------------

----5--7--8-----------------------------------

-8--------------------------------------------

 

This is the C Major scale. Now, if you start on the 5th fret, low E and play the same notes, it suddenly becomes the A minor scale. Why is that? Well, let's look at the notes...

 

Starting on the 8th fret, low E, we have a C note. Following the TAB, we have C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. C,D,E,F,G,A,B are the notes in the C major scale. That gives us the C Major sound.

 

So, why is it, if we start on the A, we suddenly have an A Minor scale? Well, starting on the 6th note of the scale (the A), gives us the 6th mode which is the "Aeolian" also known as the Natural Minor scale.

 

Starting on different points within this scale will give us different modes. So... C Ionian (Major scale), D Dorian in D, E Phrygian in E, F Lydian in F, G Mixolydian in G, A Aeolian (Minor) in A and B Locrian in B.

 

So, you can see that you get all of the modes in one key each, depending on where you start. But you ask, this only gives me one key for each mode. True, until you move the whole pattern up or down. So now try this:

 

-------------------------------------6--8--9--

----------------------------6--7--8-----------

-------------------5--6--8--------------------

-------------6--8-----------------------------

----6--8--9-----------------------------------

-9--------------------------------------------

 

Now we are playing the C# Major scale. Not only did moving the C to a C# change the scale from C Major to C# Major, it also moved all of the modes. So now the modes we can play with these notes are:

C# Major, D# Dorian, E# Phrygian, F# Lydian, G# Mixolydian, A# Aeolian (Minor) and B# Locrian.

 

Slide the whole thing up another fret so we are starting on the 10th fret, Low E and we get this:

D,E,F#,G,A,B,C#. So...the modes follow the same notes:

D Ionian (Major), E Dorian, F# Phrygian, G Lydian, A Mixolydian, B Aeolian (Minor) and C# Locrian.

 

This can be moved up and down the neck to get ANY mode you want. There is also a VERY common "second Position" for this major/minor scale that holds the same notes. If you memorize it as well (I can post it later), you will be able to play pretty much all spots up and down the neck and only have to memorize the two positions.

 

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Craig..scary- but what you wrote made sense to me this time. So I understand that using that same fingering and moving it about, causes you to access the Ionian from whatever note you start on. So if you start the pattern on the low E starting on the 4th fret, you are starting with a G# Ionian. Now, following this, if I move two frets up, same fingering, i am playing the A#Dorian two frets up from that, i am playing C Phrygian etc.

 

Right so far?

 

If so, I guess I have a few questions:

 

When i learned the Dorian mode, I learned all 5 fingerings on the neck. This allowed me to remain in Dorian mode the whole time, as long as i stayed true to the fingerings. So If I started on the 3rd fret low String, I'd be in G Dorian, and I would remain in G Dorian, as long as I stayed true to the five positions, relative to each other.

 

So, using the method you suggested, starting on the 3rd fret on the low e string (G note), I could move two frets forward, and I would be in the A Dorian mode.

 

Now, in the previous method I had learned, starting from the 5th fret on the low E string (A note), I would launch forward using the five dorian positions i learned. This would keep in in A dorian throughput the neck, provided I stayed true to the fingerings of the 5 positions.

 

So now the method you just taught me (or re-taught me lol), I start on the low E string 5th fret (A note), and use the fingering you used up top

-------------------------------------5--7--8--

----------------------------5--6--7-----------

-------------------4--5--7--------------------

-------------5--7-----------------------------

----5--7--8-----------------------------------

-8--------------------------------------------

 

and I would be in A Dorian, but staying within the first 5 frets of the neck.

 

So I sort of understand why your system works, but i am trying to think about it while comparing it to what i have been doing.

 

The system you described would not take me in the same mode (in this example A Dorian) throughout the whole neck would it?It would place me in A Dorian within the confines of the first five frets. Correct?

 

 

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SOOO close! If you start on the 4th fret, you are playing the G# Ionian. If you start on the 6th, it's the A# Ionian.

 

Where you are missing out is that the starting note determines the mode. So playing that scale on the 4th fret gives you the G# Ionian. it also gives you:

Dorian in A#, Phrygian in B#, Lydian in C#; Mixolydian D#, Aeolian/minor E# and Locrian in F.

 

Move up two frets and you get:

Ionianm/major in A#, Dorian in B#, Phrygian in C, Lydian in D#; Mixolydian E#, Aeolian/minor F and Locrian in G.

 

Move it up to the 12th fret and you get:

Ionian/Major in E, Dorian in F#, Phrygian in G#, Lydian in A; Mixolydian B, Aeolian/minor C# and Locrian in D#.

 

Basically, pick a mode and then use that pattern in the correct spot to play the mode you want in the key you want.

 

As I mentioned, there is a second position that ties in with the first and allows you to play the entire neck. But...Let's learn this first position and what it means...

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Sorry Craig. I don't think I said what I was intending to clearly.

 

I know that if I start at the 6th fret (low E string), I would be in A#Ionian.

 

But what i was trying to say is that if I start of the 4th Fret (low e string). I'd be starting in G# Ionian. Using that as my anchor point (meaning, i already started), if I move up two frets, I'd be in A# Dorian. Correct?

 

I do realize that if I started on on the 6 fret (Low e string), I'd be in A# Ionian.

 

Before we go to the second position thing, i want to really understand how what you said works differently than the 5 positions I have been playing through.

 

Maybe this example might form the question I have.

 

Someone is playing an AC DC type dong that basically starts on A and does a chord progression from there.

 

I take out my Mixolydian mode. And I start on the 5th fret (low E string), and begin moving through the 5 Mixolydian positions i learned). This eventually takes me to the 15th Fret on the low e string to exit my final position.

 

So, I have been soloing in Mixolydian throughout.

 

Using the system you are teaching me, how would I proceed in the same circumstance?

 

Thanks for your patience Craig. I think we are close to my understanding.

 

 

 

 

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If I may...

Sometimes getting tied up in specifics gets confusing.

I think it might be good to return to the basic principals of this concept (which I thought were already understood, in general).

That gets us passed all the confusion of note names, fingering & string location, which I think are where the confusion lies here.

 

The common modes in modern European-derived music are all variants on the major scale that simply start on the different intervals (easiest thought of by number rather than note name).

Starting on the 1 of the major scale = Ionian.

Staring on the 2 = Dorian;

on the 3 = Phrygian;

on the 4 = Lydian;

the 5 = Mixolydian;

the 6 = Aeolian;

the M7 = Locrian.

 

The technical name for any group of notes used in a piece of music (which are & always will be of far less significance than the music itself) are determined by whatever the tonic of the music is.

So if you examine what notes are being played (not by name but by their position in the major scale) you can determine what mode you may be using.

Fingering position on the neck is irrelevant except in terms of what key yer in; same goes for what pitches/note names are involved.

 

That, I think, is the clearest, easiest way to look at this question...but excuse me for butting in, esp if I missed something in the discussion.

 

 

d=halfnote
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Well...The second position for the A minor scale is on the 12 fret:

-------------------------------------------------------------12--13--15

-------------------------------------------------12--13--15--

------------------------------------------12--14--

-------------------------------12--14--15-------------

-------------------12--14--15---------------------

8--9--12--13--15--------------------------------

 

From here, you can connect in a bunch of places (10th fret on the high e, for example.) So now, you have, with only two patterns, two locations to play the Minor scale. But, the 12th fret is the same as the open strings with first fret being the same as 13th. So, the second position can be played down on the open strings/first few frets. Also, the fifth fret (first position) can be played an octave up on the 17th fret. So, now we have four location that span the entire neck and only two patterns.

 

Next step, moving them to change the key. So again...ANY of those two patterns, 4 locations, can be shifted up or down to change the root note...AND, if you start onm a different note in that scale, you produce the relevant mode.

 

Two patterns, four locations, every mode covering the whole neck.

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I again point to the idea that, while there are many ways of approaching the gtr neck & CB is a venerable teacher, the easiest way to look at things is the way that gives one the widest view.

That doesn't put one approach against the other(s) but does, perhaps, take one a step away from formulae.

d=halfnote
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I need time with wha Craig wrote. As d also points out, there are alternative ways to accomplish this.

 

But although I am very comfortable now with the 5 positions I mentioned, I really want to force myself to understand Craig's approach. That might get me closer to having a better appreciation for what is happening under the hood.

 

Give me some time with this gents. It's a bit of a mind twist for me, but one worth pursuing for sure.

 

btw- my name is Charles

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Hey, cool, Cholly ! :D

I'm Darryl Weaver. ["...uh, who ?" :facepalm: ]

 

Note, I'm never contradicting what CB suggests.

I'm pointing out that the easiest way to get a grip on an idea is to look at it in its simplest form, which here, I think, is that modes are simply the variant shifts of the basic major scale.

If one forgets abt the mode names, note names, the fretboard positions & all that, the idea is really simple.

d=halfnote
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I need to study this further but I just noticed this.

 

If I do Craig's method and I start on the 12th fret low E, it is identical to the 4th position of the 5 position approach.

 

So, it looks like we are doing the same thing, however Craig's method finds the notes by moving in reverse, while the approach I was using finds the very same notes, but moving forwardly. At least, in this one instance.

 

I'm stopping there for the moment. my mind hurts...lol

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My approach is simply geared toward understanding the modes and using them, right away. It allows you to only have to learn two patterns so it's VERY simple to do. After this point, I usually delve into what is going on but we are sort of doing things in reverse. Either way, ANYTHING that helps you "get it" and improve your playing, is a great thing.

 

I'd also like to stress that, although we are approaching it differently, D and I have the same end goal and are speaking on the same level. We are just taking different roads. It's important that, if you are struggling with one idea, to look at others as well. D's method may be the one that does the trick. Either way...we are happy to continue helping and answering questions. You are coming along well. Keep it up!

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Don't worry guys. as long as you don't mind telling me in different ways, i don't mind hearing it in different ways. It actually helps.

 

I think i finally get it. So I'm goignto be the voice of Craig:

 

He might say this:

 

Why are you troubling yourself memorizing the 5 positions, when, if you simply know two positions and how to get the different modes out of them by understanding that starting at a tonal centre gives you the Ionian mode and then the rest of the modes -Dorian, Phygian etc, follow from there.

 

So Start at the tonal Centre of the F note (Low string, 1st fret) gives you F Ionian, then move 2 frets forward, you get G Dorian etc.

 

Back to me

 

So, I think I know why you are saying this. But now, I have to get out those backing tracks and start applying your method. That will be the next logical step for me, because unless i can play what I think you are saying, I won't know for sure.

 

Hang in while I experiment in the next day or two

 

P.S.

 

Does this sound like I get it?

 

Example.... I walk into a music store and their is a guitar player playing the Major scale, starting from the C, but commencing on the E string, 5th fret.

 

Now, i don't know if that is the tonal centre he picked, or if he is en route from somewhere else.

 

So, I can say stuff like:

 

If you just started playing that pattern on the Low E 5th fret, you're in A Ionian

 

However, if you came from first starting on the Low E , 3rd fret (G), and you're presently on the low E, 5th fret, you're now in G Dorian.

 

And if you happen to have started at the First fret of the low E (F note), and now you are on the 5th fret (A note), you're in A Phrygian

 

(please say i'm correct)..lol

 

btw- i would never go into a music store and say that..lol

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