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Applying Modes Question


Music Fusion

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Hey Craig. I really don't know if I'm confused, which means I'm confused...lol

 

Is what I said in the prior posts true? Or am I off base again?

 

You know what would help? And I shudder to ask this because I prefer to find pout by trial and error. But there is an AC DC song that is in A. The mixolydian shapes I learned work perfectly;y for it. So, if it is A mixolydian that i need, using your method, on what fret of the low E string would I start?

 

I want to reverse engineer it, so that if I know where to start, I can try to determine theoretically, why that makes sense.

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I think a really quick understanding of the neck would help out a lot here. Forgive me if I'm tell you stuff you already know.

 

If you play and open E chord on the neck, it contains all the notes required to make an E chord. If you slide it up the neck and barre it at the third fret, you are playing a G chord and all of the relevant notes have also changed with it.

 

These same rules apply with scales. So, if you play a C Major scale:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Then slide it up so all the notes are up two frets, you will be playing the D Major scale. etc.

 

Knowing this, we can ALSO apply the same rule to modes. So, this same pattern, only starting on the 5th fret, A String will also give us the Dorian mode that can be played over a D chord:

-------------------------------------5--7--8--10--

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

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

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

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

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

 

As with the chords and Major scale, if we slide this D Dorian mode up two frets, it's key changes as well. So, starting the above mode on the 7th fret and moving all the other notes up two frets as well, will give you the Dorian mode in E. Moving all the notes up another fret will give you the Dorian mode in F. etc. etc.

 

Now, let's look at your "Reverse Engineering" project. Mixolydian is the fifth mode of the major scale. So the question is, which Major scale has an A for it's fifth note? The easy way to find it is by finding the root note of the Mixolydian mode in our pattern and then moving the pattern. So, in this pattern:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Fifth note in this scale is the 5th fret on the D string. That note is a G. So, if we play all the notes over a G chord, we will hear the G Mixolydian. If you want the A mixolydian, you just need to move the pattern until that 5th fret, D string, G note, is an A. Easiest location would be up two frets:

-------------------------------------7--9--10--

----------------------------7--8--9-----------

-------------------6--7--9--------------------

-------------7--9-----------------------------

----7--9--10-----------------------------------

-10--------------------------------------------

 

This is the D major scale. The fifth note in the D major scale is an A so, starting and stopping on the A note within this scale, and playing it over an A chord, with produce the A Mixolydian mode, sound.

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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!

CB & I are both interested in the same end result: a player who can make the world a better place.

I am not a teacher per se, & have no "method".

I'm just suggesting what might lead to deeper understanding.

Deeper understanding is not something that generally occurs short term...but on the otherest hand it might flash in a second.

Based on what I've heard I think ya got a good grasp on playing well but I think you may have some sense of inferiority ( :idk ) that makes you wanna be able to demonstarate yer knowledge.

Could be wrong.

'Tever.

That's what kept Miles & Hendrix apart.

 

No matter what ya do, Charles, or how ya do it, keep on keeping on !

:cool::wave:

 

d=halfnote
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Hi d and Craig:

 

Quickly, I'll say this. I have not had time to truly absorb what Craig wrote, but I have a feeling that his last post is what i was waiting for. I think once I have had a chance to grab my guitar and study what he wrote, it will come together. I'll report back on that front.

 

s- no inferiority complex. lol.. The honest truth is that I am a most humble musician. I have a craving to demonstrate my knowledge to myself, so I end up understanding it...lol

 

It's honestly frustrating and exciting at the same time. Exciting because I have been able to develop a way to solo using various modes, scales, and techniques, but frustrating because I want to be able to support my playing by knowing how things work. I know you and Craig, through different ways, have been encouraging me to get a grasp on the concepts before exercising them, as I think that was good advice. But sometimes, bumping into walls, falling down and getting back up, is the best way to learn.

 

But.....I think i'm getting there.

 

I'm excited to circle back to the last post Craig made, because it traces how he gets to the A Mixolydian, using my example. So, when I get a chance to think through it with guitar in hand, i have a feeling I'll be taking another step forward.

 

I'll report back once I have had a chance to tinker around.

 

Thanks again guys! You are both great teachers!

 

 

 

 

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So......If I wanted to play A Phrygian (just for sake of example)

 

Phrygian is the 3rd mode of the major scale. So the question is, which Major scale has an A for its 3rd note?

 

The answer is, starting on the 8th fret of the A string. (That note is an A) So if I played the notes starting on the 8th fret of the A string, I'd be in A Phrygian

 

Yes?

 

 

 

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You've nailed the concept, but got your note wrong. The 8th fret on the A string is an F. An oversight, I'm sure.

 

Modes are simply a major scale, played over different chords to give interesting sounds. The "Starting on" note is simply a way to better hear that difference. So, to play the A Phrygian mode, we simply have to play the F Major scale over some music in A. That "sound" when you play over chords other than the Major key, is what makes it a mode.

 

So, you CAN start on the F note on the 5th string, but, using my "First": pattern, you would play it starting on the 13th fret of the E string. Then, just try to start and end you phrases on the A notes to hear the sound of the Phrygian mode.

 

------------------------------------------10-12-13-

---------------------------------10-11-13----------

-----------------------9--10--12-------------------

----------------10--12-----------------------------

----10--12--13-------------------------------------

-13------------------------------------------------

 

The A notes are the 12 fret on the 5th string and the 10th fret on the 2nd string. Emphasize those notes while playing over A and you will hear the Phrygian Mode in A instead of the Major scale in F. That is what a mode is and what it does.

 

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Craig- you're absolutely right. Believe it or not, I know where the notes are on the neck. I don't know why i typed A twice. I should have identified it as F.

 

In any event, I think we are now on the same page. Actually, my original post, which i edited but should not have, said, alternatively, you can start 13th fret of the Low E.

 

So, I'm with you, but i don't know why i mistakingly identified the note i was talking about as an A.

 

But more importantly, i think i am following your method. I'm going to do a few more of those reverse engineering excersizes just to make sure it has sunk in.

 

So, if I want to play E Dorian, using your method, I tell myself that Dorian is the second place of the major scale.

 

So then I ask myself, which major scale has E for it's second note? I think it is the low E string, 10h fret- which is a D

 

So if I played those notes starting on the 10th fret of the Low E string, I'd be in E Dorian

 

I test this out by playing to this track

 

I think it fits but since I've been on shaky ground, I wonder if you could tell me if I'm correct?

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Modes are simply a major scale, played over different chords to give interesting sounds. The "Starting on" note is simply a way to better hear that difference. So, to play the A Phrygian mode, we simply have to play the F Major scale over some music in A. That "sound" when you play over chords other than the Major key, is what makes it a mode. ..............................................

 

Emphasize those notes while playing over A and you will hear the Phrygian Mode in A instead of the Major scale in F. That is what a mode is and what it does.

Perfect encapsulization !

There is the other way of considering modes,

the one that most theorists & players take,

which is as the varied contorted scales one gets if starting on the 1 of any of those variant modes.

That way ya gotta try learning all the different "flat this" & "# that" for 7 "different" scales & try to keep that straight. :freak:

 

But as has been expressed here,

the easiest way to get a grip (so to speak :D ) on all the different shapes is to keep in mind that

they can all be played shifting the same fingerings around & then listening to the pitches one wants to use.

d=halfnote
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Nailed it @Music Fusion! GG My friend! Now...the simple way to find the location of the scale is to look at the starting notes in one of the position, find the root of the mode you want and slide the whole scale up or down so that root note is on the right key.

 

So, memorize the notes and modes in the 8th fret, C Major. Then if you want to find an E Dorian, you know that the Dorian mode is the second mode and that the second note (on the 5th fret, 5th string, is a D. So, if you slide that D up two frets and take all the other notes with you, you are now in E Dorian.

 

I think you have this now. We are here for more questions but at this point, you are good to practice and learn the sounds of each mode. How they fit and what they work with. Have fun man...this is where you move from understanding them, theoretically, to knowing them, emotionally. Knowing how they sound and how you can use them as tools to let your inner music flow outward.

 

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...this is where you move from understanding them, theoretically, to knowing them, emotionally. Knowing how they sound and how you can use them as tools to let your inner music flow outward.

:rawk:

d=halfnote
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Thanks Craig, d and others.

I have been using your method and reverse engineering a bunch of modes, and it's actually making sense and I've tested each attempt out against a backing track, so that i know it's right.

 

Now...I need to circle back to the second position you were referring to. I have been sop fixated trying to get the first position and the methidolof=gy you were teaching to make sense, but now that it has, I need to go back and read what you said about the second position and how that would help to cover the entire neck.

 

So brace yourself for another round of my pesky questions. But first, let me re-read what you wrote so maybe I can figure it out based on what has already been written. Hang in with me guys.

 

I will also post something tomorrow that may make d very happy.

 

Stay tuned........for the next edition of the struggling lead player...;-)

 

 

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okay...so here is a question.

 

I played in E Dorian, using the first position you taught me, by starting on the 10th fret of the Low E string

 

When I try to move forward to the second position, I am finding that the following pattern works:

 

------------------------------------------9-10-12-

---------------------------------9-10-12----------

---------------------------9---11-----------

----------------9--11--12-----------------------------

---- 9--11--12-------------------------------------

-9--10---12------------------------------------------

 

But isn't this different than the second position that Criag posted?

 

(The good news is that i have landed the first position and how to use it modally) But now i have to conquer understanding how to move to the second position when i have already exhausted the first position.

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... now i have to conquer understanding how to move to the second position when i have already exhausted the first position.

 

Keep in mind you can play the same things in multiple positions, although they will facilitate certain note selections.

 

I won't address Q&A abt CB's lessons but I'm always looking for felicity !

I will also post something tomorrow that may make d very happy.

:snax:

 

d=halfnote
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Hey d....so you have always told me to focus on how music makes you feel and how it makes the audience feel, when playing it.

 

So I was running through a number of scale and mode excerzices that I normally cycle through , and when it came time for me to practice the major scale, I decided to just let my emotional side play the notes, and not my rational side. So, no robotically playing notes for the sake of covering the scale in sequential order.

 

This resulted in my writing a song to a jam track. So I wrote the melody on my guitar, and then I replaced the guitar line with a sax. And I also wrote words. So, the words are below, which follow the sax line. But the point of this is that this emerged when I shut off my mind to the "rules" and just played what I felt. Well, not entirely true, because I couldn't do it this way had I not learned the rules on this board in the first place. But it shows what can happen when you take the ideas from different people who are trying to teach you, and combine them. So there are echoes of Craig and yourself in my strategy (not in the actual song though...I don't like you guys in that way lol)

 

Back on a serious note,. this song is a step back to a previous era, when music was much more simple and true (imho)

 

It' called Moonlight After Midnight

Here is the link, followed by the lyrics:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gv27Pm9JK3JP5hOSKk1NN1_mro20FKG4/view?usp=sharing

 

Moonlight After Midnight

 

lyrics in (brackets) are backing vocals.

 

Say that you'll kiss me this evening.

Tell me youll always be true

Say that you never will leave me

Tell me that youll say I do

 

Cause this moonlight, made my worries disapear

And as long as you are here

I ll love you

 

My love

You know that I do

Really need you

 

And now theres moon light, after midnight

 

Oh love me, moon light, after midnight

Its the best feeling of all

 

 

Say that youll stay here this evening

Say that this never will end

 

And if this would be so , my love

It just cant be enough

There is no star above

That comes near you

 

And you know that its true, dont you

Forever youver captured my heart

And if ever if we were apart

I would die

Or how Id cry

 

Darling please , take hold my hand

You know well make a plan

Just like when this first began

 

Look up at the sky

And youll see a sign

And its telling us we, were meant to be

 

This moonliight after midnight

This romance is sent from above

(sent from above)

We so well be

Together eternally

 

Moonlight and midnight

A feeling that just might be ours

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Nice track & song overall.

I like how the melody "rhymes"

(echoes itself in places, matching the lyrix)

...writing a song to a jam track.

Perhaps try this sometime:

just play w/no backing track

& later decide how to color the results.

You can even be free w/the rhythmic aspects.

Yer options are even more wide open!

Keep on, uh, keepin' on, Cholly !

 

d=halfnote
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Well, you can get to the same place different ways, but someone has to show you an overall map.

 

Using that analogy, I discovered something I don't think would have occurred to me ( at least not for a long time), and it was because of all this talk here about modes, about tonal centres and about starting on different parts of the major scale to achieve modes.

 

I still like Craig's method, and I plan to keep in in my tool box of methods.

 

But as I am doing reverse engineering excersizes based on Craig's method, I kept harkening back to the other method whereby I was memorizing the 5 positions of various modes, such as the Dorian and mixolydian.

 

Then I noticed, wait a second, some of these finger patterns are also found in other modes. So a shape from the Ionian mode will find its way into the Dorian and mixolydian for example.

 

Then I asked myself, could it be, similar to what Craig was saying about moving the major scale around, that depending on what finger patterning shape I start on, it will result in a different mode?

 

Amazingly, it does. So the first pattern of the Ionian mode, for example, is also the same pattern as on the 15th fret when you play Dorian in A.

 

So, this unlocked a lot of possibilities for me that I have tested and worked.

 

So all that listening, and that teaching is leading to more learning!

 

 

 

 

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The reason for this is that, while you are learning different patterns, it is still all the same notes. The reason I use C Major is that particular key has no sharps or flats. So, anytime you play C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C anywhere on the neck and over a C chord, you are playing the C Major scale. If you play the same notes over a D chord, you are playing the D Dorian mode of the C Major scale. Those notes can be played anywhere on the neck. The patterns are simply a way to help you find and remember where they all are.
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The reason for this is that, while you are learning different patterns, it is still all the same notes. The reason I use C Major is that particular key has no sharps or flats. So, anytime you play C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C anywhere on the neck and over a C chord, you are playing the C Major scale. If you play the same notes over a D chord, you are playing the D Dorian mode of the C Major scale. Those notes can be played anywhere on the neck. The patterns are simply a way to help you find and remember where they all are.

 

Major scale is also the easiest scale for most ppl to learn

& b/c of the piano kb layout, it serves as a visual illustration of the whole/half step relations.

That's why the recognition of the series of modes as a shifting formula is so handy...y'can skip tryna remember all the diff scale step mixtures.

I'm pretty sure one of those slide-rule or wheel-like code breakers is or could be marketed to convey the same concept.

 

BTW & FWIW, although the idea that all the common modes are inter-related this way is implicit in most classical theory texts

it's also generally shrouded in arcane terms & never explained as straightforwardly as we've done here.

 

Do I see an instructional book in our future ? :idea:

d=halfnote
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LOL!. Indeed, d. I suppose the thing with modes is that they are very much an interpretive thing. It comes down to how the scale sounds when played over different chord structures. It's still the C Major scale, but it suddenly sounds dark, or exotic. It's about how the same scale sounds in different musical environments. That's all it is.
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I think what i have learned throughout this whole thing is that it is both good and band to hunt around the internet for explanations of modes. I did not find anyone in Youtube land who was able to explain it clearly and in a way that made it easy to grasp. As you know, i struggled here as well but at least you kept on message and it finally sunk in with me.
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Here's an email I recently sent to a friend who is also learning guitar:

Id like to share a few things that I found helpful in my guitar journey, understanding that I dont claim to be a fantastic guitarist and knowing that you likely know most, if not all of what I am about to share.

 

I think many guitar players learn chords and barre chords, and perhaps venture a little into lead guitar while believing that they have learned most of what they need to know. I thought the same way for a long time. I discovered that chords and barre chords were more like 60% or less of what a well rounded guitarist needs to know. The other stuff I picked up on, which I strongly recommend, is the following:

 

1. There is a whole world to be discovered on the high E, B and G strings of a guitar. There are some shapes that can be played down there, that would be very familiar, that can be useful in the following ways:

 

a) as another way of playing chords, that emphasizes the higher sounding end.

b) typically used in funk, disco and modern music to produce some pretty nifty progressions/sounds.

c) sonically, as an alternative to playing a full chord, whose lower end, will sometimes collide- compete sonically, with a bass guitar. This is particularly important in recording music where you want to carve out frequencies positionally within the sonic landscape. Where sonic overlaps and collisions occur, it muddies the clarity of certain instruments. Thus, using the higher register as an alternative, with a bass guitar looking after the lower foundation, is often a good mix. Again, more important in recording although there are also benefits in playing live.

 

2. The Penatatonic scale, and its various positions along the neck is probably the biggest bang for your time spent, in terms of its immediate usefulness in blues and rock. Once the various positions of the pentatonic are learned, it can easily be applied to blues music or rock. A neat little trick occurs when you move the position 3 frets back. When doing so, you switch from a bluesy sounding solo, to a happy sounding solo simply by moving the position back three frets, while remaining in key.

 

3. Learning the modes is also a very good investment. It is initially a mind twister as it runs somewhat contrary to other approaches to learning other aspects of the guitar. But once the concept and payload of modes clicks, it is well worth it. If you have not used modes and wish to revisit them, I strongly suggest you learn all the positions of the major scale (also known as the Ionian mode). Once that is learned and one is fluid with it, it can be used to play virtually any other mode. The beauty of it, is that you can easily solo to almost any genre including music by AC/DC (typically mixolydian), Santana (often times Dorian) and the like.

 

I hope some of this is helpful. Again, I am no virtuoso and I had to give up playing for some time due to my health. But these are some of the things I learned in an effort to try to improve the breadth of my playing.

 

I hope all is well with you and that you are continuing your interest in playing guitar. Music is good for the soul. ;-)

 

P.S. d...you are a keener when it comes to detail. If we form the good and band, I want to be the freed guitarist lol

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