If there is one subject that seems to pop up on almost every guitar blog and forum… it’s modes. They’re useful for writing music and improvising over chord changes. They can be used in any music style. Unfortunately, they’re usually introduced to guitar players as fingerings on the guitar, and not much beyond that. Thus, it’s not surprising that the guitar community struggles to get much use out of them.
To understand modes, it’s helpful to be fluent in the following areas:
- Major, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor Scales (Know the notes and chords in all 12 keys)
- Intervals (2nds, 3rds, 4ths)
- Chord Construction (Triads & 6th/7th chords)
- Tensions (9, 11, 13)
- Subdominant Minor Harmony
- Basic chord progression analysis (number system)
- Modal characteristic notes
- Tonic chord of each mode
More on these later. There’s really no way around not knowing these things to get into modes. Once you know what those things are AND WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE, it’s much easier to use modes to create music. But one step at a time.
What exactly are they?
A concert with great lighting can be magical. A change of lighting and colour during or between songs can instantly highlight the emotions the artist is trying to convey in a really visceral way.
In artistic terms, modes are little bursts of light or tone colour. Mood shifters if you like. Writing music with major scales becomes limiting after a while. Modes offer the writer and improviser a richer canvas of tone colour to draw upon and add another dimension to the flow of drama in the piece.
In Musical terms, they are scale inversions of a parent scale.
C D E F G A B (Cmajor aka Ionian)
can be reordered to:
D E F G A B C (D Dorian)
or:
E F G A B C D (E Phrygian)
F G A B C D E F (F Lydian)
G A B C D E F G (G Mixolydian)
A B C D E F G A (A Lydian)
B C D E F G A B (B Locrian)
Are there other modes? Yes. More on those later
K, But What are they really?
The major scale is a series of notes a whole step apart with two half steps between the 3rd/4th notes, and the 7th/1st note. When you start on a different note the half step locations are shifted and the sound of the scale changes. Consider:
E Phrygian
E F G A B C D E
1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 1
The half steps are between 1-b2 & 5-b6. It has 4 minor intervals from the root: b2, b3, b6, b7. This is why it sounds dark. Compare this to:
C Major
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
The half steps are between 3-4 & 7-1
Yeah, but, like, what do they do?
Modes are useful in two primary ways: Composing and Improvising.
Modes are NOT patterns on the fretboard.
These are important distinctions to make the next time you hear or read about somebody talking about modes. Always consider the context.
Modes are sounds. They’re used to compose songs and melodies (or solos). Vocalists and all instrumentalists can use them to create music.
Guitarists need to prioritize hearing what modal music sounds like and then think about getting it on to the fretboard. Not the other way around.
How many modes are there?
Let’s go back to what modes are:
Modes are inversions of a parent scale.
There are three primary parent scales. Each have 7 notes.
- Major
- Melodic Minor (Major Scale with a lowered 3rd note)
- Harmonic Minor (Major scale with a lowered 3rd & 6th notes
3 parent scales x 7 inversions each = 21 modes
Are there other scales? Yes, but these 3 scales yield the modes most common in music. Some modes are more common than others according to their sound. They can sound:
- Bright or Dark
- Dissonant or Consonant
- Bluesy, Hopeful, Dreamy, Triumphant, Majestic, Romantic, Sexy, Playful
Modes are all about note sounds, but when combined with rhythm & groove, they have the intended dramatic impact on the sound of the music as a whole
How can I go about learning modes and actually applying them?
Remember the two applications of modes: Composing and Improvisation. I will go into depth on each of those in separate posts and videos. It can get confusing cramming them into one post. Especially if you don’t have the basic pillars of harmony and mode knowledge down.
Here are the basic pillars of all note theory:
- Chromatic scale – all 12 notes using sharps and flats
- Major scales (in all 12 keys represented in sharps and flats where applicable)
- Intervals (a measurement of the musical distance between 2 notes)
- Harmonic & Melodic Minor Scales (from all 12 notes)
Combine those learn basic pillars of chord theory:
- Build Chords ( all 2, 3, and 4 note chord types)
- Chord Tensions (9, 11, 13 and all variations)
- Chord Voicings (Closed, Inversions, Shell, Mechanical, & Hybrid)
Combine each of those to basic scale theory. Start with the 3 parent scales then their 7 inversions
- scale names
- diatonic notes
- avoid notes (notes a half step up from prior scale note)
- diatonic chords (3 and 4 note)
- intervals of each note and chord from the root
- characteristic notes and chords (chords with character note in them)
Learn, Write, Listen, and Play each step for the full picture. Once you’re there, you have the framework to put these pillars together for your compositions and improvisations. There’s a lot of overlap between those two, but there are differences in how each one is approached. Watch for new videos and blog!