Modes of the Major Scale Explained

 

I know a lot of guitarists have trouble coming to understand the modes of the major scale, I know it took me quite a while to come to grips with it so I thought I’d share some of my knowledge on the topic.

After I attempt to explain the mystery that is modes I’ll leave the thread in the hands of musicians and music lovers alike to contribute their two cents on the matter,
feel free to use this thread to ask questions about modes or music theory in general. Here goes nothing:

There are 7 modes to the major scale, in order they are:

1.Ionian (the major scale)
2.Dorian (minor sounding mode, characteristic note is the maj 6th)
3.Phrygian (minor sounding mode, characteristic note is the flat 2nd)
4.Lydian (major sounding mode, characteristic note is the augmented 4th)
5.Mixylodian (major sounding mode, characteristic note is the flat 7th)
6.Aeolian (natural minor scale – flat 3rd, flat 6th, flat 7th)
7.Locrian (very unstable sounding mode, it’s characteristic notes are the flat 2nd and flat 5th)

A cheesy mnemonic to help you remember the order is:
I Don’t Particularly Like Modes A Lot

Let’s take a look at the C major scale (ionian), the notes in this scale are CDEFGABC, if we play the C major scale and instead of focusing the tonality on C (the root note) we focus on the second note of the scale (D) then we have a completely different sounding scale – the D dorian scale – which looks like this: DEFGABCD, we are still playing the same notes of the C major scale but we are getting a completely different sound by concentrating on the D as the root note instead of the C. This is how modes are constructed, if we concentrate on the 3rd note of the C major scale (E) then we have an E phrygian scale – EFGABCDE – and so on… in this sense it’s best to think of the modes as an anagram of the major scale (change the letters around and the word has a completely different meaning, in this case change the root note around and the sound/mood changes radically) A good analogy to describe how modes work can be found in conversation, by emphasizing certain words in a sentence the meaning behind the sentence is changed. The best example of this i can think of is found in an episode of Seinfeld ‘The Mom And Pop Store’:

ELAINE: Well, I talked to Tim Whatley…
JERRY: Yeah…
ELAINE: And I asked him, “Should Jerry bring anything?”
JERRY: So…?
ELAINE: Mmmm…and he said, “Why would Jerry bring anything?”
JERRY: Alright, but let me ask you this question.
ELAINE: What?
JERRY: Which word did he emphasize? Did he say, “Why would Jerry bring anything?” or, “Why would Jerry bring anything?” You emphasize “Jerry” or “bring.”
ELAINE: I think he emphasized “would.”

I know this sounds confusing, I just read through it and it looks like a bit of a mess, so i made some diagrams to make the learning process a whole lot easier:

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8…majorscale.jpg

 

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1858×616.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/8…leallmodes.png

Now putting modes into practice is a different beast altogether, it is a tool used by jazz guitarists mainly to colour their solos based on the chord progression. For example, in a typical jazz chord progression of II V I in the key of C major the chord progression would be Dm7 G7 Cmaj7.

Seeing as how the key of the progression is C major a guitarist could choose to simply play the C major scale (C Ionian Mode) over the entire progression, but if you decide to emphasis the D note instead of the C note whilst the Dm7 chord is playing and the G note while the G7 chord is playing and finally the C note while the Cmaj7 chord is playing, you would be playing the exact same C major scale throughout but you will be using three different modes of the same scale (D Dorian, G Mixolydian and C Ionian) over their respected chords in the progression.

This would mean that you have endless soloing moods to tap into, both major and minor by using the same scale. Here’s a good video to showcase a guitarist using modes of the C major scale to create different moods.

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Notice how Frank Gambale is playing the C major throughout the song, but by emphasizing different notes of the scale he creates different moods? The intro sounds almost triumphant, the chorus is very major sounding, and the solo is very minor and bluesy!

Anyway enough of me, happy playing!

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