Books about theory

[CapnForsaggio]

OK, so now the hard part. You have to learn the mood and feel of each mode.

Here's a hint: 3 of the modes are <mostly> major sounding, and 3 of them are <mostly> minor sounding.

For all intensive purposes, you can ignore the modal applications of Locrian (mode 7), but you need to know it's shapes to connect the others.

Welcome to Modes. Practice them using like a basic major chord vamp (for major modes) and a basic minor chord vamp for minor leaning modes.

Congratulations!

 

[greatusername]

Yep, the major and minor sounding modes are the subject of where I'm at in the book . I will experiment with it to get used to it . thanks a lot for the answers really, because the theory itself can be tricky but the fact that english is not my mother tongue is another factor haha.

 

[CapnForsaggio]

If you ever have a question, please feel free to ask. We MIGHT know the answer

Have fun. My favorite "metal" mode is Phrygian. You will recognize it whenever you see the b2 interval in an otherwise "minor" scale. I guarantee you've played songs like this.

basically, any song that has an Emin and an F (not F#).


Outside of the 7 diatonic modes, you will want to learn the Harmonic Minor Modes - This is based on the minor scale with a major 7th. Think Yngwie....

 

[CircuitalPlacidity]

If you really want to get the sounds of the different modes burned into your brain:
1) Pick a root note. For example C.
2) Get all the modes under your fingers from your selected note and then create a synth backing track with just the root note (C in this example)
3) Play through them all over this backing synth figuring out where all your tensions are and figure out how to resolve them. While doing this really pay attention to the "character" notes in the scale and the effect they have on mood/texture/feel.


E.g. Over your backing track try out a C Ionian and then a C lydian. Ionian and lydian differ by just one note but the change in character from F to F# is immediately noticeable. You can lay on the f# (#4/#11) a bit and it sounds nice. If you try to hang on the F it doesn't work as well.

There's a full video onow YouTube with Jon Scofield called "on improvisation." He has a great explanation of modes there. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[marcwormjim]

My two pennies concerning applying modes:

Let's say you learn the three-notes-per string patterns for G major across all six strings, from the third fret to the fifteenth.

Noodle around in that scale while playing over an Am chord to play in A Dorian. Bm for B Phrygian, and so on.

Once you've noodled enough to feel like you're cultivating an intuitive approach to it, challenge yourself further by trying to hit chord tones, then adding the extensions/color tones that define the mode. In this case, throwing in an F# when playing over chords that don't have it as the root, 3, 5 or 7 (Am, C, Em) will help imbue it with modal flavor. That note is the defining natural 6 of A Dorian, the raised 4 of C Lydian, and the diatonic 9 of E minor/Aeolian (being the most vanilla-sounding, of these examples).

Once you have a grip on that, work in the defining notes of the other modes: Emphasizing the minor 7th of the V-chord comes pretty naturally, leaving the flat 2 of Phrygian and the flat 5 of Locrian as the only two left to get comfortable peppering in.

I do recommend first getting comfortable noodling with a modal approach in a straightforward key before tackling non guitar-friendly keys. But in any case, it's a jump-in-with-both-feet-and-dog-paddle approach.

 

[CircuitalPlacidity]

Here is the video. If jazz isn't your thing, don't worry. There's a ton of good info here. https://youtu.be/8ZMCbf1TfRc