+How To Use The Modes?

How To Use The Modes?

Shown below are the qualities that make each musical mode a musical mode.

The role of musical modes has origins in jazz, where soloists whether they were trumpet players, saxophone players or bass players would solo over different modes rather than chord changes. Piano players would use different notes from different modal scales to create

Rather than soloing over C major, D minor and E minor in the key of C major, for example, soloists might just solo using the C Ionian/major scale, C Dorian and C Mixolydian scales.

For the sake of study, think of the modes as “cousins” of the major and minor scale where depending on what note from the major scale you start on, there are different note changes that correspond to where you started.

On a C major scale, C D E F G A B C, for example, starting on the second note (D) would permit you to play the D Dorian scale. The Dorian scale is based off the second note of a major scale and the Dorian scale has it’s own set of note changes: flat 3rd and 7th:

D E Fb G A B Cb D

Bear in mind that no matter what major scale you start on, the rules and shapes still apply. If I were to play an F major scale, F G A Bb C D E F, and start on the second note, G, I would be permitted to play a G Dorian scale and it would look like this:

G A Bbb C D E Fb G

With an Eb major scale, Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb, and starting on the second note, F Dorian would look like this:

F G Abb Bb C D Ebb F

When dealing with modes, bear this in mind: 1. All the notes that change because of the key STAY IN EFFECT and 2. Once all the notes from the key are in effect, THEN make the changes based on  the mode. The result will lead you to play one of the corresponding shapes below.

7 Essential Musical Modes

Musical modes are additional scale variations stemming from a major scale.

Though there are several hundreds of different scales in the musical world, there are 10 that will cover 99.9% of the musical situations that you encounter, whether you are taking a solo on bass or following a chord chart and trying to map out the chord scale and your available options. All these scales can also be grouped into 3 categories:Major, Minor and Dominant 7th scales.

Keep reading below for the 7 musical modes and what they look like and what their qualities are:

Ionian:

- No changed notes

- Standard major scale

- Based off starting on the FIRST NOTE of a given major scale

- Major scale

Or on the fretboard, the Ionian/Major shape looks like this:

Dorian:

- Based off starting on the SECOND NOTE of a major scale

- Flat 3rd and 7th notes of the scale

- Minor scale

Or on the fretboard, the Dorian shape looks like this:

Phrygian:

- Based off starting on the THIRD NOTE of a major scale

- Flat 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th notes of the scale

- Minor scale

on the fretboard, the Phygian shape looks like this:

Lydian:

- Based off starting on the FOURTH NOTE of a major scale

- Sharped 4th note of the scale

- Major scale

Or on the fret board, the Lydian scale looks like this:

Mixolydian:

- Based off starting on the FIFTH NOTE of a major scale

- Flat 7th note of a scale

- Dominant 7th scale
 

Or on the fret board, the Mixolydian scale looks like this:

Aeolian:

- Based off starting on the SIXTH NOTE of a major scale

- Flat 3rd, 6th and 7th notes of a scale 

- Minor scale

Or on the fret board, the Aeolian/natural minor scale looks like this:

Locrian:

- Based off starting on the SEVENTH NOTE of a major scale

- Flat 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th notes of a major scale

- Dominant 7th scale

Or on the fret board, the Locrian mode looks like this:

Modes can also be grouped the same way we would classify other scales and chords.

                                   Major                                     Quality                                   

 Ionian                                  Major

 Dorian                                  Minor

Phrigian                                  Minor

Lydian                                     Major

Mixolydian                              Major

Aeolian                                     Minor

Locrian                                      Minor

Hey there!

Thanks for reading the musical modes. I’m glad you made it to the end and encourage you to use this musical modes anytime you feel stuck or need a quick reference for musical modes.

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