[bmurnahan]

Hi tsidewinder,

I suppose nothing in the guitar world creates more confusion than the discussion of modes. And to make it worse you get into these history explanations and so on which have nothing to do with what you want to do, which is play your guitar.

For what it's worth here's my take on it. There are two ways to look at chords...

1. In a progression.
2. Individually like a one chord vamp.

If I have a progression that is in the key of C like the following...

C Emin Amin Dmin G7 C

And I play an F lydian mode over that ( although I would never think that way nor would I teach anyone to think that way, it's confusing and what would be the point?) it's still going to sound like a C major scale because that's the point of resolution.

And even if I play a C major scale over this progression it's still possible to not sound that great if I ignore the chord tones. Look at some of Kirk's lessons on chord tones. You always have to be aware of the chord that is being played at the moment.

Now that brings me to looking at a chord individually. Lets use a Dmin chord as an example. I am only going to discuss this in relation to the major scale modes and not get into into minor scales.

A Dmin can occur in 3 spots in the harmonized scale.

As the ii chord in the key of C (Dorian mode)
As the iii chord in the key of Bb (Phrygian mode)
As the vi chord in the key of F ( aeolian mode or natural minor)

What good is this?

Say you have a bowl of vanilla ice cream (the Dmin chord)
and you want to add a topping like chocolate or strawberry. Each topping is going to flavor your vanilla ice cream in a different fashion.

So with the D min chord if I play the Dorian scale over the chord, the main note that is the flavor of that scale is B natural. A lot of players like this sound because it's is a whole step from the 5th note of the scale and creates and interesting tension you can sit on.

If I use Aeolian mode I get a Bb instead of a B natural and this note creates more of a need for resolution down to the 5th of the scale because it is only a half step away.

The Phrygian mode adds in an Eb which again wants to resolve down to the tonic because of the half step.

In each mode the positioning of the half steps is very important in the way we hear the scale and the way the notes want to resolve.

So in summary a systematic study of the modes gives you a way to explore the different flavors of each scale and what notes are available as passing tones in between the chord tones.

If you know the major scale really well then you know the modes as well because you are only changing the stopping and starting point of the scale, hence changing the position of the half steps.

Knowing the major scale well involves not only the fingering but the position of each note number wise. This way you can easily alter the
major scale to suit your needs.

Keep playing and things will fall into place and don't get to hung up on theory.

Best Wishes,

Bob