Some guitarists think modes are not very useful, while others swear by them. Personally, I think modes give another point of view on music, so I think that makes them useful for learning.
There have been lots of posts on modes, and I suggest doing a search for it- Kirk and others have probably done a much better job of explaining it. Still, I'll give it a shot.
Start with the C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
This is given the fancy name "Ionian mode", associated with the I chord- the major tonic. Now if you take this exact same scale but start and end on a different note, you get essentially a different scale:
D E F G A B C D
This is the dorian mode. It has a different feel than the major scale. The two most important modes, I think are the lydian and the mixolydian, which can be obtained by starting on the F and G notes, respectively. Try playing these on your guitar. They sound very similar to the major scale, with a slight difference: The lydian has a #4, and the mixolydian has a b7. What I mean is the lydian sounds exactly like the F major scale, except with the fourth scale degree raised a half step. The mixolydian has a flattened 7th note with respect to the G major scale.
What's this mean in english? If you play a bunch of chords like C F G C, you are NOT allowed to play the F as Fsus4. Try it, it doesn't sound right. That's because that sus4 note is not in the C major scale! Similarly, Gmaj7 won't work. You have to play G7.
Man, this was much clearer in my head- I'm probably making a simple thing sound too complicated!
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