Bass scale modes? Harmonics?

[Thunderbird91]

Well i am a very new player and I am just beginning to learn about scales. My one friend who is a very good guitarist said something about modes... I had no idea what he was talking about but he couldn't explain it to me. What are they? What are they for? Also, if it isn't to much could someone tell me about harmonics? I thought you could only play them on like the 5th, 7th and 12th fret (well over top of it) but my friend said they were just "false" harmonics... again I didnt understand. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[lemur821]

Modes are more scales, which have the interesting feature of sharing all their notes with a major scale. The major scale is also known as the Ionian mode.

If you were to take the notes of a major scale but use the second note of the scale as your root you'd be using the Dorian mode. It has a different sound, since the pattern of intervals that makes up the scale. The Dorian mode, for example
has a flatted third and seventh when compared to a major scale. The other modes have their own distinct sounds to go with their patterns.

I'm not sure what your friend means by calling those "false". Perhaps he meant natural? Natural harmonics are those which are played on open strings, but you can also fret notes and play harmonics above the fretted note. Those are called artificial (although it's a dumb name).

[Blueszilla]

Some good info here:
Scales/Modes-What's the difference?