how important are learning modes in rock bass?

[Gomex]

What's wrong with using a major key in rock music? Some of the greatest rock songs ever recorded have been based around Dom7 chords

 

[Cacklingjackyl]

Do the Diminshed and Whole Tone scales have modes? From my research, they don't. These are symmetrical scales that show no specfic key center. Also, compare C Melodic Minor Mode 2 with C Phrygian. I think you'll find there's only a semi tone difference.

Lastly, I would never use a Major key in rock music, always a Minor key.

"Sad, but true"

I was comparing the melodic minor and dorian in the same fashion. They are one scale degree apart. The MM has a major 7th versus the lowered 7th for the dorian.

 

[Krisfield]

What's wrong with using a major key in rock music? Some of the greatest rock songs ever recorded have been based around Dom7 chords

which contains a minor 7th...

 

[Richard Lindsey]

which contains a minor 7th...

That doesn't make a scale that contains a minor 7 a minor scale. When using the term minor to describe the interval minor 7, you are merely describing the quality of the interval--you are not saying anything about the tonality. When you say something is a minor scale, you are saying that the scale has a minor tonality. Which is a different thing.

 

[dlloyd]

From this post I gather that most rock bassists would be doing good to be able to use the modes of the major scale. Do you think there is any sense for rock bassists to learn the modes of melodic minor scale, the dimininished scale, or the whole tone scales? How applicable are these scales for most rock music?

For most rock music, not very.
For fusion, very.
For weirdness ala Zappa, very.

I play guitar as well as bass and when I'm playing (or trying to play) jazz, I get a lot of mileage from the diminished scale and from the melodic minor modes, particularly the superlocrian (7th melodic minor mode), mainly as a tool to think about the right notes when playing over dominant chords.

Take the superlocrian mode (also called the altered scale), you get the following intervals:

root, b9, #9, M3, b5, #5, m7

...you're talking all the notes that outline typical altered dominant chords. You can use it to come up with lines that resolve very strongly to the I chord.

I don't really think that way when I'm playing bass though.