Modes and scales

nathan,

Your instructor is probably doing a good job teaching you the modes of the major scale (as WP4F nicely explained).

However, there are other scales (e.g., pentatonic) that your instructor should eventually introduce to you.

On the other hand, you don't have to wait for the instructor to reach that point in his curriculum.

Here's the major pentatonic scale (using tones from the major scale):

1-2-3-5-6-1 or W-W-WH-W-WH where WH represents a whole step plus a half step.

This exact scale is used (on guitar) at the start of My Girl by one of the famous Motown groups - I think it's the Temptations.

Good luck.

 

the pentatonic blues scale is also very widely used:

1, -3, P4, o5, P5, -7, 8
T+ST, T, ST, ST, T+ST, T

 

I could send it back if you like.


Chris A.

 

Hi nathan - hopefully your teacher isn't all-together avoiding teaching you scales. But learning the modes is more suitable in this situation. In walking bass, you are focusing more on the chord scales (this is where the modes come in) than the key the tune is in.

In addition to learning modes it's also important to learn your chords and their inversions.

Good luck.

 

Indeed. In fact, if you know your Ionian mode, that happens to be natural major, and Aeolian is natural minor.

 

I put this in another thread but...

I caution thinking too hard about theory when playing live. I am a theory geek. I fell into a rut always thinking modes, chords, subs etc. This turned music into math. While on one level it is, it is also emotional. I have tried to make use of my ear as well as my mind when improvising.

I teach alot and I try not to go straight into scales. While this is important knowledge to have, and I do teach it, too much to soon without the proper understanding of where it came from can be a dangerous and confusing thing.

 

If you are jammimg by yourself, and you play a c scale from c to c, you're playing c major, right? If you, still jamming by yourself, play a c scale starting on d and ending on d, that is what you are playing, A C SCALE. You aren't playing a mode, unless there is something else going on chordally. The modes are tough to explain, and I'm still working at it myself, but explaining them as this note to that note seems a bit confusing. When you play any scale, do you always start on the root? Wouldn't we all sound exactly the same? It's the chords beneath the scale that make the scale a mode...

 

You're right...kinda. A c scale from d to d is the d dorian mode. While it is the same pitch collection, it has to do with where to half steps and whole steps fall in the scale. You are definitely right that it is the chord beneath to scale that make things sound a certain way. That's why my last post was cautioning thinking too hard about scales when improvising.

 

While I agree with this to an extent, I'd say, that the goal is to make the theory into somewhat of a second nature so that you don't really have to think about it.

But then, the problem is , that it becomes so complex and that's a daunting task!

I have a friend, he's a great player, but he thinks too much. He's constantly trying new things and figuring out new things in the music theory world, and while that's all great, and we have great conversations about some very abstract theory. When it comes to his playing, and his performing, it often languishes a bit because he gets dissatisfied with what he's playing pretty quickly if it isn't super interesting and complicated.

 

With all due respect to willplay4food I would like to present another way of remembering modes, some people find it easier, some people don't get it, so I'll just throw it out there. This method works in conjunction with what Billspay4food because it requires a basic knowledge of what the modes are.

So you know the names Ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, locrian But you're having problems remembering which one is which. Check this out.

we start with the brightest sounding mode, which is Lydian.
This is because lydian is exactly the same as ionian except, the 4th degree is raised a halfstep. We will be lowering one note from each scale to make the scale progressively darker sounding.

so Lydian looks like this
1-2-3-#4-5-6-7
e.g. C lydian: C-D-E-F#-G-A-B-c

Now, we can lower one note to get to ionian

1-2-3-4-5-6-7
e.g. C ionian: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-c

Now, there is only one note we need to change to get to mixolydian, that's the 7th.

1-2-3-4-5-6-b7
e.g C mixolydian: C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-c

From here, again, only one note needs to change to get to Dorian, the third.

1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7
e.g. C Dorian: C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb-c

Now, we lower one note to get to Aeolian, the 6th.

1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
e.g. C aeolian: C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-c

Now, lower one note to get to Phrygian, the 2nd.

1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
e.g. C phrygian: C-Db-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-c

Finally, the last note we lower to get to Locrian is the 5th

1-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7

e.g. C locrian: C-Db-Eb-F-Gb-Ab-Bb-c

I know this might be confusing, but give it some thinking, and it should really help, if not, sorry for wasting your time

 

I try to avoid thinking about the modes like this. While it is a quick way to recall them it tells you nothing about where they come from. I think its important to think of how the chord relates to the overall song rather than just the scale that matches with each chord.