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Who here plays in MODES ??

do you play in modes

  • yes

    Votes: 157 54.3%

  • no

    Votes: 44 15.2%

  • maybe not sure

    Votes: 46 15.9%

  • sometimes

    Votes: 64 22.1%
  • Total voters
    289
#23
scott sinner said:
I checked yes and no lol
I often practice in modes. I find those are good for practicing other techniques. I don't play in modes unless it is a complete improvisation. I play songs. Are some clearly definable in modes? Sure. But playing in modes when you have a known song is like training wheels. I play specific notes for the specific moment in the song.
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When playing covers ya play the song BUT it can provide ways to fill holes/licks between chords etc. , Original music is very different , usually On GUITAR is when I think in modes , on bass not so much.
 
#24
I think in modes often. Dorian, Mixolydian, Locrian. Ionian mode I don't call Ionian, just by the name of the key. Aeolian I call Natural minor. In harmonic/melodic/jazz minor, I don't know the names of the modes. I just have to think a bit about note names.
I (almost) never play fingering shapes like guitarists do. I (almost) always think note names, when there's time for it. When it's not, something important is wrong with the song or with my attitude.
From the pedagogical perspective, I find the modes valuable mainly for distinctions in minor keys. And for getting to know weird beauties, like locrian, or 'locrian in jazz minor' (=altered).
 
#25
mike buzzetti said:
When playing covers ya play the song BUT it can provide ways to fill holes/licks between chords etc. , Original music is very different , usually On GUITAR is when I think in modes , on bass not so much.
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I hardly play covers and if I do, they are totally adapted to a different style, not note for note.

But said in another way, I think modes are useful but are often taught in a bad pedagogical context.

For a non-improvised song there should be specific melodies, counter melodies, chord changes, counter point. Playing in a mode is just a stepping stone to that. That is an application tier at best of Bloom's taxonomy. Not a creation tier end point.
 
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#29
I never memorized the modes by name, but have practiced the inversions of the major scale. Naturally these end up in my solos. Think of them as snippets of the major scale.

There's a method of analyzing jazz solos that involves fitting scale modes to chords in a progression. In terms of learning to solo, the hope is that analyzing solos and chord changes will lead to being able to make your own way through the changes, if you practice a lot. If you're not doing much jazz soloing, you might not have a use for that kind of analysis.

It's a good way to get beginners up to speed on soloing, and to provide a terminology that can be used for teaching and discussing the subject.
 
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#30
In the past I would practice the modes in each scale. I always had trouble remembering which name went with which mode, except the Dorian for some reason.
Now I don't even think about it and just practice going smoothly from chord to chord by how it sounds.
I've found the videos of Rick Beatto and Adam Neely and the way they talk about using dissonance to be the most useful.
 
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#32
No. I think of scales.

When playing covers on the electric bass, I just listen to the song and learn the bass line by ear.
If I want to do a fill, or something, I generally use the fifth and the octave (John Deacon style). For those longer fills I use the fifth, octave, sixth (sounds great and it's almost always a major sixth) and the seventh. Rarely the third. But to know if it's a major or minor third, I just listen. The same with the seventh.


For Jazz, playing walking bass on the DB, I always think of scales and chord tones. No modes.
 
#33
Like others have said if you are playing in a key you are playing in a mode of that key whether you are aware of it or not.
Ionian mode is major scale
Aeolian mode is minor scale.
Every note between is its own mode, or position in the scale

By learning the whole/ half step patterns of modes I hardly think about what notes I'm actually playing especially when playing melodies and solos
 
#35
mike buzzetti said:
pedagogical WTH is that ??? lol like I said not a theory guy

OK OK I looked it up and >>>????
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Sorry. Not trying to be obtuse, but what people are talking about above, whether or not they know the terminology, is well explained by education theory....pedagogy is a word for the science of education.

And Bloom's taxonomy is an organization of tiers of learning that is applicable to most any subject. This is very much education degree 101 stuff, but is a handy thing to know. Look up a graphic of it, it can be a helpful thing when you're learning yourself or teaching anyone.

First you have remembering facts or basic concepts. e.g. recognizing notes, what are the notes on my fretboard.
Next you have understanding - you could explain to someone else what a scale is.
Next you have application - You can take that understanding and apply it to a new situation. e.g. here, your told a song is in a mode and you can jam along and hit notes that are ...not wrong overall for the song.
Next you have Analyzing - drawing connections among ideas, e.g. here draw connections between the overall mode of the song and the specifics, such as a chord progression or the counter point
Next, evaluating - you can make specific observations, supported by the learning tiers below, that this specific thing or that specific thing work or don't.
Last, creating - you are beyond meandering around in a mode and writing a distinct counter melody, progression, etc. writing a 'part' that isn't just modal wankery.

Maybe someone else could explain it better. I'm not a teacher. I'm a lawyer, but in becoming a trainer for other lawyers, teachers taught me this stuff. It's been really helpful in my own learning, musical or otherwise.
 
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#36
I voted "yes" and "sometimes". I often use modes to play through changes that can conform to the same key signature, but other times I just play chord tones.

mike buzzetti said:
I should have been more clear sorry guys like this pix says Modes ! View attachment 4597882
Click to expand...

This picture contains great information if you learn how to use it. I am a little confused by the bottom half where it shows different mode names, but the same root note is circled. This is great for learning the major scale (Ionian mode) all over the fretboard, but it is confusing for learning the other modes. If you want to learn how the different modes sound, then you need to start with the lowest note in these diagrams as the root note. Other than that, this picture is gold.
 
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#38
Benjamin Earl said:
I voted "yes" and "sometimes". I often use modes to play through changes that can conform to the same key signature, but other times I just play chord tones.



This picture contains great information if you learn how to use it. I am a little confused by the bottom half where it shows different mode names, but the same root note is circled. This is great for learning the major scale (Ionian mode) all over the fretboard, but it is confusing for learning the other modes. If you want to learn how the different modes sound, then you need to start with the lowest note in these diagrams as the root note. Other than that, this picture is gold.
Click to expand...

Better LOL ! ??
bass modes .jpg
 

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