This entry is a follow up to the post beneath it, titled “Understanding Modes – Some Basic Concepts.” You might want to read that post first.

What’s the Difference Between a Scale and a Mode?

Nothing, really. Both are groupings of notes which can be explained in terms of their “spelling” or as a specific formula of “half-steps and whole-steps.”

Some of the single note patterns we use in our playing are, in a sense, simple variations on a theme. Their spellings may be used one way in one key, while the exact same spelling may also work in another key, but in a slightly different way.

This is the case with those mysterious creatures known as “modes.” Once you’ve learned the patterns for any one mode – and both the major and minor scale qualify here – you’ve actually done the work of learning all seven modes at the same time.

The Formula of Half-Steps and Whole-Steps

First let’s clarify the meaning of half-steps and whole-steps. On the guitar a half-step is the distance from one fret to the next fret – on any string, anywhere on the fretboard. For example, if you play a note at the fifth fret on the first string, followed by the note immediately above it at the sixth fret, you are making a move of a half-step. Consequently a whole step is any move of two frets.

Beginning on any note on the guitar, and using the different formulae of half-steps and whole-steps defined below, you can build any of the seven common modes explored in this column. Each of those formulae would create a different scale or modal spelling. This is kind of the point at which music and mathematics cross over.

But don’t panic. You won’t need to memorize this half-step/whole-step thing. In fact, you may never encounter a need to remember these concepts again. This column will show you easier ways to remember the scales and modes. But in the interest of thoroughness, here are the half-step/whole-step formulae for the scales and modes explained in this column:

1) Major scale (Ionian mode) [Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half]
2) Dorian mode [Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole]
3) Phyrgian mode [Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole]
4) Lydian mode [Whole-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half]
5) Mixolydian mode [Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole]
6) Natural minor scale (Aeolian mode) [Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole]
7) Locrian mode [Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole]

Detailed Notes on Each Mode

Major scale (Ionian mode)

The major scale is probably the most important of all scales to know and understand. During the past several centuries most modern music has been based on this scale, or on one of the six other modes that can be built by simply rearranging or re-prioritizing its half-step/whole step formula. This is truly the place all scale knowledge should begin because it serves as an excellent home base for understanding all other scales, which is why we put this scale first. In rare instances this seven-note scale is also refered to as the Ionian Mode.

Dorian mode

Dorian is one of the most commonly used “modes.” This minor mode is very similar to a natural minor scale (also known as the Aeolian mode) but with a major instead of minor sixth. Try it any time you might otherwise play the natural minor scale and take particular note of how the two scales’ different sixth intervals affect your music. The dorian mode is popular in a minor blues.

Phyrgian mode

The Phrygian mode is another minor mode and another scale with an exotic side. Like the Dorian mode, Phrygian is very similar to a natural minor scale, but with one difference: The Phrygian mode includes a very unusual sounding flat second. This mode is commonly used in flamenco music and in heavy metal and works well in any song in which the chords repeatedly resolve to the I (one) chord from a half-step above (F to E minor, for example, with E minor as the I chord).

Lydian mode

Lydian, a major mode with a raised fourth scale step, is a common jazz tool and was a favorite of many 19th century “Impressionist” composers, particularly Claude Debussy. The raised fourth is the only difference between the Lydian mode and major scale.

Mixolydian mode

The Mixolydian mode is a major or “dominant” mode and is very similar to the major scale, replacing the major scale’s major seventh with a minor or flat seventh. This is a great scale to use over 12-bar blues style chord progressions and a lot of rock ‘n’ roll music, though it will often give way to the Mixo-Blues scale as the player becomes comfortable with that hybrid scale. I’ll dig into the Mixo-Blues scale in another column. This may be the most commonly used “mode” (not counting natural major and minor, which people don’t usually think of as modes, even though they are, respectively, the Ionian and Aeolian modes).

Natural minor scale (Aeolian mode)

The natural minor scale is probably the second most important scale or mode in the cannon of Western music of the past half-millennium. Many guitarists make the seven-note natural minor scale the launch pad for most of their playing, partly because of the ease of fingering of its root position pattern, and partly because the sound of the interval from the scale’s root note to its minor third just seems to work so well over most rock- or blues-based chord progressions. In fact, that root to minor third move is itself the basis of the chords to many, many songs.

Locrian mode

Because the triad built from the root note in the Locrian mode is diminished (the I chord in Locrian consists of scale steps 1, minor 3, and diminished 5) the mode is neither major nor minor. Locrian is sometimes called the “half-diminished” mode and is rarely used outside of jazz fusion or heavy metal. Try using Locrian over a chord progression in the key of E with an F and B-flat chord.

Finish Brain Update v1.3

And there you have it. From here you’ll want to experiment – a lot – with all of these modes over appropriate, and even inappropriate chord progressions. Remember, rules are meant to be broken.

You can learn a lot more details in my course “Shut Up ‘n’ Play Yer Guitar.” You can see a video excerpt from the course (actually a lesson concept taught to me by Satch) — and download a free book sample — here: http://logicalleadguitar.com/promo1su.php

Modes are a slightly more advanced concept, but you can at least begin to understand the concept, and eventually put it to use, with a little reading and fooling around on the fretboard. 

This entry is an excerpt from my new course, Shut Up ‘n’ Play Yer Guitar. The course covers a lot of ground, and not all of it lead guitar-related. In the 114-page spiral-bound book and the two DVD, three-and-a-half hour lesson videos, I cover everything from the Five Basic Chord Shapes to Exotic scales, and a lot of points in between. 

This particular excerpt also corresponds with a video sample you can see for a short time at http://logicalleadguitar.com/promo1su.php. This video demonstrates a practice routine I learned personally from virtuoso Joe Satriani. Make sure you watch!

So let’s get on with it…

More Modal Madness

And yet more torture for your brain! In this entry, I further explain how to use modes. This is essential info to expand your horizons!

Modes and modal playing are a continual topic of fascination for guitarists. And that’s because they hear and read about their favorite guitarists using them all the time. Modes are really useful, quite common, and very fun to mess with, so read on and work on this stuff. Right after an understanding of the seven diatonic patterns, a working knowledge of modal playing could be considered among the next most important concepts you’ll ever face, and the next most important step you can take in advancing your guitar skills.

In this column I’ll explain how modes work, then show you a bit about how to use them. Once again, a knowledge of the seven diatonic patterns I laid out in a previous Shut Up column is an essential pre-req here (because the modes and those seven diatonic patterns are one and the same – which just makes learning them that much easier!). If you need more work on the seven diatonic scale patterns, pick up a copy of my course Logical Lead Guitar here: www.LogicalLeadGuitar.com

For this column, I’m going to excerpt from two of my Hal Leonard books, “101 Guitar Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use,” and “The Incredible Scale Finder” (both available at music and bookstores worldwide or on my websites www.BluesLessons.com and www.RockChops.com). I’ll add additional info to that material exclusively for this column. This modal stuff will keep you busy – and this is no exaggeration – for years. Have fun!

This is So Easy!!! — Well, Kinda

Everyone talks about them, but how many really understand them? And how many really understand how easy modes are to work into your playing? Modal playing is quite common in Western Music (and no, I don’t mean Country & Western. “Western Music” refers to all the music emanating from the “Western” world, which is everything in every musical genre pouring out of North America, Western Europe, Australia, etc., as opposed to the exotic-sounding, semi-tone heavy stuff that is popular in Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East, and in traditional Chinese and Japanese music – you get the picture).

Here’s a quick primer on modes. Let’s use the seven diatonic scale patterns in the key of C as the basis of our modal explorations. Those seven patterns are laid out in a previous Shut Up column, above.

If you play the seven scale patterns of the key of C major in a song in the key of C major, you’re playing in C major, or C “Ionian” (the modal names comes from ancient Greece).

If you use those same exact C major scale patterns, at the exact same frets, but over a song in the key of D minor, you’re playing in D “Dorian.”

In a song in the key of E minor, playing the C major patterns puts you in E “Phrygian.”

In the key of F major, the C patterns put you in F “Lydian.”

In the key of G major, the C patterns put you in the G “Mixolydian” mode.

In A minor, the C patterns put you in A “Aeolian” mode (what we usually think of as the “natural” minor scale), and in the key of B diminished, the C patterns put you in B “Locrian.”

Here is a quick-reference diagram that will make mode selection easy, no matter what your tonal center, or key:

Chart of Modes in All Keys

(click image to enlarge)

I’ll post more from the column in a few days, so check back. In the meantime, don’t forget to go watch the video: http://logicalleadguitar.com/promo1su.php

This video teaches you an exercise taught to me by Joe Satriani during a video shoot I did with him a few years back. But please don’t just watch the video, put the knowledge to use and try Joe’s drill yourself. The more you work on it, the more all these modes will make sense, and start to show up in your actual playing.