Chords for Before You Try to Learn Modes, Watch This Video...

_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [Fm]
Modes are probably the most common and [A] misunderstood concepts that [Ab] aspiring guitar players [C] wish
to master.
You hear modes being talked about and [Fm] used all the time by players [D] like Steve
Vai and Joe Satriani, but what I tend to see a lot [C] is guitar players getting [Fm] confused about
what the term mode [G] actually means.
That's because there's such an [Fm] overwhelming [D] amount
of instructional content available online regarding modes, so obviously not everyone
that teaches it is going to have the same opinion.
So you may have [C] found yourself in
a position where [Fm] you've been taught the modes in several different [G] ways, which is obviously
going to be [Eb] very confusing, [D] especially if you're new to the concept.
I'm going to offer
my thoughts on modes and how you should approach them, and please remember that everything
I say from this point [C] onward is just my own personal opinion.
[Bb] So there are a few fundamental [D] things that a worrying amount of guitar players [Ab] should
know but [C] do not know before attempting [G] to understand [C] modes.
Number 1.
They [D] don't know what every note on the fretboard is.
Guitar players seem to be one of the few groups [C] of instrumentalists that are not taught this
[Bb] early on in their playing, which is [G] actually just crazy when you think about [Eb] it, because
I [D] guarantee you that [C] there are very few, if any, piano players [D] that do not know what every
note on their instrument is.
I personally did not learn [E] how to memorize the [Bb] notes of
the fretboard early on in my playing, [Ab] it's something that I actually taught myself [Fm] a
number of years ago because I [C] realized what the benefits of it were, [Bb] and those benefits
include being able to [D] identify root notes and intervals all across the fretboard.
And this leads nicely into my next point.
Number 2.
They [G] don't know what intervals are.
[Eb] Again, another [D] fundamental [C] concept that all serious musicians [Fm] should know before attempting
[D] to understand modes.
An interval is the space between two notes, [C] and intervals can be used
[Bb] to describe the construction [G] of scales and modes.
[Eb] Scales and modes are [D] all built from
[C] combinations of tones and semitones.
A [D] tone, if you were to look at it on one string, is
the [Ab] distance of two frets, [G] so for example from G to A, [A] _ _
[G] _ _ [Am] that's a tone, and a semitone,
if you were to [Fm] look at it on one string, [C] is the distance of one fret, from [G] G to Ab.
[Ab] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [D] So
for example, the construction of the major [C] scale is tone, [F] tone, semitone, tone, [G] tone,
tone, [Eb] semitone.
An example [C] of the name of an interval would be a [Bb] major second, which
is equivalent to the [D] distance of a tone when [Fm] measured from the root [C] note.
So if I'm playing
the G [G] major scale, _
[A] _ _ _ _ [G] _ from G to A, [A] that's the distance of a tone, and because I'm measuring
it from the root note, [A] _ that makes it a [C] major second interval.
So [C] remember that intervals
[F] are always measured from the root note.
And [G] speaking of the major scale, let's talk about
point [Fm] number 3.
They [D] do not fully [C] understand the [Fm] construction of the major [D] parent scale.
Modes are derived from a parent scale, for [C] example the modes of the major scale, Ionian,
Dorian, Phrygian, [D] Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian, [C] all use the same group of [F] notes
as the major parent scale.
[D] The difference, and what makes them [Fm] modes, is the [C] placement
of the root note, which in turn changes the construction of the scale.
For example, the
[G] first mode of the major [Fm] scale is [C] Ionian, [E] and as mentioned [Fm] previously, the construction
of this scale is tone, [D] tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone, which sounds like this. _ _ _
[C] _ _ [D] _ _ [Gb] _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ However, if you take the second degree of the [A] scale, _ and measure the scale [Ab] from this
root note to its octave, which is [Am] A, _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
then the construction of this scale, which would
[Abm] be called Dorian, is different from the construction of its parent scale, which is G major.
The
construction is now tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone, tone.
And take a look
at how it compares to the construction of its parent scale.
The same notes are all still
there, but everything is measured [A] from the second degree of the scale, which is treated
as the root note. _
[G] Now, if I'm playing in the key of G major, _ _ G is the root, it's the tonal
centre.
And simply playing from A to A within the G major scale does not mean that I am
playing the second mode of G major, which would be called A Dorian.
All that would be
is the G major scale with some emphasis on the [Abm] note A, which is the second degree, and
that would sound like [G] this. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] However, if I play an A minor 7th chord, and treat this
as the tonal centre, and play the exact same notes as I did before, which sounds like this, _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] then I'm now playing an A Dorian mode.
[Abm] And that's because the construction of this mode
means that it has a minor [C] tonality, which of course works well when applied to a minor
chord.
So that's how I think about modes.
[Fm] They are different scales that are [G] derived
the [Gm] various degrees [Fm] of their parent [F] scale.
And [Gb] in my opinion, they only [Fm] become modes
when they are applied to keys [D] with the same root note.
For [Ab] example, the mode A Dorian
[C] applied to the key of A minor.
[F] Obviously there's so much more that can be said on modes, so
I may well end up [Ab] doing a few more [C] free videos on this topic.
Leave a comment below if [Bb] there's
anything you didn't understand, [D] or if there's anything you disagree with.
[Ab] I want to know
what your thoughts are [C] on this topic, what your past [F] experiences of learning modes [G] were
like and how you [Fm] personally interpret [D] them.
Let's get a [C] discussion going.
Everything I spoke about in [Fm] this video, including [D] knowing the notes of the fretboard, intervals
[Fm] and the major [C] scale are covered in great depth in my upcoming [Bb] online guitar course, Bulletproof
[G] Guitar Player.
So please go [Eb] ahead and subscribe to [D] my channel, [Ab] or like my facebook page [Fm] and
follow me on twitter and instagram [Gm] for updates on the release.
If you enjoyed [Fm] this video,
please give it [C] a thumbs up.
Thank you for watching and I will see you [Bb] in the next video. _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _