Chords for I ask Frank Gambale about how he teaches Modes

Early on you did a modal course, you did a video course on modes and you're one of the first guitar
players that I heard that actually talked about modes.
I talk about modes a lot on my channel.
I want you to talk about your concept with that and why people should learn modes.
Oh god, you know I couldn't play anything if I didn't understand modes and the problem is there's
so much grey area when it comes to what is a mode.
[B] I did a video years ago called
Monster Licks, no not that one, it's called Modes No More Mystery and I wanted to clear it up because
I found a way to demonstrate it that I thought broke through because I used to work on my students
[Eb] and so look we have a major scale, [E] _ [Db] everybody knows the major scale [E] but if you were to practice all
the modes in one key, if you took [Gb] E major then you [Db] took F sharp Dorian, _ then G sharp Phrygian,
[E] it all still sounds like [A] E [N] and so the first thing I did was okay scrap that idea because you're
never going to hear the difference because I would have students ask me all the time,
Frank why on earth do we have to learn seven modes when they're all the same as major, right?
Okay my first answer to that I go that's great I'm glad you thought of that but you're wrong and
the reason is this, would you call a major scale the same as a minor scale?
And the answer has to
be no, otherwise get out, come back when you learn something.
No, look each scale if you start them
all on the [E] same note that's where you really hear the difference so that's the first thing,
first thing major, E major and major you've got to get into the vibe,
_ [A] _ _ [E] major is I think it was a bad translation these should have been called moods, moods not modes,
_ [B] _
_ [E] major [A] is incredibly [Ebm] happy, [E] every happy song you hear is major.
_ _ _ A major is the [Em] fundamental of all music theory, it's the scale to which all scales are compared,
right?
And so if you want Dorian instead of [E] starting on F sharp, started on E,
so [Ebm] that would be the second degree so that would be the same as the [E] notes of D major starting on E.
_ [B] _ [E] Now we're starting to hear a difference, [Em]
it's minor for a size, it's got a flat third, four, five,
six [B] and a flat seven, _
[E] _ totally different [G] vibe.
_ [Em] _ _
That's [G] all Dorian.
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _
And learn where the triads are [Em] because they're in a different place
to where they are with major [E] and etc etc.
You do the same thing with the third mode would be
third mode of E would be G sharp Phrygian but I want E Phrygian so that'd be the same notes as C
major starting [A] on E.
[E] This is kind of [A] Spanish Phrygian, _ [E] kind of flat second, [Em] nasty, flat third,
four, [E] five, flat six, flat seven.
And you see [Eb] how they're very different [E] to one another when you
[A] compare them for a while. _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ [E] _ And [F] then screwing up here. _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ [E] _ [Em] _ _
[E] _ _ That's the sound of [B] Phrygian.
So you get
the intervals, it's all [E] about intervals and where they lie.
Major one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven.
Dorian one, [B] two, flat three, four, five, six, flat seven.
Phrygian [A] one, flat two, flat three,
four, five, flat six, flat seven.
[E] Lydian would be the next one, would sound like this. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [B] _ [Ab] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [E] _
Beautiful sound.
Each mode has its own mood.
[Ab] And then I took it one step further.
I thought, you know, okay, that's one thing to know the intervals.
The next thing
you have to [E] know how to make a chord progression based on that mode.
So I always like the one, four, five triads of major.
[A] [B] And even just four and five, those two
triads, you know, they're a whole [E] separate part so they must be four and five of major, of E major.
A and B would be four and five of E.
So if I wanted to practice a major scale, I would [A] practice,
_ [B] _ _ that'd be a nice little [A] progression.
_ [E] _ [A] So those two triads, four and [B] five, of one bass.
_ [E] And you can go to the one, _ [B] _ [A] _ _
that's how I would base my [Em] progression.
So the next mode would be
Dorian.
The four and five of, [D] well, E Dorian is D major, [G] four and five is G and A.
So I would play
[Em] _ [A] _ _
four and five of the baritone scales.
[Em] And that would give me my modal.
[A] _
[Ab] This is where I broke through for a lot of people.
People would chase me down on the street,
I got it!
[E] My students would go, yeah, I got it!
I thought, you know, it'd be a year later,
but who [D] cares?
It doesn't matter when the ball drops, as long as you get it.
[E] And that's where your Phrygian, where F and G come [Em] in for Phrygian, that's the sound [F] there. _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ Okay, so rank, what happens when you get to the melodic minor [Gb] modes then?
Same thing,
you use one four and five.
Because one is minor and the four and five are major, so that's enough
to [D] isolate and [Em] establish.
Melodic minor would be four is major, five is [B] major,
_ [A] _ [Em] _ _
_ [B] that would be my melodic minor practice progression.
Or [Em] you just take an SD1 chord,
[Db] SD, probably, [E] [A] find _ _ a little [Ebm] vamp with [B] a third moves on the minor nine major seven.
[Em] That's the sound.
_ _ [Gb] _ _ _
[Eb] _ [E] It's the James Bond spy movie [Em] chord.
Yes, so that's melodic minor one, [F] and every now and then
you get a_
_ _ _ I love Stevie Wonder, man, he writes the hipper shit.
Not many people write [Cm] a melodic
minor hit, and it's [G] C minor, two dominant [F] semitones, four and five [N] melodic minor.
So, wow,
you know, it's out there.
People use this stuff if they're smart, it can really help you sound
different.
To me, the artists that break through are the ones that are doing something different.
There's a lot of people that follow, but I mean, to be out the front and doing something
interesting.
Because I think, you know, we shouldn't underestimate the public
and what they're going to accept.
[Eb] Stevie's always written the hippest tunes, same with [B] Steely Dan
and Fagan, just_
and Sting.
I mean, I remember hearing a Police song back in the day and I
thought, wow, [G] you know, we can write songs with one, four, [D] five, all you want.
[G] Are [C] you gonna stand out?
Probably not really, but [Dm] if you got something like
this, _ [Am] _ _ [E] _ _
_ three [Bb] chords, but check out the chords.
[Am] _ _ [Db]
People don't_
you don't [D] have to do dumb stuff, you can write some cool chords, you know.
People
take anything as long as it's got a strong beat