The Secret To Modes

In your playing, there comes a time when you start getting into soloing and improvisation… and one place to start is “modes.”

Every major scale comes with 7 modes. At first glance, they can appear intimidating:

Ionian
Dorian
Phrygian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian
Locrian

These are greek names to describe each mode of the scale. They sound harder than they are to play, trust me!

The concept is very simple.

Take any major scale and play the SAME notes of the scale starting and ending on a tone of your choice.

In fact, you may already know one of the modes if you’ve been following me for a while.

The AEOLIAN MODE (a.k.a. – “minor scale”) is created by playing a major scale starting and ending on the 6th tone.

So, in C major, since the 6th tone is A, you’d simply play the same notes of the C major scale but starting and ending on “A.”

This is the concept of modes in a nutshell.

Ionian – Starting and ending on the 1st tone
Dorian – Starting and ending on the 2nd tone
Phrygian – Starting and ending on the 3rd tone
Lydian – Starting and ending on the 4th tone
Mixolydian – Starting and ending on the 5th tone
Aeolian – Starting and ending on the 6th tone
Locrian – Starting and ending on the 7th tone

“Ionian” and “Aeolian” tend to be the most commonly played modes since they are essentially the major and minor scale.

Think about it… playing C major from the 1st tone of the scale to the 1st tone of the scale is the same old regular major scale you’ve always played! No changes needed! We’re just calling it something different here (Ionian mode).

Same with the 6th tone — it’s a regular minor scale but now we’re calling it the aeolian mode.

The others are not so known but carry the same easy concept.

Dorian – Simply start on 2nd tone of scale. In C major, that’s D E F G A B C D.

Phrygian – Simply start on 3rd tone of scale. In C major, that’s E F G A B C D E

Lydian – Simply start on 4th tone of scale. In C major, that’s F G A B C D E F

Mixolydian – Simply start on 5th tone of scale. In C major, that’s G A B C D E F G

Aeolian – As you know, start on 6th tone of scale. In C major, that’s A B C D E F G A

Locrian – Simply start on last tone of scale (7th tone). In C major, B C D E F G A B

Later, we’ll talk about how and where to use them.

But for now, just remember each mode can be played with each diatonic chord of the scale.

C major 7 – Play C Ionian

D minor 7 – Play D Dorian

E minor 7 – Play E Phrygian

F major 7 – Play F Lydian

G dom 7 – Play G Mixolydian

A minor 7 – Play A Aeolian

B half-dim 7 – Play B Locrian

Just by understanding modes, you’ll develop tons of things to do off every tone of the scale.

Related posts:

1. Who else wants to learn how to solo with the “altered scale?”
2. Here’s the secret to soloing over dominant chords
3. Conversation With Students #2 (Relative Minor Concept)
4. Modes of the scale
5. The “What Key Am I In” Game 2
6. The secret to playing harmonic minor scales
7. How To Use The Altered Scale Over Different Chords

Tagged as: aeolian, dorian, ionian, locrian, lydian, mixolydian, modal scales, modes of scale, phrygian, scale modes