Understanding the Fretboard: Modes

We’ve talked in the past about lead guitar work. We’ve learned about major and minor scales, which are just the very basic foundation of lead guitar work. This week we will take a look at a little twist on the regular scale—modes.

A mode is a variation on a basic scale. There are seven different modes, one for each note in an octave’s worth of major scale. For example, in C major, the notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. There is then a different mode for each of these notes. Let me explain a little.

We will use the key of C major as an example. Here is what the C major scale looks like:

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------------0-----1---------------- G------------------------------------------------------0-----2------------------------------ D-----------------------------------0-----2-----3------------------------------------------- A----------------------------3-------------------------------------------------------------- E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is what is called Ionian mode, so when someone refers to “C Ionian,” he is talking about nothing more than plain old C major.

To derive the next mode from the key, you just have to shift the root note from C to D, keeping the intervals the same. In other words, you will still be playing the exact same notes as you were in C Ionian, but the root is now D, and the mode is called Dorian. Here is what a D Dorian scale looks like:

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------------0-----1-----3--------- G------------------------------------------------------0-----2------------------------------ D-----------------------------------0-----2-----3------------------------------------------- A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notice how you are playing the exact same notes as you were in C Ionian.

Before we go any further, you might be asking exactly what the purpose is for these so-called “modes.” They can be used over tricky chord progressions, or they can be used to just add a little different flavor to a piece. Next week we will go in-depth into the structure of the modal system and its relationship to a chord progression, but for this week, I just want you to concentrate on learning how to construct the different modes in different keys. Now, back to the modes.

To find the next mode, just bump the root note up to E, still using the same exact notes. You will come up with E Phrygian, which looks like this:

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-----------------------------------------0-----2-------------------------------------------- A-----------------------0-----2-----3----------------------------------------------------- E-----0-----1-----3------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you continue moving the root up one note at a time, you will get to F Lydian, which looks like this:

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-----------------------------------------0-----2-----3------------------------------------- A-----------------------0-----2-----3----------------------------------------------------- E------------1-----3------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another step up brings you to a root note of G, where the mode is Mixolydian. Here is G Mixolydian:

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