Modes! Tell me if this is right

Kjv1993

Kjv1993

Busking a Subway Near You
Ok, so I think I finally have a good understanding of the modes after reading a few articles. Can you tell me if Im wrong?

C Ionian would be the C Maj scale played over C.
C Dorian would be the C Maj scale played over Dm.
C Lydian would be the C Maj scale played over F.

So then G Ionian would be the G Maj scale played over G.
G Dorian would be the G Maj scale played over Am.

And if you want to solo over the progression G, C, D, and you wanted to stay in the Mixolydian mode, you would play: D Maj scale over G, G Maj scale over C, then A Maj scale over D.

Am I right on, close, or completely off?
Thanks
 
Completely wrong.

C Dorian would be the same notes as a A# Ionian scale. Typically you'd play it over the chords that can be made from those notes. So just to make it easy, say we have the C scale. You can play that over any of the C scale chords (C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am or Bmb5). Now any of the various modes will sound good over these chords (D Dorian, G mixolydian, F lydian etc..). So a good way to hear the difference is just record a steady backing track using a D note. Now try playing D dorian over it, do the same thing with a C and play C Ionian. Same notes but they should have a different "feel". A looper is a really great tool for this.

EDIT

Here's a corrected version
C Ionian is the C Maj scale.
D Dorian has the same notes as the C Maj (Ionian) scale and can be played over Dm.
F Lydian has the same notes as the C Maj scale and can be played over F.
 
TetraFish said:
C Ionian is the C Maj scale.
D Dorian has the same notes as the C Maj (Ionian) scale and can be played over Dm.
F Lydian has the same notes as the C Maj scale and can be played over F.
Click to expand...

This is what I meant to say, not C Dorian and C Lydian. But pretty much in a wrap, if you play the C Maj scale over any chord in the key of C, you will get the mode that coorisponds to that chord? Ex- Over Em would be Phrygian? And then the same with any other key, that scale over any chord in the key of that scale

And was I correct for the bottom part?

Kjv1993 said:
And if you want to solo over the progression G, C, D, and you wanted to stay in the Mixolydian mode, you would play: D Maj scale over G, G Maj scale over C, then A Maj scale over D.
Click to expand...

+Rep btw, I appreciate the help
 
Kjv1993 said:
This is what I meant to say, not C Dorian and C Lydian. But pretty much in a wrap, if you play the C Maj scale over any chord in the key of C, you will get the mode that coorisponds to that chord? Ex- Over Em would be Phrygian? And then the same with any other key, that scale over any chord in the key of that scale

And was I correct for the bottom part?



+Rep btw, I appreciate the help
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's not really that cut an dried. Take your example of G, C, D which is the ever popular 1,4,5 progression. You could play G Mixo over the whole thing. Say the rythem hangs on the chord D for a long time, you could try any scale that fit's Dmaj. (not D Dorian, it's goes with the minor). Also hiding in those major scales are the pentatonics. So in the Gmaj scale you'd have A,B and E pentatonic scales.

The best way to learn is to try 'em out. Make up a rythem using those chords and try the various scales. Don't get hung up too much on the theory.
 
just curious are you playing modal music? I understand the idea of wanting to know for knowledge's sake, but one of the best things to do with modes is learn them and forget them (teacher's words lol). They were definitely one of the most frustrating things having to learn and I still haven't used them in my writing. Unless your playing jazz, orchestral, or classical style they're pretty useless in "most" modern music. Its all based within the major and minor scales anyway, best to just learn those inside and out, how to structure chords, and then let the freedom of accidentals loose. Just my opinion.

I think only once have I written one piece where once I transcribed it and it ended up being D Phrygian or something. Other wise nothing has been perfectly modal. It's mostly helpful to written music on a staff, just say you know when your playing a piece, all D's are going to be flat, all F's are going to be sharp, etc.
 
Im getting into stuff like post rock, and also trying to write songs with really melodic guitar parts. Im doing ok without modes, but I feel my writing is starting to sound similar so I want to change it up with some modes.
 
honestly one of the best ways to do that is just listen to a different type of music for some inspiration and then imitate the phrasing. I always listen to classical music for some inspiration if I'm trying to do something more melodic. For what ever reason it helps. Just using modes of scales isn't going to help much because you know doubt use the same phrasings you used before, now with just slightly scale structure.
 
That stuff is confusing as hell to me. I learned all the mode patterns but how they change over different chords is just TMI for me :) I guess if I really decided to put some time into it I could probably figure it out but I guess I am kinda lazy...
 
I think its very useful to know the modes. Gives you a sense of tonality and know what to expect when to play what.
 
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