PRESENCE - Volume 23
Inspiration For Guitarists
In Presence Volume 19, I shared how most of us (myself included) learned modes the wrong way. Instead of connecting them to the chord progression, we often learned modes as the Major Scale starting on different notes. This mistake is huge and can keep you stuck for years.
But there's another big mistake in guitar education that holds many players back: naming each position of the Major Scale after a mode name.
Here’s the deal: The Modes are just a way to view the Major Scale differently. There are 5 shapes of the Major Scale, and these same shapes apply to all of the modes of that scale.
Here’s what I mean:
C Ionian
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian
Instead of thinking of each mode as a new shape, remember this: All 5 shapes are the modes.
Let’s break it down:
Try This:
Pick a shape from the C Major Scale (I’d recommend the first one, the blue shape in the diagram).
Play that same shape over every mode in the C Major Scale.
It’ll sound different each time, but the shape never changes.
To help you experiment, here are some backing tracks to practice with (not my tracks, but they’ll work great):
C Ionian: Listen here
D Dorian: Listen here
E Phrygian: Listen here
F Lydian: Listen here
G Mixolydian: Listen here
A Aeolian: Listen here
Once you see that the modes are just variations of the same 5 shapes, they’ll seem much less intimidating. You don't need to memorize a different shape for every mode – you can start with one and use it across all the modes.
Here’s a Quick Plan:
Learn the Number System: This lets you figure out what chords belong in any key, and that helps you know which mode you’re in.
Learn the 5 Positions of the Major Scale: These positions are the foundation.
Next Step – Intervals of Each Mode: I’ll dive into this more in a future newsletter.
I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion around modes. Keep an eye out for my next newsletter, where I’ll be talking more about intervals and how to use them to your advantage.
Thanks for reading,
Dustin