OK, Let's End MODE Confusion Right NOW!

I made this to help clear up some of the biggest mysteries of modes for many people.

[WEMunson]

OMG!!!! You just pulled the scales (no pun intended) from my eyes! The shift in notes from Ionian to Dorian to Phrygian, etc. just sank in, FINALLY! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[JariSatta]

C Ionian (C major)
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian (A minor)
B Locrian

[MrJammer]

I
Don’t
Particularly
Like
Modes
A
Lot

[IVORY]

If I only had this information available when I started playing in 1979 .. I had a Mel Bay Chord book back then and it's 2000 chords .. So I struggled with the hardest chords . Figured it would limber my mind up . I'd try strange chords and see "What fit " and had no idea why they resonated or had a secretive dissonance . I practiced and finally understood without anyone showing or telling me . Chords are pieces of scales while I was trying to learn my own acrobatic Martian Scales . I set up difficult maneuvers in shapes to pattern and practice . knowing that they are somehow, someway will be tied to The Great Epiphany coming one day .. So I would be ready for that day .. I flew by the seat of my pants all those years . and sometimes I wondered " Since I was not constricted to follow absolute formulas and used my own " then it would be good enough for now .. Sometimes being ignorant is good I reasoned .. I don't don't know what color to use when I paint so something will be perhaps inspired and scaled to my heart . Then the creation will be unique . One thing that really hammered musical understanding down . and transferable to the guitar was learning the piano . Made sense !! ... I like the way anyone can explain a concept simply .. It engages the mind, helps others leap forward and excites them .. Thus others will push forward with interest . What you have shown is the simplest explanation thus far .. and sharing your gift . You put new colors on another's painters palette . I wouldn't say that I am the most accomplished musician by any means . I play for the joy of playing . I was so humbled to have been in a band that opened for Yngwie in the 80's and if he had asked me for my theory .. I would have asked did you have ear plugs in .. . I surf the internet for who I think teaches Simplicity best .. This is one !! and for any learners out there .. I suggest .. If you don't possess a looping amp . There are thousands of Backing Tracks in every key and every style and every modes to practice over When it is made simple .. it becomes interesting and when it becomes interesting .. The Mind Opens and wants to learn more

[leslawrenson]

The starkest way to show the differences between the modes is to keep your C pedal tone going, then play C Ionian, C Dorian, C Phyrygian, C Lydian, etc. That's how I learned it, from a Joe Satriani tutorial, demonstrating his modal axis system. People get confused because, like you've just done, tutors almost always demonstrate the modes from the same parent major scale, and students find it difficult to grasp why you would want to use modes. It's because all you are really doing is describing the notes from the same scale relative to their position in that scale. What you need to do is compare, for example, D Dorian with D Mixolydian. There, you will hear the real nature of the modes. I suspect that tutors don't do this either because they don't, themselves, really know what modal playing is all about, or because they don't know enough music theory to teach it properly. If people want to really get to grips with modal playing, they should take some jazz lessons.

[Gregorovitch]

The confusion arises becasue you can look at modes from two ends of the same telescope. You can look at them from the point of view of scales (which is useful as a instumentalist) or you can look at them from the point of view of tonal centre (which is useful for songwriting/composition and is necesary to get modes to actually work or "kick in").

The reason why the D Dorian example in this video worked is becasue he put in a D pedal note. This established D as the total centre. As he progresses up the scale is becomes apparent fromn the first five notes that we are in D minor - until we get to the B note which ought be Bb in D minor but isn't, so the listener imediatatly thinks WTF? Without that D pedal note to establish D as the tonal centre the listener would have heard the scale for exactly what it really was, just plain old vanilla C major played from D to D instead of C to C. Put another way, they would hagve heard C as the tonal centre becasue C major is such a familiar key.

This is because out ears are heavily trained to recognise major (Ionian mode/happy) and minor (aeolean mode/sad) scales and will try very hard to hear music in one of these two scales/modes. In order for the Dorian (or any other mode outside of Ionian or Aeolean) mode to actually kick in you have to literally force the listener to accept they are not listening to the familiar Ionian or Aeolean modes.

For example a classic Dorian chord progression is Dmin-Gmaj. It starts on Dmin and that's the key the listener initially thinks it's in. Then the Gmaj hits and it's like WTF? The B natural in Gmaj is "wrong" for a D minor tune but there is no way to reorientate to another major or minor key. The notes used in these two chords are undeniably from the C major family so the listener is forced to hear the tune as in the Dorian mode of C major or D Dorian. It's important to understand that the listener must be forced to do this otherwise they will automatically subconciously gravitate to hearing the music in an alterantive straight major or minor key if they can.

So many tutorial videos about modes try to explain modes in terms of scales, flattening this or sharpening that etc, but all this does IMO is increase confusion and frustration with the topic. Unless you understand the vital importance of tonal centre in relation to modes you will never understand modes, but once you do understand it everything to do with modes falls into place like clockwork. I know people think this is too complicated or "advanced" for a 10 minute YT intructional video and they think it's simpler and more accessible to just talk about scales but as Einstien said, things should be as simple as possible but no simpler. The right place to start teaching modes is the idea of tonal centre and how you can establish a particular chord in a chord progression as the tonal centre IMO. Forget scales until that is understood.

[rsrana]

Learning modes has so far been a confusing and cumbersome stuff, which you have explained in the simplest way. Great!

[megatonhammer]

this is by far the best intro to modes in the simplest explanation! I don’t do well with lengthy instruction and too much details at the start. You nailed it for me and i NOW have a better idea of modes. THANK YOU MUCH MUCH!

[jeffreyburton]

Good lesson. I've found one of the best ways to introduce people to the concept of modes is to use the standard bar chords with the root note on the E string. That way if they know the major scale and have learned it in all positions, they already know all the modes. They just don't know they know them. Once that you show them that by starting at the low E of each position it puts you in that mode and that the corresponding chord gives that mode it's sound, a light usually goes on.

[rockenrollbass]

THE BEST EXAMPLE I've come across at explain this. THANK YOU, love your channel and teaching method! Hats off sir!

[TomLax]

Thank You Teacher! Finally, I understand the guitar modes after a few years of trying.

[VaibhavMittalIndia]

Simply - The best lesson on YouTube to learn modes ❤

[evaderknives]

I saw another Youtube teacher that said their meaning don't matter, but basically, Ionian means 1, dorian means 2, phrygian means 3 and so on. Meaning you start with the root scale, then that same scale a note up is the next mode. G is Ionian, A is dorian, B is phrygian. Same scale just starting off with a different tone. This opened up everything for me. Great lesson by the way.

[sdaniels]

OMG! Thanks for clearing that up for me. I've seen so many teachers explain it, but they make it so much more complicated.

[Cobra]

I Don’t Punch Like Mohammed A-Li is one that stuck with me better than most I hear. Good job explaining the modes

[josephcuda]

I have been trying to understand the mode for the last two years and you just summed it up in eight minutes. This reminds me of electrical current kind of parallel wiring

[dcasuto]

Thank you. After million of hours of OTHER tutorials...I finally get it. THANK YOU THANK YOU!

[manami]

you are a great teacher, i enjoy the way you break down the info and show on the neck in the most straight forward way what you are teaching.

[Silkroadgermany]

4:39 sounds a lot like the beginning of the riff of "The Unforgiven"

[joebro]

one of the best explanations! Thanks. A mode is nothing in isolation. You need the reference chord or chord progression or in your simplified example just note otherwise the important context that shapes this particular sound of a specific mode is missing