Modes Explained (With One Simple Concept)

For years, I was intimidated by modes. Those fancy names just made me assume that they were complicated and beyond my understanding. But if you know just a little bit of music theory, they're ridiculously easy to grasp. In this video, we'll talk about relative keys, parallel keys, the seven modes, and even modal scales. We'll dig into musical examples of Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. By the end of this guitar lesson, you will have a complete understanding of what modes are and how to use them in your guitar playing.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks for watching!
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Chapters:
0:00 - Welcome!
0:43 - Two ways to look at modes
1:03 - Tonic vs Root
1:46 - Parallel vs Relative keys
2:17 - Relative major & minor keys
5:20 - Quick recap
5:47 - The 7 modes (and the moment it all clicks)
8:36 - A musical example of every mode
8:41 - I. Ionian
8:51 - II. Dorian
10:23 - III. Phrygian
11:58 - IV. Lydian
13:29 - V. Mixolydian
15:25 - VI. Aeolian
16:17 - VII. Locrian
17:12 - Modal Scales
19:04 - Some final thoughts
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Music Credits:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

#modes #guitarlesson #musictheory

[craigghelfi]

Excellent job, Andrew, , , 72-year-old (beginner/intermediate-been playing for almost three years), I've had a few try to help me understand modes. You have done it the best. Thanks...I get it!

[andreww]

You can explain things better then most music teachers I've seen

[sidsm]

You make guitar music theory sound easy. wow. you really have the gift for teaching.

[stefanbogosavljevic]

Actually, when I saw this video, for the first time, I didn't understand modes that well, but now, after I saw the last video, from today, I came back again to this one, and now, for me, modes are totally understandable. Thank you so much!

[Squintillions]

2:44 was really helpful. I haven’t seen that presented that way before. That makes chord progressions in songs make more sense!

[ТищенкоДанило-ьу]

An intersing thing is that when I stumbled into modal theory, it was described something like lowering or rising one or a few notes of a given major scale. It is definitely easier to sense th unique flavors of modes this way, but this video made a great job of simply connecting basic major scale knowledge to the complex topic of modes. It's quite hard to find such a grounded and straight-to-the-point kind of explanation. Big thanks!

[francisgregoryku]

I really love the way you explain things. Finished 2 music theory videos prior to this one on youtube that also covered modes and yours is by far my favorite explanation!

[JM-bsgs]

I love your tutorial, I like how you use the fret board diagram and tabs to show what you are doing. Super clear lesson. thanks, I will sign up to your patron lesson. :)

[mikuyoss]

With you I feel like, I can finally get the idea of music theory

[arliencortez]

Thanks for this hoping for more lessons to come❤️

[hastingschadza]

Finally, Been waiting for this for a minute

[Dbmb-py]

Good information, indeed it is all about movement and resolution of chords. Frank Gambale also has some good videos on the concept, but apart from that most internet sources omit this completely making them rather useless. I think it makes much more sense to get familiar with functional harmony first, after that modes are trivial to understand. Most folks don't play modal songs anyway.

What adds to the confusion is that a lot of people also use the names of modes to refer to scales or note material to choose for while composing or improvising (chord-scale theory). So over a non-modal song, let's say in A, when they encounter the dominant (E7) they tell you to pull notes from E-mixolydian over that chord. I find it more helpful to play/think in A while targeting chord tones of E7, then use your ear to fill in any other notes (9th, 11th, 13th) or use chromatics.

[ObliviousBanana]

Undoubtedly the best teacher for guitar music theory out there, keep it up!

[theogonepieceguy]

You explain things so clearly man love it 🔥 i can finally understand modes

[jamesmungall]

Loving these videos. Even things I thought were clear to me become much more intuitive after watching and listening. Keep working on this channel and you’re going to see subscribers increasing fast

[TheKaves]

Chords progressions explained with modes and a focus on where it resolves. That is great! And I imagine helps to identify scales to use over certain progressions to get the feel we may be after. But don’t quote me lol

[GodsStoryteller]

Hi Clarke, .

I came back today.

Keep being your awesome self in imparting knowledge.

Thanks

[camisover]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge in a way I can understand it. I've just watched this and everything makes sense now!

[adiosmariachi]

These are great videos! Thank you for your dedication and hard work! For this topic I didn't understand how to use modes in songwriting when the key of the song changes. Maybe we need one more video about modes that explains that!

[rodmandunn]

Great video! Not just a player but a teacher. Much gratitude and appreciation for the lesdon