Understanding Modes on Guitar - A Different View HD

Health Warning: THIS LESSON IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS! a solid understanding of the basics of music theory are assumed in this lesson. This is a sample lesson from the Secret GuitarTeacher site. http://secretguitarteacher.com Nick presents a practical way to look at modes and shows how they relate to the diatonic series of four-note (seventh) chords. Here is the abridged transcript: Right at the top of the Guitar Music Theory Pyramid we find the subject of modes. There are a great many sources of information on the subject of modes, so I decided, for this little sampler lesson, I would draw your attention to one of the less common ways of looking at them. Let’s examine how modes relate to the diatonic series of seventh chords that we looked at in the last lesson in this series. We start with an 8x8 grid…nd fill in the bottom row of the grid with the notes of the C Major scale. We could use the notes of any Major scale, but traditionally we stick to C major as, having no sharps or flats, it helps us see things a little clearer. Next, we fill in the 2nd row up with the same bunch of notes, but starting on the second note of the scale: D. …We continue to fill in the grid in a similar manner…each row starting on the next step of the C Major scale… until the grid is complete and you can see the C Major scale appear in the top row the same as in the bottom. Now, I can modify this chart to show the diatonic series of seventh chords – as discussed in the previous lesson in this series – simply by blanking out the 2nd, 4th and 6th rows of the chart like this. The constituent notes of each chord in the series can now be seen reading from bottom to top. To help, I have colour coded the chords – Red for the Major 7ths, Blue for the Minor 7ths, Purple for the Dominant 7th and Orange for the half-diminished 7th or m7flat5 chord. So that is one way of viewing the chords that make up any given key; seeing their individual notes and appreciating how they relate to the underlying key scale. Now we simply replace the rows we blanked out – the 2nd, 4th and 6th rows on the chart to reveal the modes that are derived from this key. By following the Roman numerals, you can see that the Ionian and Lydian modes are closely related to the Major 7th chords built on the first and fourth steps of the scale. The Three minor modes: Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolian relate to the three minor 7thh chords built on steps 2, 3 and 6 of the parent scale. The Mixolydian mode is closely related to the Dominant 7th chord built on the 5th degree of the scale and the Locrian mode relates to the m7b5 or half-diminished chord that is built of the 7th degree of the scale. Now let’s hear how that works. For viewers who have already worked their way, step by step up the Pyramid of Guitar Music Theory, then this lesson may help you conceptualize the modes in a nice simple way that is relatively easy to apply. It is also a good guide to the sound that these different modes make. But if yo