modes

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Comments:
: modes should be thought of as keys. a scale is a source : from which to extract chords for progressions. : a mode is a scale so for it to be of any use song wise : you must extract the chords from it. : most guitar players are taught the modes in relation to the : major scale which is the source of the confusion. : Modes are independant keys in their own right with : their own set of scale tone chords and own distinct flavour. : Another confusing way modes are taught is that scale to : chord relationship. e.g In c major , a progression that goes : c , am , F , G . would mean c Ionian for the c major chord , : a aelion for the am chord , f lydian for the f major chord : and g mixolydian for the g major chord. : This would have to be the worst way to look at modes : if your objective is to highlight the distinct flavour : of the modes. : The problem with this approach is that we hear harmony : in the basic sense of tension and release. : In the key of c major `C' is considered to be tonal centre : or `home or tonic' or whatever you want to call it. : Earwise this chord is considered to be the most resolved or : home chord. : whatever chord is played in the key of c now will be to : some degree be tense or resolved depending on its relationship to the : key centre or c chord. : This is a fact and the fundamental principle behind harmony. : To tie this back to modes it means that if you were to play the f lydian scale over the f major chord in the previous progression you would not hear the true flavour of the lydian mode. : your ear would simply being hearing notes being played against the fourth chord of c major key waiting for the tension to be released with a return to the c or `tonic' chord. : To have a true representation of the f lydian mode in a song f chord would have to be the tonic or home chord e.g the progression F / G / F / G. : In other words it is the chord progression that dictates wether the true sound of a mode is heard or not. : Modes when thought of as keys are actually very simple. Most modal chordal progressions in rock usually consist of two ot three chords. : One of these chords will be the definitive chord of that mode. This is a little harder to explain so I wont bother at the moment. : Songs do not stay on one chord all the time. Any notes that you are playing at a particular point have that particular sound ,colour or characteristic : because of their relationship to the underlying chord , and in turn that chord has it`s particular sound or tension because of it`s relationship to the`tonic' or `home' chord. : You can begin to see how important key centres are when it comes to how notes and chords sound. : The bottom line modes are just keys. If you extract the scale tone chords from the key and base your progressions on it you will end up with the true : harmonic colour of that mode. : a lot of rock and metal songs use progressions based on modal keys but still use simple pentatonic scales over them . a lot of them would not even realise the progression is extracted from a : a modal scale. It can be that simple if you want. : Sure it can get a lot more involved but for most guitarists they just want a basic understanding of what the hell a mode actually is or what it does. : Playing in major or minor keys all the time can get tiresome to the ear. : Modes can bring a fresh new sonic approach to a solo instead of the same old pentatonic : scale material everytime. : I hope this has`nt caused anyone more confusion about this subject and hope it has helped : somebody clear up some misconceptions about modes.