The dorian mode, minor pentatonic's well dressed fraternal twin.

If you are getting tired of the same old minor pentatonic sound in your solo's (a very common complaint that I am approached with by more advanced and even professional players on a regular basis), then dorian is one of the best first step solutions to breaking out of the pentatonic rut without sacrificing the advantages of using pentatonic scales. Dorian is closely related to minor pentatonic and only differs from a minor scale in that it has a major sixth interval. How does this change the harmony? Simple, the harmonized dorian mode has a major triad in the IV chord position instead of a minor triad like the minor scale. Let's talk about why minor pentatonic is so versatile for a minute before we carry on about dorian. The steps in minor pentatonic are 1,m3,M4,M5,m7. Those are your 5 step notes, 2 and 6 are omitted. Obviously minor pentatonic will work over a minor progression or shuffle style rhythm (because the shuffle rhythms have no personality major or minor) because it is a minor scale with two notes omitted. Why does it also work over a major or dominant progression? First of all we need to distinguish which intervals play the largest roll in making harmony major or minor. The most important is the 3rd followed by the 7th and then the 6th. Whether consciously or unconsciously we have a tendency to hear the 3rd and feel compelled to bend that note generally to the 4th or flat5 interval which resolves the dissonance associated with playing the minor 3rd against a major or dominant chord. The seventh is also minor in a Dominant progression so that is a non issue. If your chord progression is major and is not using 7th chords, then you only have to worry about the V chord (because the 7th is the 3rd of the V chord) and you will hear the dissonance of that interval against the V chord in your progression and as before will consciously or unconsciously be compelled to bend that note to the octave. The 6th is omitted from the minor pentatonic and is therefore a non-issue. (Note: By this point the theory heads out there are having a great time reading this and the non-theory people are off to another website. If you do not understand what is being explained here I strongly encourage you to check out the Hal Leonard book, MI press, Harmony and Theory by Keith Wyatt and Carl Schroeder which has done many of my student tremendous good and elevated their understanding thereby elevating their abilities as a player). There concludes my makeshift explanation of why minor pentatonic is so versatile but what about dorian? Well, the explanation is the same with the exception of the 2nd and 6th intervals being introduced. The 2nd is a M2 and therefore not a problem for major, minor, or dominant playing. The 6th is a M6 which is what separates dorian from the minor scale which has a m6. How does this change things? Well, the 6th is the 3rd of the IV chord. So the harmonized dorian mode gives you a major IV chord instead of the minor IV chord in the harmonized minor scale. So now we have resolved the final link in the harmony that would prevent us from playing a minor scale over a major or dominant progression.

 
 
A minor pentatonic: 
 
Steps - 1  m3  M4  M5  m7 
 
Notes - A  C   D   E   G 
 
A dorian mode: 
 
Steps -  1  M2  m3  M4  M5  M6  m7 
 
Notes -  A  B   C   D   E   F#  G 
 
 

On the fretboard:

                            Pattern 2 minor pentatonic                                            Pattern 4 dorian

Practice suggestion: Notice the stark similarities in the above two scale patterns on the guitar? My first suggestion is to identify the intervals in the above explanation in the fretboard patterns above. Notice that the 3rd and 7th are indeed among every guitar players favorite notes to bend and now we should know why, dissonance compels us. Here is the exercises that I give to my students who are beginning to utilizes dorian in their soloing. Over a basic I IV V progression that is dominant, major, minor or a shuffle rhythm try mixing in some dorian licks particularly on the IV to get a sense of the tonality and possibilities. Minor pentatonic tends to have a VERY tonic tonality to it so it is still suggested for the I chord and V chord. Good soloing sounds very tonic in the right places and moves away in other places. I cannot possibly stress that concept enough. Good solo's are like good stories, the story starts at home, goes away on a journey, and comes back home.

Have a question? Contact Michael J. Kishel