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Playing a pentanonic scale of any key at five different spots on the neck.


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I think of a mode as a just a position on what ever scale you are playing.

It signifies that you are using and stressing a different note other than the tonic note as the root note in the position you are playing on the scale.

So if in Gmaj (same as Em scale) and you are playing using the A as the root note - stressing the A note, playing from one A octave to another A octave - you are playing in the Dorian mode or position. Even though they are the exact same notes as Gmaj you are stressing the A as the root.

Why would you be stressing the A note? Because the chord you are using in the Gmaj scale has the A note (as well as other notes of that Gmaj scale) as its root.

Since the Dorian chord of any major scale happens to be minor the Dorian position is a minor sounding mode. It is minor because in the key of G major - going from the A in that key you have the notes A, B and C. If you view A as the tonic then C is a third away from the A. Since C is a minor third away from the A not a major third the sound of the mode is minor.

Also note that once you learn the chords and modes the next step is to identify which notes the mode or scale pattern do not fit with the particular chord you are playing. This avoids dissonance.

So that part of it can be complicated. Not all the notes in the mode necessarily fit every chord depending on the chord.
If you run into a note that does not sound right use it as a passing note and quickly move on.

Also, there are other possible scales that will fit the given chord you are playing. So say you are playing an Am chord but you are in the key of Gmaj (or whatever key) - you may try also using an Am scale, A minor pentatonic, A major Blues, A harmonic minor etc... for some added color - some will fit and some will not depending on the key you are in and the chord you are playing. This takes development and time and at first seems rediculously complicated. And it is complicated to a certain extent. But once you get into it you will get a feel for it over time.

I may ascend in a minor scale, descend in a harmonic minor, ascend again in a major scale and descend in major blues and throw some chromatic or diminished or flat 5th stuff in there on top of it - all in 4 or 8 bars. This is what gives a solo originality, texture, color, charactor - whatever you want to call it.

But the key is to learn your basic chords and their structure in the major scale - there are 7 of them - one on each root note and learn the corresponding scale position or "mode" on the root note of that chord.

Next figure out how to play the modes across the fretboard and not just in a box position. Then progress to learn other scales and experiment throwing other scales over your chords.

It can be a lot of work but this is what guys like Vai do and that is how they develop creativity and style and sound like they do.

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Not really - he is just doing a climb and descent along the scale in a melodical passage.

For your own development use a G major scale (which is the same as an E minor scale - just different relative positions of the same exact scale - same exact notes ).

An interesting exercise is to use the Locrian position / mode. That is playing the scale from the F# on the low E string up to the F# on the high E string. Notice where the other F# is. Notice how different sounding this is. Yet it is the same exact notes as the G major position and the E minor position and all the other positions or modes if you will.

The reason you are getting this sound is 1) You are stressing the F# note in the scale - in this case the G major scale and

2) Whatever "mode" or tonic note as I like to reference it as - right cause a mode is just based on one of the 7 notes of your given scale - whatever note you are starting from as the tonic or root note of that mode - the other notes in that scale are all at different intervals away from that particular starting note. So when you hear people say something like the Dorian mode has a flat 3rd for example - what they mean and what they are referring to is that a mode has a certain sound because in each mode all other notes of the scale are in different relative positions or intervals from the tonic or starting note you are using of that particular mode.

Hard to explain #2 without diagraming it out. Modes are all the same notes just different intervals appart from the root note of that particular mode.

Frampton goes a good job of using modes to get a cool sound. Lines on My Face is a great example.

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also check out harmonized scales , this will give a better understanding of how chords and single note relate to each other in a "key ".

the "c " scale is easiest 1C 2D 3E 4F 5G 6A 7B 8C harmonized in 3rds( as in 135, 246, 357, etc ) the 1 chord is CEG ( Cmajor ) , the 2 chord is DFA( D minor) , the 3 chord is EGB( Eminor ) the 4 chord is FAC (Fmajor) the 5th chord is GBD (Gmajor ) the 6th chord is ACE (Aminor ) the 7th chord is BDF (B diminished )an 8 is C again . these then are the chords in the key of "C" . If you do this for all the scales the chord type remains the same only the note names change from key to key . (ie 1MAJ, 2 MIN ,3 MIN ,4 MAJ ,5MAJ, 6 MIN , 7 DIM, 8 MAJ ). this also illustrates how & why modes sound major or minor , its all comparative to position within the scale .

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Not really - he is just doing a climb and descent along the scale in a melodical passage.

For your own development use a G major scale (which is the same as an E minor scale - just different relative positions of the same exact scale - same exact notes ).

An interesting exercise is to use the Locrian position / mode. That is playing the scale from the F# on the low E string up to the F# on the high E string. Notice where the other F# is. Notice how different sounding this is. Yet it is the same exact notes as the G major position and the E minor position and all the other positions or modes if you will.

The reason you are getting this sound is 1) You are stressing the F# note in the scale - in this case the G major scale and

2) Whatever "mode" or tonic note as I like to reference it as - right cause a mode is just based on one of the 7 notes of your given scale - whatever note you are starting from as the tonic or root note of that mode - the other notes in that scale are all at different intervals away from that particular starting note. So when you hear people say something like the Dorian mode has a flat 3rd for example - what they mean and what they are referring to is that a mode has a certain sound because in each mode all other notes of the scale are in different relative positions or intervals from the tonic or starting note you are using of that particular mode.

Hard to explain #2 without diagraming it out. Modes are all the same notes just different intervals appart from the root note of that particular mode.

Frampton goes a good job of using modes to get a cool sound. Lines on My Face is a great example.

Lines on my face, the 1st lead is one of my all time favorites. He hits some notes that kick me in the stomach.....reach you at a very deep level. Which is how I describe genius..

I already saved your first post to a text file, will do the same with this one and take your advise. You have good teaching skills, saying a lot in few words.

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also check out harmonized scales , this will give a better understanding of how chords and single note relate to each other in a "key ".

the "c " scale is easiest 1C 2D 3E 4F 5G 6A 7B 8C harmonized in 3rds( as in 135, 246, 357, etc ) the 1 chord is CEG ( Cmajor ) , the 2 chord is DFA( D minor) , the 3 chord is EGB( Eminor ) the 4 chord is FAC (Fmajor) the 5th chord is GBD (Gmajor ) the 6th chord is ACE (Aminor ) the 7th chord is BDF (B diminished )an 8 is C again . these then are the chords in the key of "C" . If you do this for all the scales the chord type remains the same only the note names change from key to key . (ie 1MAJ, 2 MIN ,3 MIN ,4 MAJ ,5MAJ, 6 MIN , 7 DIM, 8 MAJ ). this also illustrates how & why modes sound major or minor , its all comparative to position within the scale .

This is exactly right and it THE secret to figuring out the chords of any scale. Simple once you understand it. Once you understand this you can make 7ths or 9ths etc in any scale by adding an extra note or two..

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I did some exploration of F with D minor playing a simple melody on my casio/midi trigger. I just got that F implanted in the head and started went with it, and it's a good key because you can fall back to D with a hamer off. I still don't fully grasp the entire concept, but I do know that emphasizing another note can turn it into a really spacey melodic experience.

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I did some exploration of F with D minor playing a simple melody on my casio/midi trigger. I just got that F implanted in the head and started went with it, and it's a good key because you can fall back to D with a hamer off. I still don't fully grasp the entire concept, but I do know that emphasizing another note can turn it into a really spacey melodic experience.

I should have mentioned to stress the locrian position after playing an F#min b5 chord which is a chord in the key of G maj.

Try playing the F# min b5 arpeggio first then try a little solo using the same notes as the arp. Then you can experiment with adding other notes.

Lets see if I can picture the arpeggio in my head ... Low E string play 14th then 17th fret Then A string play the 15th fret Then D string play 14th and 16th fret

G string play 14th and 17th fret B string play the 17th fret High E string play the 14th and 17th fret

Now use those same notes and just play a simple 4 or 5 note solo to give your ears the flavor of following a chord in a modal position

For the F# min b5 chord play the 17th fret on the High E, the B and the G strings and the 16th fret on the D string. That is a simple F#min b5 chord.

You can do the whole exercise an octave down also.

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I did some exploration of F with D minor playing a simple melody on my casio/midi trigger. I just got that F implanted in the head and started went with it, and it's a good key because you can fall back to D with a hamer off. I still don't fully grasp the entire concept, but I do know that emphasizing another note can turn it into a really spacey melodic experience.

I should have mentioned to stress the locrian position after playing an F#min b5 chord which is a chord in the key of G maj.

Try playing the F# min b5 arpeggio first then try a little solo using the same notes as the arp. Then you can experiment with adding other notes.

Lets see if I can picture the arpeggio in my head ... Low E string play 14th then 17th fret Then A string play the 15th fret Then D string play 14th and 16th fret

G string play 14th and 17th fret B string play the 17th fret High E string play the 14th and 17th fret

Now use those same notes and just play a simple 4 or 5 note solo to give your ears the flavor of following a chord in a modal position

For the F# min b5 chord play the 17th fret on the High E, the B and the G strings and the 16th fret on the D string. That is a simple F#min b5 chord.

You can do the whole exercise an octave down also.

I can understand this explanation better than some tableture. Will try that tonight. Thanks.

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