ADVANCED LEVEL COURSE
GUITAR SCALES and MODES
for CHORD PROGRESSIONS
staying in ONE SCALE POSITION
- using six strings -
GUITAR THEORY using MODES and SCALE SHAPES
There are eight lessons after the paragraph below.
Also an illustrated explanation of the Modes is at the bottom of this page and a video explanation if preferred.
Guitar and Modes are the easiest way to apply Scale Theory because:
a single Scale Shape can be used for all twelve Keys by shifting it up or down the fretboard to different Scale Positions on the fretboard.
for most Key Changes it is usual to stay in a single Scale Position by applying different Modes based on the Minor Scale with only slight changes.
the Modes can better explain music that often commences with a Minor Chord or Major Chord that is not the Root Chord of the Key.
Conventionally to improvise, a guitarist is first required to calculate the Key of a Chord Progression to find the Minor or Major Scale, which can be very difficult and often inaccurate.
This difficulty can be avoided on guitar by:using the Modes that can have just three similar Scale Shapes applied to the fretboard at the fret on the E string with the same Letter Name as the commencing Chord.
simple trial and error of each of the three Scale Shapes will reveal the correct one and any Scale changes can usually be a slight modification.
And it sounds better because the overall Tonality is more reinforced by the Tonic Note of the Mode if the piece of music does not commence with the same named Chord as the Key.
Lesson 1
FINDING THE SCALE POSITION
Firstly the Pentatonic Minor Scale or relative Pentatonic Major Scale is applied at the fret on the E string with the same Letter Name as the commencing Chord.
SEE HERE the Pentatonic Minor Scale for A Minor and the relative Pentatonic Major Scale for C Major.
These Scale Shapes can be shifted up or down the fretboard for other commencing Chords of a piece if they are not A Minor or C Major.
Try playing the A Minor Pentatonic over ‘Like A Hurricane’ by Neil Young.
Try playing the C Major Pentatonic over ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan.
The Pentatonic Scale can usually continue throughout a Chord Progression except for the special Major Chords explained later.
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In the next lesson there are three Minor Modes and three Major Modes (called Relative with the same Scale Shapes) that a guitarist can substitute for these Pentatonic Scale by trial and error, to find the correct Mode with no wrong sounding Notes.
Be aware a Mode can change during some Chords in a Chord Progression including ‘special’ Major Chords called Major V and Major III, or require the Limbo Modes for very special Major Chords (see later).
Lesson 2
THE MODES
There are seven main Modes which are based on the Major Scale but starting on different Notes to produce different moods.
Their names in order are - Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
Three of these Modes are for Minor Chords and three are for Major Chords.
The seventh Mode is for a Half-Diminished Chord called a Minor b5.
SEE HERE the Scales for the Minor Modes for an A Minor and the Major Modes for a C Major called Relative because they have the same Notes as their Minor Chord relatives.
These Scale Shapes can be shifted up or down the fretboard for other commencing Chords if they are not A Minor or C Major.
These Shapes also reveal if any slight Scale changes might be needed during a Chord Progression.
The A Aeolian suits practise over ‘Like A Hurricane’ by Neil Young.
The C Ionian suits practise over ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan.
The A Dorian suits practise over ‘Oye Como Va’ by Santana.
The C Lydian suits practise over ‘Man On The Moon’ by REM.
The A Phrygian suits practise over a Spanish style of the chords A Minor to Bb Major.
The C Mixolydian suits practise over ‘Rock And Roll’ by The Velvet Underground.
SEE HERE the Locrian Mode for an A Minor b5 Chord which is the last of the basic seven Modes and can be shifted up or down the fretboard for other commencing Minor b5 Chords (but rarely used).
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Lesson 3
SECOND METHOD for FINDING THE MODE
There is another very simple method to figure out which of the Modes to use (also explained in the INTRODUCTORY LEVEL COURSE of this website which is highly recommended for quickest approach).
Effectively the Aeolian Mode or its relative Ionian Mode is first applied on the fretboard at the fret on the high E string with the same Letter Name as the commencing Chord of a piece of music, then by playing the Mode using the B and E strings only, if a wrong sounding Note is encountered inside the Scale Shape, that Note is moved to the adjacent fret to be correct.
In such instance it means the piece was not in a Root Key and the new Scale Shape identifies the Mode of the piece.
Remember that a Chord Progression can sometimes contain Chords that only require a change of Mode in the same Scale Position before returning to the commencing Chord Mode.
This new method is very convenient for improvisation as it is easier to smoothly navigate Scale changes by using the same Scale Position.
Lesson 4
MAJOR V and MAJOR III CHORD Scales
The commencing Mode can usually remain unchanged throughout a piece unless the Mode changes, but often a special Major Chord is encountered requiring a slight modification to one Note in the Scale Shape for its duration.
These special Major Chords are called Major V (Major Fifth) and Major III (Major Three) Chords.
It is best to quickly identify these Major Chords by first applying a Pentatonic Scale throughout the Chord Progression, but using only the high E and B strings to discover if a wrong sounding upper Note of the B string needs to be moved up one fret to be correct to become the Scales below for the duration of the special Major Chord
Thereafter the full Scales can be applied.
SEE HERE the modified Pentatonic Scales for a special E Major V Chord after a commencing Chord of A Minor and a special E Major III Chord after a commencing Chord of C Major.
SEE HERE the full Scales (including their conventional names) that are slightly modified Modes during special Major Chords of an E Major V or E Major III if encountered after the commencing Chords of A Minor or C Major respectively.
These Scale Shapes can be shifted up or down the fretboard for other commencing Chords.
Be aware that these Scales Shapes are the same as an E Phrygian Dominant Mode for the first two and E Aeolian Dominant Mode for the last two.
The A Harmonic Minor suits the E Major in ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ by The Animals.
The C Harmonic Major suits the E Major in the chorus of ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie.
The A Melodic Minor suits the E Major in ‘One Como Va’ by Santana.
The C Melodic Major suits the E Major in the Intro of ‘Lola’ by The Kinks.
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Lesson 5
SECONDARY DOMINANT/BORROWED CHORDS Scales
There are also very special Major Chords that may be encountered called Secondary Dominant Chords and Borrowed Chords that usually only require a slight modification of the commencing Mode too.
These Scales have the invented name Limbo because they can be ambiguous and interchangeable depending on taste.
They appear conventional but are used as alternatives in this Course method to remain in the same Scale Position during a Chord progression.
They are obvious if first using Pentatonic Scales on the high E and B strings only (as indicated in INTRODUCTORY LEVEL COURSE) to identify if there are Mode changes during a Chord Progression and if a different Scale Position is required.
In these instances, the upper Note of the Scale on the E string will sound wrong and need to be moved up one fret, or sometimes the upper Note on the B string might also need to be moved up.
SEE HERE the three versions of the modified Pentatonic Scale that might occur for a very special A Major Chord if the commencing Chord was C Major or A Minor.
SEE HERE the examples of the Scales for Modes if a very special A Major Chord is encountered, particularly after a commencing C Chord (and can be shifted up or down the fretboard for other very special Major Chords).
And they are very useful for intuitively navigating Voice Leading in Chord Progressions.
They might also be recognisable as the conventional Modes for Major Chords but are not recommended to use with commencing Major Chords unless it is a very special Major Chord, to remain in a single Scale Position during a Chord Progression.
The label Limbo Modes comes from them being interchangeable depending on taste or Voice Leading.
The A Mixolydian suits an A Major Chord if it follows a C Major in Lydian Mode as in the chorus of ‘Children Of The Revolution’ by T Rex.
Or the Mode for the commencing A Major Chord before the Lydian C Major in the chorus of ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ by Jet. It is also the Mode used conventionally for a Secondary Dominant.
The A Aeolian Dominant suits the A Major after the Ionian C Major in the Intro to ‘Proud Mary’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
This version of an A Phrygian Dominant suits an A Major Chord if it follows a commencing C Dominant 7 that has a Mixolydian Mode.
These A Ionian and A Lydian versions are not for Dominant Chords and best suit a Borrowed Chord such as a very special A Major 7 Chord in a chord progression that might have its commencing C Chord in C Lydian.
Or the commencing Chord of a very special A Major 7 followed by a C Major Chord in C Lydian.
Be aware that occasionally the whole Scale Position will need to be moved when an extreme Key Change is encountered.
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Lesson 6
BLUES PENTATONIC Scale
The Blues Pentatonic Scale is a Minor Pentatonic Scale and played over a Major Chord instead but requires some dissonant Notes to be bent into tune.
It is the essence of Blues music and very often used in Rock Music for lead solos.
SEE HERE the Blues Pentatonic Scale in A Major that can be shifted up or down the fretboard for commencing Chords if they are not A Major.
The Notes with arrows are to be bent.
There are another eight more complex Blues Jazz Scales in the MEMBERS Section after Sign Up that includes detailed information about BeBop and Gypsy Jazz concepts, with practise Backing Track videos and downloadable Scale Sheets .
Lesson 7
DOMINANT 7#9 HENDRIX CHORD Mode
One particular Chord is incredibly both Major and Minor in tonality called the Dominant 7#9 or Hendrix Chord due to his extensive use of it, especially as a commencing Chord.
SEE HERE the Scale Diagrams newly identified for an A Dominant 7#9 Chord (that can be shifted up or down the fretboard for all the others whether or not they are a commencing Chord).
Notice there are two versions for either Minor or relative Major Scale Positions as uniquely it exists as both.
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Lesson 8
AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED Scales
Augmented and Diminished Chords conventional have Scales that are Hexatonic and Octatonic respectively, but they both have wrong sounding Notes when applied.
Some musicians instead play the Chord Tones then add Neighbouring Notes between them to compensate because there can be different Scales for the same Chord in different pieces of music.
Herein are newly identified seven Note Modes discovered by using a manifesto of the Notes being Stacked Third Intervals plus extra Notes but with No Consecutive Semitones (NCS).
Their Intervals often vary depending on the Mode of the following Chord which may be a reason for the confusion previously.
SEE HERE an example which is the new Altered Mode for an A Augmented Chord if the following Chord is an A Minor with an Aeolian Mode.
It is just one of five new Scale Shapes discovered of the four Augmented Chords (the Shape can be shifted up or down the fretboard for a piece of music if it does not resolve to A Aeolian).
Intervallic variations of the Aeolian Dominant Mode and Phrygian Dominant Mode will also sound better for some other Augmented Chords than either of the two conventional Hexatonic Scales.
The many other Scale Shapes are available in the MEMBERS Section of this website after Sign Up and include more detailed information to apply them.
SEE HERE an example which is the new Altered Mode for an A Diminished Chord if the following Chord is an A Minor with an Aeolian A.
It is just one of three new Scale Shapes discovered of the three Diminished Chords (the Shape can be shifted up or down the fretboard for a piece of music that is not in Aeolian A).
Intervallic variations of the Phrygian Dominant Mode will also sound better for many of the other Diminished Chords than either of the two conventional Octatonic Diminished Scales.
The many other Scale Shapes are available in the MEMBERS Section of this website after Sign Up and include more detailed information to apply them.
MEMBERS SECTION EXAMPLES
ADVANCED LEVEL Scale Demonstration Video for A Aeolian Mode example.
ADVANCED LEVEL Backing Track Video for A Aeolian Mode example.
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PRIVATE ONLINE LESSONS available for support.
UNDERSTANDING THE MODES
Understanding the Modes makes is easy to absorb the science for creating music.
At the bottom of this page is a VIDEO of the following explanation if you prefer.
Simply described music is essentially a sequence of single Notes called a melody and often with Notes in combination called Chords.
A sequence of single Notes can also conjure up the feeling of a Chord especially if they belong to a special set of seven Notes called a Mode such as the sequence Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti which repeats.
Music fundamentally can have Major Chords which have a cheery mood and/or Minor Chords which have a somber mood and there is the Minor Flat 5 Chord which is even darker.
There can also be Augmented Chords and Diminished Chords that are related to these moods.
And a seemingly impossible Chord exists that is a combination of cheery and somber moods known as the Dominant 7#9 or Hendrix Chord.
When a piece of music commences with a Melody or some Chords it will usually suggest other Chords from its family of seven related Chords.
This family of seven Chords can be seen to live in a House where each Chord has its own Room.
HOUSE OF MODES ILLUSTRATION
Melodies can move from Room to Room in the House which has three levels where one side is sunny with cheery Major chords and the other side is shady with somber Minor chords.
Not often visited is the seventh Room in the darker attic at the top which is the Minor Flat 5th Chord.
A Treehouse representing Jazz Blues is just outside the Third Level sunny Major Chord Room as it contains rebellious Notes that break the House Rules especially one particular sombre Note that clashes more with other Major Chord Rooms than when alongside this Room which Mode includes a unique sombre 7th Note that clouds the sunniness (and its Chord is called a Dominant).
Altogether there are twelve different Houses in the Music Neighbourhood each named after one of the twelve Notes that are possible in Western Music.
MUSIC NEIGHBOURHOOD ILLUSTRATION
Therefore the name of a House is either A or B or C or D or E or F or G or else a modification of one of these seven names if it is between them.
In between Notes have either of two different names, for example the name of the Note between A and B is called either A Sharp (A#) or B Flat (Bb) depending on a rule that all seven Notes in a Family must have a different Letter Name.
There are Gaps between the Notes except from B to C, and E to F.
After the G there is a Gap before continuing again from A.
This particular sequence of Gaps or No Gaps is described as the Intervals of the Diatonic Scale, or else a Mode name depending on which Note of the Diatonic Scale that the sequence commences.
Each of the twelve Houses has its own set of seven Notes starting on a different Note but with the same pattern of Gaps and No Gaps as the sequence A to B to C to D to E to F to G to A.
A family of seven Chords only has Notes from its unique sequence and the Chords are each named after each of the seven Notes (and are Minor or Major depending on their side of the House).
A piece of music from a House might often start in the Ground Level sunny IONIAN Major Chord Room or the shady AEOLIAN Minor Chord Room, but might also in Rooms on other Levels especially the Second Level shady DORIAN Minor Room or the Third Level sunny MIXOLYDIAN Major Room (as in much of Rock Music).
The less common Second Level sunny LYDIAN Major Chord Room has launched some very famous popular songs such as 'Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac.
Music commencing in the shady Third Level PHRYGIAN Minor Chord Room can be exotic and Spanish sounding.
The darker Attic LOCRIAN Minor Flat 5 Room is not where many songs have commenced.
Conveniently for guitarists each Level of the House can have the same relative Modal Scale Shape on both the Major and Minor sides.
Hence only one of three different Modal Scale Shapes might be needed for commencing in a piece of music.
But there are exceptions if one of two shady Minor Rooms is brightened with a light to become an artificial and special Major Chord.
Or sometimes a Major Chord is encountered that belongs to another House and called a Secondary Dominant Chord or else a Borrowed Chord which can be Minor or Major.
BTW the Ionian Mode is also conventionally called the Major Scale and the Aeolian Mode called the Natural Minor Scale.
In summary, each of the seven rooms of a House has a different Chord and corresponding Mode that uses one of three Scale Shapes (except the seventh rarely used Attic Room variation called the Locrian Mode).
Conveniently the Modal Scale Shape of a commencing Chord can usually continue for the Chords that follow passing through many Rooms unless a special Major Chord is encountered.
This often occurs in music commencing with a Minor Chord on arriving in a shady Room that has a light switched on changing its Minor Chord character to an artificially sunnier Major Chord.
This Chord is called a Major V (Major Fifth) or else called a Major III (Major Three) if the piece of music commences with a Major Chord.
In these cases one wrong sounding Note (in each octave) of its Mode must be moved up to the next available fret for the duration of the Chord only.
Only the two shady PHRYGIAN and AEOLIAN Rooms can have lights switched on and the two modified Modes during these special Major Chords are conventionally also called Harmonic Minor Scale and Melodic Minor Scale respectively.
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The duration of a Major V or Major III Chord is usually the same length or less than the other Chords in a piece. Notable though is ‘Sultans of Swing’ by Dire Straits where the Harmonic Minor Scale is followed by the Melodic Minor Scale due to the extended length of the A Major V Chord as it seems to change toward a normal Major Chord.
Notice that a piece of music commencing in the sunny IONIAN or LYDIAN Major Room arriving in a shady Minor Chord Room with its light switched on (called a Major III) will have the same corresponding Note moved up in the relative Mode Scale Shapes as the previous Harmonic Minor Scale or Melodic Minor Scale, and are conventionally called Harmonic Major Scale and Melodic Major Scale respectively.
Examples of this are quite common as in the songs ‘# 9 Dream’ by John Lennon, ‘The Air That I Breathe’ by Albert Hammond Snr, ‘Creep’ by Radiohead or the chorus of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’.
Sometimes a whole section of a song will move to a different House (described as a Key Change) but finding the new Mode might sometimes only require moving one Note in the commencing Mode which is very convenient for remaining in the same Scale Position.
And Chord Progressions can often contain a single Chord that requires the Mode to change before returning immediately after to the commencing Mode as the D Chord in ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ and E Chord in ‘Hotel California’.
Rarely are two Notes changed from the Mode but an extreme Key Change may require repositioning or a whole new Scale Shape for that section.
There has been disagreement about conventionally accepted Scales for Augmented and Diminished Chords as having six and eight Notes respectively, that Notes can be very dissonant, and confusion may be due to the illusive moods of these Passing Chords.
But they are newly identified here as having seven Note Scales with minimal dissonance after being discovered using a manifesto of four Stacked Third Intervals plus extra Notes with No Consecutive Semitones (NCS).
There are mostly different Scales for all possible seven Chords that are also different depending on the possible seven Modes that follow them.
Incredibly there is also a Chord that is tonally both Major and Minor called the Dominant 7#9 Chord or Hendrix Chord having a Scale of seven Notes with the same intervals of the Hungarian Major Scale and Nasikabhushani Raga that is similar to the idiom of Blues and Jazz Blues music.
Hint: The DORIAN Mode can be applied rebelliously in the Tree House alongside the MIXOLYDIAN Chord Room of the same Letter name to create a more expressive Blues/Rock music although one sombre Note will sound out of tune unless a String Bend corrects it.
THIS IS A VIDEO ILLUSTRATING THE HOUSE OF MODES