Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey guys. I was checking out some music myspace and watched a view vids of this bass player. He was talking about modes and what not. Anyohwho. I know my major and minor scales. As well as a few of the slightly altered scales. Proper name... unknown. But I was just wondering if any of you used this mode stuff. I always just thought it was a guitarist thing. Heard a few talk about it and one guy who did quite often. Never gave it much thought. But when the guy explained them it made me think about to how I would practice my scales all over the fretboard in any way I could to make sure I didn't have any blank spots. It also lead me back to how you can sometimes get away with altering the root note. By using other key notes within the chord the guitarist is playing and what not. So I just figured maybe theres more to this and it be good to learn. Kinda wondering if any of you guys used them much tho. If so maybe you can explain them a tad bit better to me too. Thanks guys.

Yay-cob. (iv grown to love that)

There are several threads about modes in the "Being for the Benefit of Musicianship" section of this site, towards the bottom of the main page.

Jacob - links to the myspace stuff??

 http://www.myspace.com/damianerskine  
In his videos he talks about some modes for soloing. That kind of got me thinking about it in a somewhat new direction.

I hate feeling like I got blank spots on my fretboard. I want to be able to use it all. So I practice scales constantly running up and downt he fretboard any which way I could trying to get rid of blank spots. I figured If I went over these modes it would help. I think im just going to do it on some paper and see what it looks like then practice the scales I figure out. Not a good way to learn the proper names for stuff. But It'll come in time. Besides, Im not playing with anyone that advanced yet lol.

Thanks!

i use modes constantlee...i know a li'l theory..ggl...i use some thing called parent key signature..playing modally is playing in two keys at one..theres a lil bit of a formula to do so...you take the pattern making up the scale..for major its root tone tone semitone tone tone tone semitone...but go down the neck using this pattern at each point playing a major scale..so in E..first mode ionian..e major played over E major ..2nd mode dorian..d major over E Minor7..3rd mode Phrygian C major over Eminor7flat9..fourth mode Lydian B major over E maj 7...fifth mode mixolydian A major over E dom 7...6th mode G major over E minor aelian which is the minor scale an relative major /minor...7th mode Locrian which is F major over E for flat9 diminished an sharp11...use any scale..use the pattern its made of only down the neck each time playing that scale against the root an you have the seven modes there as well...

for bop an such what your looking for would be harmonic minor modes

hmmm i guess i stopped this thread..i'm getting a complex lol..every thread i respond to has a tendency to just stop right there..oh well..

Good description of modes, Ginger - I never heard it that way, with the chords outlined like that. Might be a little confusing for someone just trying to learn what they're about though.

You should join our spirited theory discussions in the "Being for the Benefit of Musicianship" section, at the bottom of the main page.

Well, it was greek to me...... confusing and intimidating. Which has nothing to do with you, Ginger! I'm checking out the local CC for music theory classes. It was pretty sad when I got stuck in the second or third chapter of "Music Theory For Dummies" my daughter got me!

I have a good ear for what is musically or harmonically right but when it comes to naming it all, I get lost and the eyes roll back into the skull.....

I made a modes cheat sheet for myself years ago, I've made this up into a word document, if anyone would like a copy drop me an email and I'll send it out.

...that would be cheating.

It's confusing and intimidation until you know it...

modes are just the major scale started on a different note. Some have a "major" feeling (the 3rd is a major 3rd) and some have a "minor" feeling (the 3rd is minor)...

Personally I find the dorian (the mode on the 2nd) to be the hardest to finger.

Jim, I'd be happy to look at any edu-ma-cational work anyone has put together. My e-mail addy in my profile is wrong, try ed (underscore) ardzinski at either hotmail or yahoo dot com.

All the names confuse me. I sat down and try'd to figure it all out. I can play them now. That wasn't to difficult. But as for names Eh lol

As to the names, they are Greek to me.... bud-a-bump!