Confused by Modes? A Simple Explanation (and how to play them)

[@srhatfield]

An easy way to remember the names of the modes is the funny phrase "If Dora plays like me all's lost" -- If (Ionian), Dora (Dorian), Plays (Phrygian), Like (Lydian), Me (Mixolydian), All's (Aeolian) Lost (Locrian). I always thought that was funny, and it sure helps me remember the names of the modes!

[@DougSmith-y4o]

I like that, very clever! 🎸🎶😂🤷🏾

[@bryonguernsey9794]

Another drop in the bucket. Thank you.

[@donkamei5297]

I Don't Play Loud Music Any Longer😅

[@KimberlyIsherwood]

Lydian is my niece's name. ❤❤❤ musically 🎶🎶 raised 🙌 on vogt side!

[@KimberlyIsherwood]

BC it's natural.

[@g0rd0nM]

Dude. I’ve known about modes for decades. This is the best explanation regarding origin and application that I have ever heard!! Bravo!!!!

[@abnerbondoc7087]

One of the best teachers ever. Thank you so much

[@TheMightyZim]

Best guitar teacher I’ve ever had. 💯

[@jordiumethar4963]

Your explanation is very good, it is easily understood… putting it into practice takes hours. But it certainly helps a lot and becoming familiar with the jargon of the terms is essential. Thanks Steve. I will spend hours on this

[@whatnow9159]

You made me smile. Now I understand modes. Thank you.

[@mubirufrankadams7740]

Hi Steve you have been so helpful to me,am elderly and very interested in learning guitar,l suffered a lot until when I found you on KZbin,l have been attending your lessons and l have learned so much more than l have spent learning guitar, thanks a lot for the great work,may God bless you.

[@thebonebox488]

Every time I watch one of your videos, you manage to connect the dots of something that I've been dancing around for months, and I have an "AHA!" moment. Or two!

[@aramd3v]

Been playing scales and modes for years with no melodic context and theory, and now everything makes a lot of sense! Really amazing teacher! Thanks!

[@bill98tec]

Makes my head spin, but, I will not give up! Excellent teacher! Thank you, sir.

[@felixbrown4333]

I've checked out numerous youtube channels on modes to practice my guitar way better. I've taken some theory lessons at an actual studio before but your technique of explaining this stuff has really helped me stay focused and motivated to keep learning this left-brain exercise of note relationships. At 18:48 you lost me but MANY thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@CitizenFortress]

Second video in a row that's fundamentally changed how I think of my guitar. Bro, WHAT?!! 20 years playing and I never even thought of this crap.

[@marcozolow1749]

I studied the Music Theory For Life course several years ago. It opened up my playing to so many new levels. The materials and videos that came with the course provided hours upon hours of study. I could learn at my own pace and still have access after all these years. Great stuff!

[@Billy-ho5ms]

Thanks! Excellent lesson

[@MrCroqui]

Best tutorial on modes here on youtube

[@ForwardLookingDiver]

I seriously dig the way you explain things in a way even someone as new and thick as me can begin to understand. I have a number of years of your videos to catch up on. Thank you for putting these out.

[@johnbartley1044]

I'm a 75 16:07 year old lefty. Played bass for 50 of those years and got some fingers cut off. Pouted for a while, then decided to try guitar. Good choice! I really enjoy your work. As a lefty it's like looking in a mirror. Thanks for what you do!😊

[@scottgibson5697]

What an important lesson for soloing and song writing. Really opened up my thinking. Thanks Steve

[@Vladimirperez-qc1qf]

Incredible how you answered every single thing I was confused about in a single video, most teachers overcomplicate things, like when they say each position of the major scale is a different mode because it starts on a different note of the major scale, that never made sense to me because we don't always start a lick on the low e string, and it's all about context, I've always found It better to view all modes as just the major scale and let the context be determined by the chord tones and thought I was missing out on something because I didn't understand it as it was taught, gladly I found your video and now my brain can rest lol

[@pulpdoc02]

Excellent presentation. Really enjoyed your explanation. Was previously hard to wrap my head around this

[@stinemusiclessons]

🤘🎸🤘

[@brukuns]

Crazy how well you can explain these things. Thank you so much. I have a very hard time learning something if I don't really have a real grasp of why it is what it is. Some people can just work off of a formula, but I need to understand the whys. With the basis of this video you have just opened so many learning possibilities for me. I'll watch many more.

[@rhythm6090]

Crystal clear easy breakdown for a concept that many guitar players make way too complicated. Thanks Steve!

[@alwilson7437]

Started playing guitar and bass at 15 years old, never learned music theory untill about 3 years ago. When my guitar was stolen 2 years later I started playing drums. Played drums for a long time. But when I retired I started playing guitar again. So I brought a few books and went from there. You just made this way easier to understand. Thanks, Steve.

[@jimmycestoni109]

Starting to make sense to me now Thank you for teaching us.

[@chun-pun]

one of my favorite guitar lesson ever I have gain so many technique thanks Steve

[@jasondubose4163]

Finally makes since about modes. I have tried to find out from different books and videos. But this Finally made sense. Thanks Steve

[@bryonguernsey9794]

Mr. Stein thank you so much for your persistent, empathetic, compassionate and thoroughly usable insights. I will just say to you that in the three years or so that I’ve been watching your videos, I’ve picked up more from you than any of my Guitar buddies could ever or would ever show me. Thank you for sharing, all the important information you have with us. I wish you all the best, sir. You have carried me through an amazing journey of self discovery.

[@lukasthielmann]

I've played guitar for 25yrs and this is the first time someone has explained it in a way I understand. The thing you said about modes just telling you what chord your emphasising was the a-ha moment for me. I been in so many situations where I get a chord chart and someone says "It's in D Mixolydian" and I've just ignored them and blissfully kept playing G major scale or moving maj/min pentatonic to whatever chord is being played

[@peterginsburg2465]

Great explanation Steve. Puff, confusion gone about modes. Many thanks.

[@emafex]

Your very good at teaching my man.

[@jesuslove1036]

Thank you so much Sir, we finished the major work in Theis video, you made the difficult and most confuse task to become so simple...

[@stepbourneryndem8203]

You really are a very very GOOD TEACHER thanks alot..

[@polvin6124]

Hi, Steve. It's always good to go back to the basics. Thank you. Merry Christmas!

[@timdiekman5699]

I found you yesterday, 9/22/24. I am an old dude starting again. Last lesson was in 68. For the first time ever I know string 6 and 1, E to E.

[@markpowers7823]

Thank you. I had to back up a bunch, and review it again, but finally I have a much better understanding of how the neck works. I appreciate the videos you put out, and of course the time and effort it takes to do this.

[@GuitaristAmberSky]

Your editorial and demonstration videos are excellent at refreshing my memory from decades gone by and also in teaching me new information to apply to my current guitar playing adventures! Plus, your tutorial lesson plans are easy to understand and to learn from while applying them to our current guitar playing of songs we cover and/or compose. Thanks for sharing all of your spectacular guitar-playing knowledge with us.

[@vinz9741]

The only mistake, is that it's not Do Re Mi Ma Sol La 'Ti' Do, but 'Si' (prononciation) Do. Other than that it's one of the best videos ever made. Thanks

[@VindyDays]

A very different perspective of scale and modes. I also try to map Modes to Ragaas of Eastern music, adding another layer of confusion and complexity. I will have to watch this many more times to fully understand your perspective and make sense of it all. Thank you.

[@viborabr]

Mate, you helped so much. I was so freaking confused about all that. It is like you were answering my questions. Nobody explains music better than you. Thank you so much, and I wish you a super Merry Christmas and an outstanding New Year!

[@ThunderousThrasher]

Your way of teaching is next level🤩 i think I finally understand something. Thank you Steve🥹

[@freefromleftwing]

I like the " do ........ ti, do " 😀... great vid/tutorial Steve , your knowledge it's welcome to the guitar community.

[@supra1981]

Been playing for 35 years, I taught myself by watching Star Licks VHS back in the 80’s, play pause rewind over and over 😂. Anyway I never learned theory and now in my 40’s I decided it was time. This is the best explanation of modes i’ve heard, I use this stuff all the time, I just never learned why it all works. Excellent lesson thanks.

[@johnterpack3940]

It absolutely baffles me that any 7-tone block on the circle of fifths can be Lydian or Locrian depending on which note you play the most. It was almost fifty years ago that my folks bought me an acoustic guitar and lessons. Don't think I made it three months. Wrong instrument, for one. But the focus of the lessons was just wrong. Even a couple decades later when I bought a bass, I barely lasted a year. Love playing bass, but was again stifled by the available instructional material. Just bought a bass again about two years ago. I've barely touched it because I haven't found a roadmap to guide my practice. Seems I'm much more interested in composing than I am in simply playing. So I've started watching these more advanced videos to understand HOW to practice to get the sounds out of my head. And this was an excellent explanation. Now I can understand how to look at my fretboard and how to make scale practice actually productive.

[@rayexyes8083]

Nice one, thank you for demystifying modes. This helps a lot as I had tried to understand what modes are for and, if just for emphasis, I am now much happier that I don't need to break my head over this anymore. Many thanks for an excellent lesson.

[@JV-oi6ch]

Thanks Steve. This video cleared the clouds obstructing my view of modes. The Gregorian chant example you made up was very effective. Muchas gracias amigo. Merry Christmas!

[@besserglik1]

What a wonderful lesson thank you

[@danielmenard9599]

Thank you. Very good explanation

[@Mason-cd3wr]

Best explanation I’ve heard on this topic. 👍

[@stinemusiclessons]

🤘🎸🤘

[@kenfixes2908]

This was soooo helpful! Thank you! Looking forward to more content. Subscriber here .

[@skunk2107]

Big help as always. Great instruction Steve !!

[@alfredolewis8817]

Great explanation man. I play a little bass reggae mostly,but that video is great. I might wanna learn to play guitar,which would help my bass no doubt

[@gregglen-hoodedratmedia]

Always very informative videos, thanks so much Steve. Been a loyal subscriber to your channel for years now

[@DawnRiver]

Thanks for the easy and intuitive way of explaining modes. I've heard it before in such a clear and understandable lecture.👍👍👍👍👍

[@andrewmallard2301]

Thank you, Steve. I’ve been struggling to understand modes for so long, but you have just set it out in a perfectly understandable way and I am so grateful 👏👏👏👍

[@wagnerpera4922]

Thanks for this video.. I finally understood something about modes !!!

[@annieo.4779]

This was super helpful. Thanks Steve!

[@MoonLight-lu5ye]

One of the best teachers ever ❤

[@Roland-Bach]

Hi Steve . Very Good Explaination. I understood it as a German Guitar Beginner.

[@Gene_Cali]

Thanks Steve, Your time and talent are always appreciated. Happy Holidays to you and yours. 🙏🏻✌🏻

[@stinemusiclessons]

Happy holidays!

[@evanstheframe]

Best explanation I’ve seen on modes

[@charlieriffs478]

Thank you for this Steve! You always explain music theory simple and clear. 🤘

[@vinvin1909]

Happy New Year, Steve.

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hi. Happy new year! All the best for 2024

[@kourosh4517]

Steve, thank you for the information and analysis you provided. 👌👍🌹🌹🌹🙏

[@Shauno777]

Love the way you explain it bro

[@GuitarFuel]

Like always, Steve thank you for this great lesson! Just finished watching the entire video 🤘🏻

[@giveempie]

Bravo! simple but so full of hard to learn stuff, But playing in C or G? I get playing in Keys. Good Job Steve!

[@srhatfield]

Great job on this video, Steve. This is a really tough subject and you covered it very well! I watched it to see if I would learn anything new, and I did, but it was mostly me remembering stuff I forgot a long time ago 😂

[@chrismaxwell1624]

Thank you, this was a great explanation. I had been trying wrap my head around this. I had asked my guitar instructor and I see now what he was he was trying to tell me. It just wasn't making sense to me then.

[@R0ckerb0y]

Hey Steve. I’ve played for 40 years and I’m just now diving deep into theory. Close to mastering the notes of the fretboard. (First massive step) I came to this step because I’ve been playing with random people lately and always new songs I’ve never played. I can usually watch and play along in real-time, but I have a huge new challenge. I played with a singer who does covers and on each song he would put a capo on a new fret. 1, 3, 5 etc… so even on songs I sort of knew, I couldn’t figure out the position to play my leads on. Everything kept shifting. How do you “re-home” your scale positions on the fly when they’re throwing a capo in a new position every song???

[@donkiddick3562]

Really answered some long standing questions for me, Steve, thanks. But I did get lost around the 35 min mark when you said you can solo at various places on the neck and still be in tune. How can that be?

[@everettst.claire870]

This is how I remember the order of the mode names. (I) (D)o (P)lay (L)oud (M)usic (A)t (L)unch. This assumes that you know the names of the modes and are just having trouble with the order.

[@aaronclark7587]

Played my first song two days ago well it took a couple tries but I'm getting it 😊😊😊 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hey that's awesome! Hope you find the lessons helpful and any questions please feel free to ask!

[@aaronclark7587]

@@stinemusiclessons thank you, so I play on a electric guitar with no amp 😭 it's the only guitar that I have and CANT AFFORD ANYTHING ELSE FOR IT is there anyway you could help me out

[@beolba1]

Great lesson!

[@leebasey1786]

Thank you, Steve! This was a very clear concise video that opened doors for me! Question, you covered the AED string. What about the GBE string? Dumb question? lol

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hi thanks for commenting. I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. Is it the C major scale on strings G B and E? If this is the case one way of playing the C major scale on these strings is. C (str3 fret 5) - D (str3 fret 7) - E (str 2 fret 5) - F (str2 fret 6) - G (str2 fret 8) - A (str 1 fret 5) - B (str 1 fret 7) and C (str 1 fret 8). So in summary on the G string you have frets 5 - 7 on the B string frets 5 - 6 - 7 and E string frets 5 - 7 - 8. Let me know if this answers your question! 🙂

[@TimNadaud]

Thanks for the video.

[@Seyha_hout]

I git the answer thank you Steve

[@Lymanization]

@32:07. Think you mean "playing same intervals" not same notes?

[@Lymanization]

Outstanding teacher btw!

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hey thanks for commenting. It's actually playing the same notes but starting from a different one. The notes are the same but the sequence is different. Hope this answers your question.

[@Lymanization]

@@stinemusiclessons ah man, after coming back to the video...I realized I wasn't understanding it at the moment, of course they are same notes just higher up! Love your videos!

[@guitaristrobinson]

Your the best Brother !

[@johnjoseph1966]

If you know 1980-1991 rock bands from MTV or somewhere else! I have what is called a mnemonic..that means a way to remember things by assign words to...on this topic Modes...here it is: I Do Play Like Malmsteen And Lynch...using the names of Yngwie Malmsteen and George Lynch of Dokken...just another way to remember you Modes ....just an example as there are many ways to make up words to fit the name of the modes that is best for you to remember how the go in order : )) Have fun and Rock On!!

[@edspengeman6781]

GREAT TEACHER

[@MingleWingle]

Lots of love from india sir🇮🇳❤️❤️🥰

[@efrenmoran8098]

My question is…how do I find these cord all over the fret board? I know the major, minor scales and modes. How do I connect them.

[@chrispinmanda3479]

Steve I have a question, if I am in key of C and Iam emphasing the two chord, I can play the C major scale over the chord progressions

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hi Chris! Yes you can, the only difference would be the note you want to emphasize while soloing. So the position doesn't really matter but rather the notes you emphasize.

[@chrispinmanda3479]

@@stinemusiclessons Thanks Steve

[@Seyha_hout]

Good bless you

[@skinnygumbo9555]

If I play Am pentatonic, you could say I am playing A natural minor ( or Aeolian) pentatonically - it just semantics. I get it. And get what Steve is saying. But then you see diagrams of modes as scales with all these flatted scale degrees, and things get confusing again

[@shadowsneaker6546]

This must be viewed from two perspectives. Different tonal centers over the same major scale vs. the same tonal center over different major scales. In my opinion, the latter is more useful. Although the scales for C major and A minor line up perfectly while using the same notes, the same can not be said for the D minor scale for instance. Hence D minor is not a relative minor of C major. Playing "IN" D minor is not the same as playing in C Dorian. There will be different notes, and as a result, different chords involved (except for the relative major/minor pair, which is the same). Play D minor over a D minor scale, or play D minor over a C major scale (depending on the mode). These two are completely different scales, unlike the relative major/minor scale. Play in D minor using all the notes and chords from the D minor scale, or play in D minor using all the notes and chords from the C major scale. C Dorian = Playing D minor as the tonal center, using the notes and chords from the C major scale. Another mode where D minor can be the focus, could be F Aeolian, but then all the notes and chords from the F major scale will be in play. B flat Phrygian will also have D minor as the tonal center, but it will utilize the notes and chords from the B flat major scale. Three examples for different progression voicing with D minor as the tonal center, depending on the originating major scale. In essence the mode just tells you which interval substitutes the root as the tonal center, while still using the major scale denoted in the mode name. From the opposite perspective, you need to find the scale in which the relevant tonal center is at the required interval to satisfy the mode. It's complicated and simple at the same time. B flat Phrygian, C Dorian and F Aeolian all have D minor as the same tonal center, but they are different from one another (Having different chord progressions and scales). The difficult bit is if you want to use the same chord as the tonal center, but play it in a different mode. Say for instance you want to use an A minor as the tonal center, but you want to play it in Dorian mode... Which major scale will you play it over? It would be C major had we picked Aeolian mode, but we want Dorian. So now you have to find the major scale where A minor is on the second interval and use that major scale... It may be called "C Aeolian", but it's really "A minor in Aeolian mode". The one tells you the scale and the mode of the scale, and the other tells you the tonal center and the mode it's played in. Simple complexity right? The question should really be... Do I use the scale to determine the mode, or do I use the mode to determine the scale. Both are correct, depending on what you need to do. I still maintain that the latter is more useful (albeit more difficult) to create variety with the same tonal center. But the former provides reference on where to position your fretting hand. Two perspectives which are inseparable from one another...

[@Roland-Bach]

Do you make a semilar explaination based on Minor ? This here is Based on Major, right?

[@stinemusiclessons]

Hi. Yes this is based on the major scale. For minor it's very similar. A Natural Minor is the same as C major but starting on A as the first mode. So A Aeolian and then the order is the same as in major. B Locrian, C Ionian, D Dorian etc...

[@dwaynelasater2350]

The way I learned to remember no sharps or flats is Big Cats Eat Fish

[@atristan_77]

🤘

[@H.RedSea]

He explains it as if he were explaining to a brainless person, just like I need it, thank you!

[@MichaelTrentColvin]

❤

[@Mac-fm5yh]

Amazing lesson thank you 🙏