This Is Why MODES Are So Confusing To Guitar Players [Music Theory]

[@hnnymn]

Oh man this is great great stuff. Everything you said is exactly correct. I was confused about modes for a long time due to having “learned” from the flawed explanations of other KZbin “experts”. It took quite some time and effort to extricate myself from the cognitive quicksand that resulted, but I did manage to figure things out. If I'd started HERE with your cogent and 100% correct instruction, then my understanding would have been so much quicker and easier!

[@brunnoteixeira9400]

I believe that you are a great musician, but I am absolutely sure that you were born to be a great teacher. You really stand out when you're teaching music.

[@frigginjerk]

Yeah, really. After listening to this explanation, I'm having a difficult time remembering why the modes are such a confusing concept to learn.

[@johndiraimo1444]

"Excuse me for a moment, while I RESET your ears... " LOL... Brilliant Tomasso.

[@christopherheckman7957]

(1) It's "reZet", not "reSet" (2) A good way to reset your ears is to listen to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

[@ianstobie]

Key point for me at 5:42 - listeners need a reference point to make sense of what they are hearing. And the brain will normally provide this by settling on one pitch as more important than the others. Our ears naturally listen out for this "Tonic" pitch, and will get it fixed in memory as long as the music gives them a few clues. It's then this tonic note that determines the mode, and thus what the sequence of notes sounds like subjectively to us as a pattern - a pattern that can carry feelings and mood.

[@Wind-nj5xz]

4:44 How Jazz sounds like to non jazz listeners

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

HAHAHA :)

[@pfkmsandiego]

it's actually how jazz sounds to jazz listeners as well : )

[@JulianDiaz-Tpt]

You're listening to the wrong kind of Jazz then.

[@joelstephenson8017]

Loooool🤣

[@TheDuhallo]

I never understood modes. Only after watching some of your videos I finally got it. Thank you. Here is how I now think of modes: The same set of notes sound different in different contexts. The same way a chord sounds different in different contexts. For example a C major chord can sound stable (as tonic in C major) or unstable/pushing (as dominat in F major). D dorian and A minor are the same notes, but in one the context is "Dm is the tonic" and in the other "Am is the tonic". Locrian is so rarely used, because it requires the listener to hear a diminished chord (unstable) as the tonic (supposed to be very stable). Note that also the function of other chords change like the dominant chord. For example in A minor Em is the dominant but in D dorian Am is dominant. F major and F ldyian have very similar contexts (Tonic: F and Dominant: C) but have a different set of notes and therefore sound different. F major and G dorian have the same notes but different contexts (Tonic: F vs. Gm and Dominant: C vs. Dm) and therefore sound differnet.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes, you got it. Only correction would be that, while it's true that the functions of chords changes with the mode, the usual functions (tonic-subdominant-dominant) are defined only for the major and minor scale, while the other modes operate more on a tonic vs nontonic function. There is lot of controversy on that point though, so this maybe will go in another video ;-)

[@viniciusbertucci]

The most fundamental difference between modes is that they emphasize different intervals. In C Major you have T 2 3 4 5 6 7, while in D Dorian you have T 2 b3 4 5 6 b7, and so on. Same notes, but when you emphasize a different tonal center, you emphasize different intervals related to that new tonic. Edit: the lack of functions in modes is also important. When applying modal harmony, you focus on the mood of those modes and use the chords that have the characteristic interval flavors. In Dorian, these notes/intervals would be the b3 and major 6. Major 2 and perfect 5 also work, since they are a half step away from the b3 and the major 6, respectively. Use a droning tonal note on the bass also helps. Traditional chord progressions on modes don't exist. Man, there are countless ways to use modes...

[@35milesoflead]

@@viniciusbertucci Functional harmony was preceded by modal harmony. Functional harmony is thoroughly modern in comparison. That's why we say "The major scales is the same as the ionian mode". The modes were converted to "scales" and functional harmony evolved from there. The rest of it is cultural.

[@viniciusbertucci]

@@35milesoflead Yes, correct.

[@vaughanmacegan4012]

This should be required watching for *EVERYONE* starting to learn about modes. This would have solved me years of trouble just trying to understand what they were. It would not have helped me implementing them but at least I would have understood.

[@ionageman]

Yes , implementation is where I also have trouble .. but I guess first we have to understand the concept . When I read a piece I’m now starting to look at it’s structure as much as it’s notes .

[@AnOldGreyDog]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for finally - after some 30 years of asking and getting the same circular reasoning - confirming that there's more to it than just the notes. I have been trying to get someone to agree that there has to be some external context that determines the tonic. You can't say that the scale is defined by where the semitones are in relation to the tonic and then say that the tonic is defined by its relation to other notes. Finally, someone admits that it is possible to be unable to determine the tonic.

[@roebuckmckinney]

So helpful. I learned about modes from my guitar teacher almost 20 years ago, but they didn’t make sense until you brought in the tonic concept. Now I’m going to go back to songs I’ve written and figure them out from a modal perspective.

[@dayglo98]

Good introduction for those who have absolutely no idea about modes. This was barely touching the surface but I would have at least added : What if I want to play G Dorian and not D Dorian ? That's what I was stuck on at first when I was starting with modes. Or what if I want to play E Lydian and not F Lydian ? Well for those who are wondering : Dorian is the -second- mode of the major scale so if you want to play -G- Dorian you ask yourself : In what key is G the -second - note ? The answer is F, so you would build chord progressions and melodies based around the notes of F major, but trying to highlight G instead of F. For E Lydian : Lydian is the -fourth- mode of the major scale, so, in which key is E the fourth note ? The answer is B major. So you build chords and melodies using the notes of the B major scale, highlighting E instead of B. As a bonus, if you are lazy like me but you know your major scale patterns with your eyes closed, you can just noodle around using the major scale patterns of the 'parent' major scale instead of learning a bunch of new scale patterns. That's when it clicked for me : "oh E Lydian is just B major ? Right on ! Start that E Lydian backing track and I'll noodle with B major" I think that's a quick and easy way to get into modes.

[@djcrouton2680]

Finally a video that actually explains modes in a way that makes sense. Took too long to come across this one. Modes aren't complicated but so many people explain them in a way that makes it sound like they are. The whole thing of saying that you're changing the starting note makes it sound like you aren't changing the tonic and are just playing in for example, c major, but are starting on a different note. You're using the same notes, but you aren't playing in the same key. You're playing in a modified version of the key and adjusting the chords and scale based on the notes that are in that mode for the key. Then the explanation that other people use when they say how to adjust the scale makes sense as well. But no one seems to just say that when you adjust the notes in the scale, you just adjust the chords as well that are impacted by those changes so your progressions when playing in that mode will be different. And everything would be super clear and simple like in this video.

[@pedromoreira6324]

I think the term "Starting" has a meaning of "emphasis" in the tonic, despite the starting note the tendency is to emphasize the tonic in the melody.

[@GregKosic]

I agree with you. This is a good lesson but he also didn't mention the other chord tones of chords being played within that same scale...the 'best sounding" starting AND ending points are the tones of the chord being played.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

"Starting with" means "Starting with" :-) If we have to salvage an explanation by changing the meaning of the words, maybe it's better to change the explanation.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Greg: There are many things I don't mention here. It's a 10m video on YT :-)

[@GregKosic]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I guess you gots to make some moolah too! ;)

[@dispersemedia]

Not really. A D dorian mode can still sound like D dorian even without playing the D note in a melody.

[@Tim_Tomorrow]

I've been writing and playing my own music for more than 20 years now. I always thought that if I knew music theory, I'd be locked into these boxes . "You can only use these notes in the scale." I thought that if I knew how the sausage gets made, I wouldn't want to play anymore. I'm so happy to have been wrong. I've been watching your videos and educating myself. My song writing has jumped by leaps and bounds. Thank you so much for taking the time to break these subjects down into easily digested chucks.

[@kilroy2517]

I remember the modes this way, which works for me. The commonly used modes are Aeolian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Lydian, and Dorian. You probably already know Aeolian, the major scale of the key you're playing in, and Ionian, the "blues scale". Now just picture the bar chords on your guitar, and picture the I - IV - V chord progression. I is the major scale, IV is the Mixolydian, and V is Lydian. If you can memorize that you're most of the way there. Now drop one step from the I chord to the flatted VII, and use that chord's scale to get Dorian. In the key of G, if you want Mixolydian, you play the scale of the IV chord, which is C. Lydian is the V chord, D Dorian is the flatted VII chord = F ("flatted" because the 7th of a G scale is an F#, so you have to flatten it to get an F natural)

[@wellurban]

Thank you! Interesting as always. I’m not sure, though, that it’s *wrong* to say that a mode “starts” on a certain note. For a scale to “start” on a note means that it’s the tonic, not that every melody has to “start” there in a strictly temporal way. Also, when you write out a scale or practice it, you’d usually start from the tonic, so it’s a natural word to use. However, I do agree that it can be confusing, especially for beginners. I also often find it interesting when a piece drifts over time so that it feels like the mode has changed, but without a specific moment of modulations, just through gradually increasing emphasis on another note.

[@55myguitar]

My clarifying thought when he made this point was "the endpoints" for the Dorian scale are D, for Lydian are F, and so on, eliminating the temporal implications.

[@martinepstein9826]

This is a great explanation. When people explain scales and modes they get too hung up on what order the notes come in. The order is irrelevant. A mode is just a set of notes where one of those notes is special. In mathy terms it's an ordered pair where S is a set of notes and n is a note in S. "The jury is still out if you can establish locrian independently of the other modes" This question was settled in 2008. The song Combustion by Meshuggah is in F locrian.

[@christopherheckman7957]

Unless you're talking about multitonic scales ...

[@Jekylnhyde55]

Even though I played clarinet all thru school and could read music, when I took up guitar at 14 ('69) and was learning Black Sabbath by ear (I was in E Dorian, but didn't know, lol). I noticed when I moved the pattern down 2 frets (still over an Em chord), it sounded Spanish/Gypsy. I was in E phrygian, but didn't know, BUT IT SOUNDED COOL! Then I hit the books and learned the Modes! The Race was On!!!

[@scottt9382]

Dang - Tommaso is SUCH a good teacher - more than makes up for the handwriting that is actually (maybe just a little) worse than mine ;). Hey, but it works, right? He breaks down theory so well and so practically...One thing that was helping me a bit before this was thinking about 'relative' modes (D Dorian as a relative mode to C Major - maybe similar to Aeolian being the relative(/natural) minor scale to CMaj) vs 'parallel' modes (D Ionian, D Dorian, D Phrygian, etc. ). The relative helped me to find a mode in a pinch (a little useful) but the parallel is more helpful, at least to me, in choosing a mode to play over a chord. I do aspire to feel vs just choose, one day. That said, it still wasn't locked down for me. Tommaso's explanation here got me soooo much farther.

[@word67]

Brilliant I have "kinda" understood modes but every time ( for decades sorry to say) I try to think them through I end up in a loop of circular thinking. I devised "my own" scale exorcize decades about ( again decades ago I'm embarrassed to admit) that began on c then d etc. I got the finger dexterity down and knew it was somewhat important but could never figure out the relationship of what I was doing with chords. I also listened to Kind of Blue ( for decades and decades and...) and knew that Miles Davis had changed the Jazz Universe by using this thing called modes. So I really aspired to understand how modes worked. In the meantime I play blues, Nashville, Swing etc so I've never HAD to understand modes ( didn't HAVE to but nevertheless I was frustrated that I couldn't ). So yes, there is "some" confusion. I'm going to watch this one over and over -- I think there is hope for me yet. Thanks you

[@jeffrey3498]

If you know the major scales, you have all the scales and all the modes. What you play over determines the scale or mode you are playing. If you're not playing over anything, you're just playing notes of the major scale.

[@RyanJamesOfficial]

Chords ultimately decide the key, but it's still possible to create the sound of a mode melodically without context behind it. Whichever note you treat as the resolving note to your melodies will imply a mode.

[@jeffrey3498]

@@RyanJamesOfficial Yup, no argument from me. Regards.

[@Wind-nj5xz]

*all the modes of the major scale

[@creator2986]

The first crystal clear explanation… took a while for me to find this

[@calebneff5777]

I went into this with a firm grasp on the modes, and left with a new outlook on them. Brilliantly done.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

Good point, I guess what they should say tonal centre or key centre instead of saying starting from.

[@imjonkatz]

Ive said it before and ill say it again. Thank you for everything you've done, do, and will do. Every video that you make elucidates a great deal of points in music that are often not talked about in much detail. Keep on rocking 😎

[@KipIngram]

This is the best treatment I've found. Excellent.

[@malcolmkendall1547]

I agree with you for criticizing the "starts on" convention because this has confused and slowed my learning of modes. Another confusing and misleading convention that drives me crazy is the universal presenting of the modes based on those "starts on" notes. The strong logical relationship is obvious but it makes no sense to me musically because what I want to compare, for example, is C ionian and C dorian, not C ionian and D dorian. Otherwise, we are still perceptually locked into C ionian, which I find irrelevant and confusing rather than clarifying. You are uniquely the best and I'm looking forward to ordering your mastering chords and scales video courses. Thank you for your great work.

[@LouisSerieusement]

3:33 I usually explain the difference between modes of the same scale by using the word "gravity" (ie tonal center) ; then I make a comparison with a sculpture, if you put the sculpture upside down or on the side, it"s the same sculpture yet it looks different. Same with modes.

[@frenchiesfrankieandhenry]

The bit @ 4:44 sounded like someone in the band Black Flag, soloing. 😄 Great video as always Tommaso! And I've been working on those awesome exercises in the first Complete Chord Mastery, lesson. You've been a tremendous boon to my understanding of the guitar, and I look forward to how I approach the instrument after completing the course. If you've been thinking about trying one or both courses, just do it. I have a close friend that is an Berklee graduate, and even he has never been able to convey these things in a digestible manner.

[@GuyDanielsMusicEtc]

GREAT topic and treatment of it. Modes are the biggest hurdle for guitarists, in theory and practice. My fav way of showing modes is by keeping a constant Root on a low open string (E or A preferred). Playing / hearing the ‘modes’ in this way immediately shows the ear the different character of each. I group them as three major ‘modes’: Ion, Mixo, Lyd; and four minor: Aeo, Dor, Phryg, and *Loc. So, for example: A Ion. A Mixo, A Lyd, etc., while open A rings. *I believe Locrian IS able to stand on its own though it lacks a perfect 5th. What do you think, sir? Also that might make for an interesting study: the search for Locrian-based movements / compositions in various genres...The Bridge is Over by rapper KRS 1 is a good place to start.

[@AlDunbar]

at 5:09, yes, those two sample chord sequences in C major and A minor sound different. To me, the difference is in the fact that the first used only the available major chords, while the second only minor. All six of those chords are in the key of C major as well as in the key of A minor. But even melodies in those two relative keys could sound different - one less joyful than the other. I think the only way to tell the difference may be to determine whether the root note is C or A. I could probably do that by ear, but perhaps not as easily as reading the score itself. Odd, then, that there is no notational way to indicate which mode relative to C is intended when the key signature is the same for all. Apparently it must be done intuitively based on how the music sounds...

[@LambentSonata]

True, neither the starting nor ending note of any piece of music needs be the 1st scale degree; a piece can start on 5 then, 4 minutes later, end on 7. So the "start" and "end" notes do _not_ tell you where the 1 scale degree is. The thing that determines the 1 scale degree (aka the "tonic" note) is, what note do the melodies and harmonies _resolve_ to or _strive_ to? _That_ is your "tonic" or "1" scale degree. And to determine _that_ , you have to understand concordance and discordance, and tension and release, and how they effect the emotions produced by the music. This is one area where emotion is absolutely essential and logic alone will _not_ help you. Then, once the "1" note has been determined, the "mode" is just the pattern of intervals going up from 1. Eg, if it's "hWWhWWW", it's Locrian Mode. Or if it's "WWhWWhW", it's Mixolydian Mode. Etc. (Or, if it's not enharmonic to Major at all, then it's not one of the 7 modes of modern western diatonic music, but rather, something different, such as "WWWWWW" = The Whole Tone Mode, or "WhWWh3h" = The Harmonic Minor Mode.)

[@heavydevy-c5630]

I guess I would trust you on this a little bit. I found an article saying different. Basically saying if you use chords like F and G but starting and ending on a not A then it's actually an aeolian sound. I think it's important for the bass to start on a C if you want C lydian for example over a C chord. But I also don't think you need a drone. I also think you can play a fifth on Lydian and are allowed to use inversions and not have a drone. In folk music it might be different because that's how bagpipes are setup. They don't really do chords. but I think music needs to be a little bit more open then that. Like music needs to move a little more then that after using chords C D Bm and C. Instead I did C, D/F#, Bm, D5. And then C, Bm, G, C. Using some inversions. Both to me are C lydian. Although maybe it's personal preference idk. I just think it makes things more interesting. So far I've seen people play all chords over C Lydian. Sounds like that dreamy beautiful futuristic shiny chrome world to me still. And more interesting.

[@petewiseman]

A mode starts FROM a certain note, in theory (teaching us what you call the reference, or the drone of each mode). But a phrase starts WITH any of several notes, in practice - notes missed out in the first octave work in the next because they are supported by the basic chord used in the first octave... Hearing a minor chord (or m7) does NOT give us the sound of Dorian, since a minor chord is ambiguous to three keys. You need to hear the 9 and 13 (or b9 or b13) to be sure - so when you played the note E over Dm7 it said 'this is not D Phrygian but it could be D Aeolian or D Dorian'. Thanks, I do like your work

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

I agree, but I still think "starts" is confusing. I've seen so many guitarists believe that they actually have to start from a specific note when they improvise, that I am very careful about saying "starts" anymore.

[@petewiseman]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar Fair enough, it's all confusing for a long time!

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Totally accurate of any study I have done. At first I questioned the initial statement about starting with..then you made it clear about the C major. note pitches. Jerry Reed would play a G7 and do a thumb scrape of the white piano keys..voila..the mixolydian mode. G base notes of C major.

[@paulburland8278]

One confusing factor is that modes are always explained in relation to C major. It’s as though you only get D Dorian, E Phrygian, etc. A lightbulb moment came for me when I realised WHY the key of C is used. We guitarists need to visualise the piano keyboard to understand the TONE, TONE, SEMITONE... structure that underpins music theory.

[@hnnymn]

Yes, definitely. This is a key insight! (pun intended, but the sentiment is sincere!)

[@rswatzl3]

In other words, provided that I got the ideas the right way, the thing is not from which note the scale starts, but the way the latter “behaves”, meaning: if you want, for example, a “D Dorian” scale, that will be D E F G A B C and the underlying “behavior” will be WHWWWHW (“whole step”, “half step”).

[@peterbryenton]

Thank you for your clear explanation. The ear-brain system and the "reference note" makes sense to me, because there seems to be a similar physiological effect in the eye-brain system when we are processing colour, specifically when we automatically fix on what we perceive as our "white" reference, even under very different light sources.

[@Cpdaaa]

Complimenti, il video più chiaro che si possa trovare su KZbin sull’argomento. Bravo

[@KipIngram]

6:30 - Let's say that a bit more carefully. You don't mean just starting and ending the whole piece of music on the tonic. As you noted earlier, that's not even strictly necessary. You start and end *phrases* of the piece using the tonic. There's an "emphasis" of the tonic throughout the piece of music, that keeps your ear/mind in the right reference frame.

[@manwithaplan8543]

I love your videos. I literally had this problem last night with a student.

[@DavidBagshaw]

Fantastic post: the psychological (while real) roots of the tonic, and the roots of modulation in the same area are a revelation.

[@DaddySoulDonut]

Probably the best explanation of modes I've seen on KZbin. Really wish I had seen this when I was first trying to understand them.

[@raulo2351]

Thank you Tomasso, very clear explanation, as always! At a second level of perception, the special notes of each mode are those that help to recognize one from the other (i.e. the sixth degree differentiates the Doric from the Aeolian mode).

[@pfkmsandiego]

great vid, dude! yep- the harmony dictates which mode is being played. i often remind my students that when we learn the modes that it's really just learning how to play the relative major and minor scales in different hand positions bc... i won't bother explaining- u kno already. : ) BUT- there are many benefits of learning the modes as different starting points of an established key- i think ud agree with the traditional way of teaching the modes that way- as long as the teacher share the fact that the harmony dictates what actual mode the melody is in. i remember learning the modes in college and asking the teacher what makes the modes modes if they're just technically different starting points of the major scale and i remember the answer being unsatisfactory and i had to figure it out later that the harmony was what was making the modes the modes. i still teach the modes the same as i learned them in college but i do a much better job of explaining what makes a mode a mode.

[@phoenixamaranth]

Thank you!!! I've played music for literally decades and this is the most clear, comprehensive explanation of modes that I have ever seen! It finally put a lot of questions to rest and made it all make sense!

[@michaelinglis8516]

Why couldn't I have had this video 15 years ago lol! It took me forever and so much confusion to realize these distinctions! Great video!

[@Francisco-vl5ub]

Ciao Tommaso, do bring your ideas on establishing a tonic and modulation if you so fancy! Interested in hearing more about that.

[@serapiocorrea2130]

There are two approaches to the modes1)relative modes=, for example Doric D is a relative mode of the C major scale, because it has the same notes as the C scale,but diferent root. 2)parallel mode=Ddoric is a parallel mode of D major or Ionic D, it has the same root D, but different notes.

[@r-bascus]

For me it was the 'starting from..' that did it. Just as a start, to hear and to learn how the different modes are build. But of course, you need to use it in a context. Different brains, work in different ways.

[@monomoo1]

I've been trying to understand modes for such a long time and I literally had a light bulb go off in my head while watching this, it makes so much more sense now! You are a fantastic teacher sir, definitely going to check out your course

[@Gregorovitch144]

It's all about tonal center. What the tonic is. I was totally confused about it until the light switched on about that, but once it does modes are really easy to understand. But I don't think of the "D Dorian Scale" when writing. That might be useful for practical musicianship, but for writing it's best to think of all the modes of C Major as using the scale of C major. And concentrate on what really matters in establishing a mode which is the chords of your progression. In the case of D Dorian this means establishing Dm as the tonal center of the progression. That's what matters. After that, just play C major over it and you're golden.

[@siegfriedstark]

The inner and mathematical coherence, order and ellegance of these relations among modes and scales are simply incredible and a factor of beauty by themselves! Music theory fascinates us not only by its usefulness as an operating language, but mainly by its intrinsic BEAUTY!

[@281cu6]

My guitar teacher kept pounding the wrong way into my head and I ended up resenting this subject.

[@michaelkahl4940]

That is really interesting! Music is such a wonderful thing to understand!

[@oriondooley7337]

I love your stuff, thank you very much. I didn't learn to play an instrument until university so never had any real instruction despite noodling about for 22 years now.

[@Maras666]

Aaaaa Finally! I was preaching it for years! The key to understanding modes is context, not the direction or sequence of notes played. I'm so happy to see It I'm going to buy your course xD

[@StratsRUs]

I love listening to your relaxed yet firm tuition.Thank you !

[@davidlegalley1161]

Thank you for these clarifications on Modes & scales & hearing perceptions

[@michaeldean9338]

DEFINITELY one of the best videos on -- what can be-- a confusing subject! This why I LOVE this gentleman's channel! Thanks AGAIN, sir :)

[@Cr8Tron]

Great video! I've definitely come across students of my own needing such clarification. I think semantically the word "starting" is fine, if it's made sure to be contextually understood. Lots of people, unfortunately, weren't ever taught to think of scales as simply a reference, to the pitch degrees our brains make based on psychoacoustics. It's unfortunate, because if they *were* taught such, they would understand that "starting" simply implies where the reference note is--nothing more.

[@theeniwetoksymphonyorchest7580]

Excellent tutorial. Always worth repeating that music is psychological and therefore has an actual physical effect on the cognitive function of the brain; in theory it’s possible to see the brain responding to the sounds of different modes. Eric

[@Kingfish179]

Great explanation. In essence, it all comes down to the chords being played underneath the scale.

[@Sevetamryn]

@Tomaso, thank you for the content you bring. I have seen that video multiple time ... however, not early enough in my adventure with guitar. I still count myself in as a ... advanced beginner ... And i have to say, as good the situation with tons of educational material in the internet is, as bad is the situation that you may be confronted with concepts, much too advanced for your level of understanding. And one of this thing is modes. And as a beginner you will be confronted with this quiet soon and probably by videos from person explaining it -baehh, wrongish? ... It confused me a lot and i did not need it at all. Well, at a point i found myself the solution to not think about modes, to think about scales. This was the moment as i realised, i can easily access this as an extension of things i already learned. I was able to play major and minor scale easily and realized, well, dorian scale is one not away from minor, just change the 6th to natural, done, easy, learned, no sheets with shapes and thinking about modes. Oh and jeah ... I know minor ... flatten second and wow, easy access to phrygian scale. That's the way it works for me very good since.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

And that's the right way to think about them.

[@scotlandish4718]

I bought my first guitar when I was 4, but quit playing. I'm 100 years old now and this video finally gave me the courage to pick it up again, thanks!

[@alejandrosantivanezmendiza340]

That's wonderful

[@ef7480]

Don't worry you've still got at least 50 years ahead of you ...

[@gaetan4164]

"It's psychological". GOD THANK YOU. I have heard many times the "it just starts on a different note" and I just couldn't understand why modes sounded so different when they contain the same notes. It's all about context.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

I have heard it that, chords and scales are the same thing, with that in mind, I find it helps to think of what chord is the centre of each mode ie Maj 7 flat 5 is Lydian, dominant 7' 9, 11 or even 13 is Mixolydian etc, etc..

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

In diatonic music at least.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

Playing them linear is something that took me about 30 years to get round too but it's a huge help, to see the distances, which then teaches you the intervals you are using when you cross strings, I guess this should be the first thing to do before learning box positions, if I teach again I will do this..

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

I know the intervals any way but it's good for slides and phrasing and stuff too..

[@malcolmjohnston4624]

Delicious food for thought, best explanation I've heard yet. Thanks again ☮️

[@RockSolidLawyer]

Resetting my musical ears reminded me of cleansing one's palette between dining courses. Excellent video!

[@pfkmsandiego]

reminded me of wine tasting. not my thing to do but i kno it's a part of wine tasting hahaha

[@nerfytheclown]

Absolutely genius presentation, sir. Bravo! Not a moment wasted and you helped this old dude to finally get over my block on that issue. Thank you!

[@Theawesomedudes7]

This way personally still leaves me confused with modes. This teaches you how modes work in one specific key, but if you want to play other modes in other keys like G Dorian or F Phrygian for example, people will always try to find a different scale to compare it to instead of knowing how the scales are actually built. My preferred way of thinking about modes is by first thinking in which scale is the mode built off of ("Major" or "Minor") and then what notes need to be affected in that Major or Minor scale to evoke that mode. For example: Lydian would fall under the "Major" category because it is built off of the major scale, and Lydian affects the scale by raising the 4th. So, to build a C Lydian Scale, you would first take C Major C D E F G A B Then Raise the 4th scale degree C D E F# G A B Another example: Dorian would fall under the "Minor" category because it is built on the minor scale of the note in question, and the scale is affected by raising the 6th. So, to build a D Dorian Scale, you take D Natural Minor D E F G A Bb C Then Raise the 6th Scale Degree D E F G A B(Natural) C To me this erases a lot of confusion because once you get it in your head which modes are affected, you can start using those modes really quick and effectively. Similarly to how people normally memorize Natural Minor Scales of a particular note by knowing that there is a flattened 3rd, 6th, and 7th. When starting out, people might count down/up 3 semitones to find the relative major/minor, but to us analytical folk this doesn't tell us the building blocks for all other notes. Thinking "Oh, Phrygian is just Natural Minor but I lower the 2nd" is much easier to me than thinking "Oh, the Phrygian scale relative to G is 4 halfsteps below so I play in the Eb Major scale but with the Tonic of G." There's too many crossed wires there for me. Again, this is just my opinion and my preferred way of looking at modes. Other people will find the way in the video leaps and bounds easier to understand and that's fine. I just thought I would give my own opinion for those who are very analytical such as myself. Lovely video as always, thank you for your time and all your great teaching regardless!

[@zoltan567]

It's a great video on how to look at modes. I still wonder, how Paul McCartney or John Lennon where thinking when creating their great songs in different modes, used modulations. For example Norwegian Wood..

[@davidgollom345]

Finally a decent explanation that makes sense! It's all about the tonic! Thank you!

[@chengyang9487]

I'm going to buy your book you makes sense more the my lessons. Thanks.

[@derrickmickle5491]

Another excellent video. Thanks, Tommaso!

[@pmvoice88]

This is really great and I now realize I've been over thinking it. Just to understand that it's a perception that our brain/ears create has given me so much more clarity. Thank you.

[@LostMountainRestoration]

Thank you.

[@adamquek1095]

Thanks for explaining this. The modes are always so confusing for me as a bass player.

[@johndiraimo1444]

Tomasso, another great video by the way. Since modes are all found in this case in the C Major scale... In order to understand their makeup and sound, why aren't they taught as relationships to the C Major scale. Example: Ionian: Major scale, Dorian: b3, b7... Phrygian: b2,b3,b6,b7... Lydian: #4... Mixolydian: b7... Aeolian: b3, b6,b7... Locrian: b2,b3,b5,b6,b7.. ?? Then, they could also be realigned so that they are listed based on a Major to Minor pendulum or Bright to dark pendulum... with Lydian being the most major sounding then Ionian ... and so on. Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian. Thanks for your videos. They are great.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

That's how I teach them in Master of the Modes ;) (Obligatory link: www.musictheoryforguitar.com/scalesandmodesguitarlessons.html )

[@johndiraimo1444]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar By the way Tomasso, I sent you a Private message on Messenger.. about theory books and stuff. I don't know if you received it. Thanks.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

@@johndiraimo1444 I didn't... Messenger keeps losing my messages :-( use my email instead [e-mail]

[@woodward_alan]

This was fantastic! Thank you for simplifying and how you communicate it. Will be looking into your courses.

[@SirWhiteRabbit-gr5so]

Hmmm.... Seven Keys, Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant. (1st, 4th and 5th), Diatonic major/minor, Harmonic major/minor Melodic major/minor Dominant major/minor. Six Modes, plus Locrian.

[@chrisberrymusic3677]

Tl;dw: the sound/quality of a mode is derived from the chords used not the scale. If you play the “d dorian mode/scale” over a C major chord, you’re playing in the key of C major (Ionian) and will get the sound.

[@arnogoossens9892]

I understand this point. Another way to interpret is the confusion, is to say that we should interpret the word "starting" in the following manner: "Starting" on a certain note, means that note is assigned to the 1st grade of the new scale, counting 2nd, 3rd and all other grades from that note. Besides that, we're to use it however we want, just like the major scale. So D-Dorian is a C major/ionian scale starting on D means: whereas C was the 1st grade of the scale, we're going to take the same notes, having D as the 1st grade now, counting up to C as the 7th grade. There you go, you have a D dorian mode, a C major scale "starting" on D.

[@paristhalheimer]

Great video. I'm new to modes, but using them has helped develop a better understanding of musical feel and themes in my song writing. I begun to write songs in various keys, but where the first chord is not the key. For Instance, I have a song which is in E Minor, but the first chord of the verse is Am.

[@tylerwoolstenhulme6756]

Ok, now I understand modes but now I want videos on everything you mentioned was too complex to cover in this video, lmao. Specifically would love to see one on different ways to establish the tonic and one on key modulation!

[@douglasmason6067]

Great video! I would add that when you improvise, you quickly find that you emphasize chord tones or have an innate sense of resolving to those chord tones. That ends up being your foundation. So it’s important to visualize and know those notes first as targets, then to see what other notes you can use before resolving. Knowing what those notes are: that’s what a mode tells you. I used to find modes difficult because I would do things like “play a C form chord within an E form scale” to get a mixolydian sound. But this doesn’t help with emphasizing or resolving to chord tones, and in fact interferes with that practice! Solos thinking that way sound like generic scale patterns. Something that helps me is to go through the five CAGED positions and try every parallel mode I can think of for each one. Then the interval pattern gets ingrained. You see that the root never changes, the fifth rarely does except for diminished and augment or altered chords, the third gives you major minor, the 11th never changes in minor, the b9 on a V sounds like a b13 in the target key, giving a minor modal borrowing flavor, etc. But now that you’ve shown me how to dead reckon notes on the fretboard, this may change! Keep up the great work!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

I pretty much agree, except for the CAGED part. At risk of being unpopular I really, really, really dislike the CAGED system. I'd rather do everything in the integrated 3NPS system (that includes arpeggios and making changing key super easy). Of course, just my opinion.

[@douglasmason6067]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar absolutely! i was raised on CAGED and added the 7 position systems (Berklee and 3nps) afterwards, so I still view them as variations on CAGED, and very important ones to know! in particular, CAGED has some funky shapes and all the half steps are on the same strings, so when you’re noodling if you only know CAGED you’ll miss some obvious patterns you come across, especially patterns that use the major third on the same string or otherwise split up a half step across two strings. I think it’s important to know your scales and arpeggios using all the common variations so you can see them instantly when you find yourself outlining one while freely improvising. But since CAGED got in there first, and it has such nice mnemonics for connecting to chord shapes, i’m kinda stuck with it :)

[@douglasmason6067]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar btw can you elaborate on the benefits of 3nps over CAGED? For example, what does “integrated” mean, and how does 3nps help with key changes? Would be interested to hear your take on how CAGED folks can expand their understand and overcome the limitations of the system since I imagine i’m not alone!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

You see, that's actually one of my problems with CAGED (not the only one). When I talk with students who know CAGED, they are unable to see outside of CAGED: they have to relate everything to it. You would think it's a good point - until you find that they are unable to think "against the grain" of the CAGED system. And this makes them unable to see some very real possibilities on the fretboard (i.e. different ways to change keys, different ways to visualize chords and scales). It's not impossible to change this, but it requires A LOT of study, more than should be necessary. Again, I stress, just my opinion ;)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to discount your experience. I'm just expressing my own experience with CAGED. If it works for you - no problem!

[@aayushsagar6898]

This is was much needed 🤘 Thanks a lot 🤘

[@mrvetiver5587]

Omg sir, I finally get it! What really hit home was that the chord progression establishes the mode, NOT the melody. I have watched so many videos on this topic and I’ve never understood it. I have so many songs where I record the idea and then punch in my notes to a scale finder, just to realize that my tonic is not the “I” chord of that scale. So I’ve wasted so much time trying to resolve to the I chord, not realizing that I’m in a mode and that I’ve already established my tonal center. Jeez… So just for confirmation, if I begin a song with Am, and there are F# notes (because of a D chord) throughout the song, I look up the notes and find that I’m in the scale of G, but the song is in A Dorian. Do I have this correct?

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes

[@mrvetiver5587]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar wow awesome video Don Tomassino! Thank you

[@RedLion88]

Worth noting that under those 6 mode scales (minus Locrian) are 6 major or minor pentatonic scales to fall back on and use when playing in a mode.

[@wchphoto]

"Maybe get a blister on your little finger Maybe get a blister on your thumb..." (Sorry, I couldn't help but notice!) I'm making it a point of watching ALL of your videos. I enjoy your presentations. Thanks!

[@AlDunbar]

very helpful video, Tommaso, thanks!

[@Gealaiche]

Omg thank you! My Guitar teacher tried to explain modes to me the other day and my brain shut down. This was much easier to understand although i'm still not sure i really get it, i at least feel like i can. Cheers!

[@briandwi2504]

Thanks, really useful. Get it now!

[@Larindarr]

The greeks though were crazy amazing to have found what they did musically then... I recommend looking into it.

[@CharlieA95]

Excellent explanation. I’ll refer my students to this.

[@ivanlevrone247]

Ho capito... che non ho capito 😅 Scherzo, ottimo video sempre illuminante. Grazie Tommaso

[@sorry11303]

Okay I got acoustic guitar and electric guitar but I prefer the piano but I'm buying your course I have to unlock this potential in me🔥 thank you for your content once again 👏👏👏👏

[@DrMoe.Lester]

I'd still say d-dorian is the c-maj scale starting from d. Just as the c-maj scale starts from c. Exactly as you described, the scale used needs a reference point - the tonic. Therefore d-dorian starts on d because d is the tonic. Edit: Start definitely does NOT mean "every melody needs to start on d". Pedantic, yet you started it with your first statement insisting this is wrong. Great video, new sub

[@djmikio]

For some reason, this information is something I knew intuitively from attempting to play and apreciatte music my whole life yet never having had an actual education in theory. Thanks for giving me a way to intelligently discuss this with people.

[@Salvatore-Celiento-Music]

Very good video explaining modes thank you

[@joerodgers63]

So, it looks like they all have sequences of half steps and whole steps! Thanks - now I feel OK about having some ice cream on my baked dessert!

[@Devi_Shammuramat]

Rather than saying "it's Major starting from, the third ..." for example, it's more accurate to say that it's the same as Major but taking third degree as the root note [in the case of Mode III / Phrygian].