SCALES/MODES PART 1 - BY BODOM
by bodom (Dec 20, 2007)
Hey I'm back with another lesson. I know it's been awhile, I have been busy. Ok so in this lesson I'm going to do the scales/modes. I refer to it as scale/mode because basically its the same thing, a mode is actually a scale, so for now on I will refer to them as scales(I will do a mode lesson a little later). Now again I suggest you read my other lessons, mainly KEYS and CHORDS.Ok so lets get down to it. Please note there are other ways/shapes, to play these scales.
Ok so first I'm going to show you the "shape" of the scales and their names. Again please note these are actually modes but I will get into this later.
Ok great now you know the shapes, but where do they go? Well if someone asked you to play B Ionian then you start the scale on the B note. If they asked for C Ionian then you start on the C note, C# Locrian then start on the C#. This goes for all the scales. Here are a few examples.
Ok got the idea? Now remember when I showed you that chart in the lessons KEYS and CHORDS? If you don't, here it is again.
This chart showed you the Keys, their notes, and their common chords. Ok now the numbers above were used for something different in the last lessons(please read to understand chart), in this one they are used for the scale number. Notice how I numbered the scales above? Well this shows you the scales that go into the Key. Lets pick the Key of C. If I look above the C it shows me the scale to use, the Ionian. If I look above the D it shows to use the Dorian, and above the E its the Phrygian. And this continues on down the line. So If I wanted to play in the Key of Cthen I can play the C Ionian D Dorian E Phryigian F lyidian G Mixolyidian A Aeolian B Locrian. If I wanted to play in the Key of G then I could play G Ionian A Dorian B Phryigian C lyidian D Mixolyidian E Aeolian F# Locrian. It would look like this.
Shapes
Ok so first I'm going to show you the "shape" of the scales and their names. Again please note these are actually modes but I will get into this later.
I=Ionian/Major II=Dorian iii=Phrygian IV=Lydian V=Mixolydian vi=Aeolian/Minor
|-O-|-O-|---|---| |---|-O-|---|---|---| |-O-|---|---|---| |-O-|-O-|---|---| |---|-O-|---|---|---| |---|-O-|---|---|---|
|---|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |---|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|
|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---| |-O-|---|-O-|---| |-O-|---|-O-|---| |-O-|---|-O-|-O-|---| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---|
|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---| |-O-|---|-O-|-0-| |-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---| |---|-O-|---|-O-|---|
|-O-|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-|---| |-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-|---| |---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|
|---|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| |-O-|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-| |---|-O-|---|-O-|---| |---|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|
vii=Locrian
|-O-|---|---|---| Ionian is also known as the major scale
|---|-O-|---|-O-| Aeolian is also known as the minor scale
|-O-|---|-O-|-O-| Will get into why this is later on(Maybe next lesson)
|-O-|---|-O-|-O-|
|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|
|-O-|-O-|---|-O-|
Applying The Shapes
Ok great now you know the shapes, but where do they go? Well if someone asked you to play B Ionian then you start the scale on the B note. If they asked for C Ionian then you start on the C note, C# Locrian then start on the C#. This goes for all the scales. Here are a few examples.
B Ionian C Ionian C# LOCRIAN B LOCRIAN A Phrygian
|-A#|-B-|---|---| |-B-|-C-|---|---| |-C#|---|---|---| |-B-|---|---|---| |-A-|---|---|---|
|---|-F#|---|-G#| |---|-G-|---|-A-| |---|-A-|---|-B-| |---|-G-|---|-A-| |-E-|-F-|---|-G-|
|-C#|---|-D#|-E-| |-D-|---|-E-|-F-| |-E-|---|-F#|-G-| |-D-|---|-E-|-F-| |-C-|---|-D-|---| Notice how the shape stays the same.
|-G#|---|-A#|-B-| |-A-|---|-B-|-C-| |-B-|---|-C#|-D-| |-A-|---|-B-|-C-| |-G-|---|-A-|-Bb| Just the notes change
|-D#|-E-|---|-F#| |-E-|-F-|---|-G-| |-F#|-G-|---|-A-| |-E-|-F-|---|-G-| |-D-|---|-E-|-F-|
|---|-B-|---|-C#| |---|-C-|---|-D-| |-C#|-D-|---|-E-| |-B-|-C-|---|-D-| |-A-|-Bb|---|-C-|
Shapes to Keys
Ok got the idea? Now remember when I showed you that chart in the lessons KEYS and CHORDS? If you don't, here it is again.
Key I ii iii IV V vi vii
C C D E F G A B
G G A B C D E F#
D D E F# G A B C#
A A B C# D E F# G#
E E F# G# A B C# D#
B B C# D# E F# G# A#
F# F# G# A# B C# D# E#
C# C# D# E# F# G# A# B#
F F G A Bb C D E
Bb Bb C D Eb F G A
Eb Eb F G Ab Bb C D
Ab Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
Db Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Gb Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F
Cb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb
This chart showed you the Keys, their notes, and their common chords. Ok now the numbers above were used for something different in the last lessons(please read to understand chart), in this one they are used for the scale number. Notice how I numbered the scales above? Well this shows you the scales that go into the Key. Lets pick the Key of C. If I look above the C it shows me the scale to use, the Ionian. If I look above the D it shows to use the Dorian, and above the E its the Phrygian. And this continues on down the line. So If I wanted to play in the Key of Cthen I can play the C Ionian D Dorian E Phryigian F lyidian G Mixolyidian A Aeolian B Locrian. If I wanted to play in the Key of G then I could play G Ionian A Dorian B Phryigian C lyidian D Mixolyidian E Aeolian F# Locrian. It would look like this.
Key of C
1 3 5 7 9 12 15 17 19 22
E-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|
B-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|
G---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|
D---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|
A---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|
E-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|
IV V VI VII I II III IV V VI VII I II
The numbers below the chart show where each mode starts.