Let's inspect the G major key

Helloes, I have started little jamming with my pianist friend, but he's practising still and he likes to do major key's, that are my "weak spot" :D...

So, I would like to know, what scales fit perfectly or what scales you like to use in G major key.

Cheers!
-Emp

G Ionian, A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, D Mixolydian, E Aeolian and F# Locrian. A and D Aeolian sound pretty cool when you throw them in there too.

GS, aren't these all the same scale? Isn't G Ionian and A Dorian the same scale?

No. They use the same notes yes, however, different intervals give the first seven aforementioned scales completely unique tonality. If need an example to show this, record yourself playing, for example,the G Major chord. Then play G Ionian from start to finish over top, then A Dorian and so on. You will notice the change in mood with each degree if you do this correctly.

That is exactly what Im looking for, but Im more on a kid in a cool forest rather than Graded professional who know what one is doing :P

lets say if I take 0 patterns in G major and F# locrian, its exactly the same in chord scale utility so if i play from start to finish and back, its sound exactly the same, so Im after this "correctly" thing, do I have to start it with those notes marked with different colors say F# root in F# locrian

-Emp

Quite honestly, you can "say" what you'd like it to be. If your intention is to play in a scale yet you leave out some key intervals, to me, that still qualifies as what you had intended. However, if you are simply playing random singular note patterns, then it will be strictly the intervals or even the harmonies which determine exactly which mode you are using.

I do also think that this is semantics.

Usually i use scales as guide to melody that born by itself from key. I dunno, maybe it is random singular note patterns intended to stay in scale... more I played I started to see or more likely be aware of shapes in neck on major and minor keys, without knowing what I play theoretically... here's one jam i recorded to one of my favorite backing tracks if it clears a bit what I mean :)

https://soundcloud.com/empirism/rock-in-g

-Emp

Pretty cool man. I thought you sounded pretty well in key.

Very nice job. Sounds very in key.

Thanks GS. I think I get it now. I'm very visual and that sometimes screws me up! I see the G Major scale and the A Dorian scale and I see the same notes. But the A Dorian scale has different intervals than G Major/Ionian. Right?

Scratch that. I'm still confused! If I play either of these scales over a Gmajor chord, aren't I playing the same notes and the same intervals?

mac, I think the lick really needs to focus on a few particular intervals to give it the feel of a mode. If you played a lick over a G chord, and the lick resolved to G, it would have the Ionian mode feel to it. If you played it and it resolved to A, it would have more of a Dorian feel to it. That's how I always understood it at least, and I may be wrong.

Now granted, I have not done in depth studying of modes, and gs is correct in that it is the intervals of the scale themselves that will tell you what mode you are using. But I think (and please correct me if I am wrong) that in practical use, if I were to want to play A Dorian, I would be thinking or feeling G Ionian, but my licks wouldn't resolve to key G Ionian intervals.

I feel like I am rambling now, so I will shut up. :o)

I really hope that you are right xD, because that sentence clears many mysteries of modes :D

So... it goes like this in G major

I believe that notes are

G thats ionian, A thats dorian, B thats phrygian, C thats Lydian, D thats mixolydian, E thats Aeolian and F# thats Locrian

but how I adapt them to chords, needs bit work for me to understand it.

You guys are pretty much spot on. Yes, they are the same notes and yes, if you are starting from the same note, you have the same intervals and will eventually traverse all seven modes.

I think this lesson explains it well enough : Click here

Thanks you guys. Great post Emp! Even though I have been playing for years, theory has been so difficult for me to really understand.

So if I'm playing a song that's in the key of A and play a G Ionian scale I'm really playing an A Dorian scale. Right? I know, I confuse myself!

No. If you are in the key of A, the Dorian mode is C Dorian. There is no G Ionian in the key of A. It would be G# Locrian.

So if you are in the key of A major, A would be the first degree. We know that the mode which corresponds to the first degree is the Ionian scale. Therefore, your first degree mode for the key of A would be A Ionian. Because the second note in the key of A is C, and the second mode in a major key will be Dorian, we see that the second degree mode (in the key of A) will be C Dorian. This logic follows through all seven degrees and their corresponding modes.

In your example gs, wouldn't it be B Dorian? A major is A B C# D E F# G# A right?

I stand corrected; yes it would be B Dorian, though the logic is the same.

I think I understand. It's funny, I know the major scale and all of the modes. Really, I just know the key I'm in and the intervals of each mode. I don't know the notes of said intervals however. Soloing is not a problem but writing tends to be a problem.

Thanks for clearing that up GS and btimm! I know this is your post Emp and I kinda hijacked it. Sorry about that brotha!

xD, no need of that m8... actually thats why it is there for :D. Learned more this way trust me.

Okay gs, just wanted to make sure, since my music theory is fairly weak as well. Man, this thread kinda sent me back to the good ol days where threads like this were common. I need to share a tune to keep things going, hahaha.