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Beginner/Intermediate Mode Lesson by Guitarslinger124 6 Mar 2010 Views: 25137

A Quick Glance at Modes

Hey there folks, here is a little insight on modes for beginner to intermediate level players.


An interval is the distance between any of those notes. There are two basic intervals, "whole step" and "half step". A whole step is the equivalent of two frets on the fretboard, a half step, one fret.

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There are seven modes in every major key. Take C major. Each note in that key is the root note for a mode in that key.

The modes in any major key, in order, are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. Now, sticking with C Major, you have C Ionian (also known as the C major) as the first mode in the key. Now you go from there:

C Ionain (a.k.a. C Major Scale) 

D Dorian

E Phrygian

D Lydian

G Mixolydian

A Aeolian (a.k.a. A Natural Minor Scale)

B Locrian

You ask, what determines the order of the modes or what determines which note in a key will be the root note of a mode? The answer is simple. Each note in a key corrosponds with a degree.
Degress are the numbered order of the notes in a key/scale. So, take C major:

C - 1st degree

D - 2nd degree

E - 3rd degree

F - 4th degree

G - 5th degree

A - 6th degree

B - 7th degree

All the modes in a major key will have the same notes. The notes will always go in order of the Alphabet. Each mode will start with the root note of that mode, i.e. D Dorian will start with D and not C even though it is in the key of C major.

C Ionian     C D E F G A B 

D Dorian     D E F G A B C 

E Phrygian   E F G A B C D

F Lydian     F G A B C D E 

G Mixolydian G A B C D E F

A Aeolian    A B C D E F G 

B Locrian    B C D E F G A 

All of the above modes are in the key of C major, thus, they all contain the same notes.

Learning how to play the modes is easy. Learning how to comprehend the modes is a little harder. I've sorted out the intverals for each mode so you can go ahead and build your own.

W= whole step H= Half step



(Numbers will refer to the degrees in each scale)



Ionian   W   W   H   W   W   W   H

        / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ 

       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Dorian    W   H   W   W   W   H   W

         / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Phrygian



            H   W   W   W   H   W   W

           / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

          1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Lydian



          W   W   W   H   W   W   H

         / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Mixolydian



               W   W   H   W   W   H   W

              / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

             1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Aeolian



           W   H   W   W   H   W   W

          / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

         1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1







Locrian



          H   W   W   H   W   W   W

         / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1

And... Just to show you what the hell all of the above is, here is an example:

Key of G Major



G Ionian Scale



(Remember, the numbers refer to the degree in the scale)



  W   W   H   W   W   W   H

 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \

G   A   B   C   D   E   F#  G

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   1

Go ahead a practice building your own scales now. Remember, while it might be easier just to memorize the patterns or pictures of every mode, it is very good practice and a helpful learning aid to memorize the intervals for every mode as well.

Hope this was of some help to you.

Rock on!