Modes
The seven rotations of a major scale, each beginning on a different degree, which produce seven different sets of intervals and moods.
Modes are not different notes, they are the same notes reordered, and the character comes from which degree becomes the home note. On guitar they are often taught as shapes, which is convenient but hides the reason they sound the way they do, since a mode is really defined by its relationship to a bass or a chord. The most useful for guitarists are the ones matching the common rock and folk progressions: Dorian, Mixolydian and Aeolian.
Example: Playing the notes of C major but treating D as home produces the Dorian mode rather than the major scale.
See also
Related
- PageDorian mode
- PageMajor scale
- PageDiatonic
- PageAugmented chord
- PageBlue note
- PageBlues scale
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley