How to Get to the Next Level on Guitar:

An Ebook on scales, chords and theory for Guitarists

By Brian Riggs

Table of Contents

Page 4-Introduction Page 6-Music Theory, Its not that scary Page 8-Sharps and Flats Page 9-Scales: Major scales Page 11-Scales: minor scales Page 14- A Little More Theory Page 15- Intervals Page 19- Review so far Page 20- Guitar Tuning Page 23- Finding Steps Across Strings (excluding strings 3 and 2) Page 26- Finding Steps Across Strings 3 and 2 Page 27- Guitar Ninja Checklist Page 28-The Part Where You Learn About Modes Page 29- Modes: A Working Definition Page 29- Dorian Mode Page 33- Phrygian Mode Page 35- My Rant About Thinking About the Modes Page 37-Mixolydian Mode Page 38- Lydian Mode Page 41- Review of Modes So Far Page 42- A Brief Discussion of Locrian Page 44- The Circle of 5ths Page 46- The Sharp Keys Page 47- The Flat Keys Page 49- The Relative Minor Keys

Page 52- Putting it All Together- Scales and Modes with Chords Page 52- Triads Page 53- Major Triads Page 53- Minor Triads Page 58- Chord Voicings and Inversions Page 61- Building Chords on Each Degree of the Scale Page 62- Diminished Triad Page 66- Why Use Roman Numerals? Page 68- Modal Chord Progressions Page 70- Mixolydian Chord Progressions Page 73- Lydian Chord Progressions Page 75- Dorian Chord Progressions Page 76- Phrygian Chord Progressions Page 78- Signature Chords for the Modes Page 79- Locrian Chord Progressions Page 80- Bonus Section on Harmonic Minor Scale Page 81-Conclusion

Introduction

This e-book is designed to help you get better at knowing your way around the guitar and to help you understand the musical concepts that will help you be able to write your own music and make up your own guitar solos and melodies. This e-book is meant for people who have some basic knowledge of how to play chords and single-note melodies on the guitar, but there isnt really any minimum threshold for how good you have to be to be able to play this book. This is e-book is unique in that its designed to give you the skills and knowledge to hand-make your own music. This isnt a book thats going to try and teach you the current hit songs, and its not going to tell you to do a bunch of technical exercises. What this book will do is teach you about the subject thats often called music theory. I have mixed feeling about music theory; on one hand I love geeking out about 9th chords and Mixolydian mode, but on the other hand I dont like the way that music theory can sometimes take beautiful, transcendent moments of sound, and then slap a simple label on them before moving on. I make every effort to be concise, clear, and jargon-free in my writing. This book was born out of my experience working with students in private, one on one guitar lessons. All of my students had already studied a lot of the information thats in this book, but when they came to me they were often pretty overwhelmed. Because of this, you wont find any charts or diagrams in this book. There is enough information out there already, either in books or online to fill the worlds oceans. Ive found that once you understand the concepts of how a chord or a scale is put together, its really easy to find a book or a website or a smartphone app that will give you a fingering chart on how to play that chord or scale. For this book you dont have to have any musical background or any experience reading notes. Even if you think that youre not someone who gets music theory; if you stay with it, take notes, and practice on your guitar then in time youll become a music theory ninja. I do have to very careful not to make any promises I cant keep. I definitely cant promise you that if you skim the book, half-heartedly practice, and then move on before understanding something that youll get any better. Thats the hard thing about teaching music lessons; ultimately I can only do so much. If you are looking for a quick read that will help you become magically better, then this book isnt for you. There arent any quick summaries on how to play current songs; you can find that for free on the internet. This book is for you if youve been playing guitar for a while and maybe youre stuck. Maybe you feel like the guitar fretboard beyond the G chord and the E minor chord is a mystery and you would love to be able to play on the higher frets and actually know what the notes are. A lot of the students Ive worked with want to write their own songs and theyve wanted a guide so their writing doesnt feel so random, or just so they have a place to start. And some people are just curious

about these musical terms they keep hearing. Theyve read a book or an article talking about a Phrygian chord progression or a Mixolydian guitar solo, and theyve wanted to know what all that stuff means. Ultimately Im going to help you discover this information for yourself; then itll be up to you to do what you want with it. I know that can be a little scary, but ultimately youll be better at expressing yourself musically and I think that you will find that youre better at playing other peoples music as well. If you stay with it, go at your own pace and not skip anything, even the stuff you think looks familiar, then youll be able to do any and all of the things I mentioned above. Hopefully youre anxious to get started, so heres what youll need: -something to keep notes in and a pencil -a guitar -a quiet place to read this Thats it, lets get started.

Part 1

Music theory, its not that scary

So now we will start with some really basic music theory. For some readers, this may be review, for others it may be new information. If this information is very familiar to you already you can fly through this section, but in any case I promise it will be as brief and to the point as possible. Ive found that a lot of these terms are sort-of familiar, but maybe youre not quite clear on something. Dont worry, we will take a look at everything you need to know to become a master of scales and modes on the guitar. Music is divided into 12 pitches, or notes. The musical alphabet has 7 letters, which are C D E F G A B C. The remaining notes can be found by adding what are called accidentals in front of these alphabet letters. Well talk about accidentals in detail later, but for now you need to know that when a note is just the alphabet letter, its called a natural note, when it has an accidental in front of it, then the note is an accidental. Youll notice the musical alphabet goes from A to G, but Ive started on the letter C. When we begin Major scales well talk about why that is. For now, you need to know that these 7 notes are the natural notes. Another way to visualize them is that they are the white keys on the piano. In music, notes are separated by steps, and there are two varieties of steps, Half-Steps and WholeSteps. In between most of the letters of the musical alphabet is a Whole-Step. Whats tricky about the musical alphabet is that between the letters E and F, and between the letters B and C, there is only a Half-step. If you look at a piano keyboard, youll notice that there are black keys between most of the white keys, but to the left of the set of 3 grouped black keys there are 2 white keys side by side (that is E and F), and to the left of the 2 grouped black keys there are two more white keys side by side (these are B and C.) If you need to take a moment to look at a keyboard thats fine, its important to take as much (or as little) time to process each piece of information before moving on.

On the guitar, when youre moving between notes on the same string:

a Whole-Step = 2 fret, a Half-Step= 1 fret

This refers to notes that are played on the same string, so if the notes are on frets that are right next to each other (1 fret apart), thats a Half-Step. If 2 notes are on the same string and are 2 frets apart, thats a Whole-Step. So if E and F, and B and C are only a Half-Step apart, then how do you find the Half-Steps between notes like C and D, or F and G? The answer is accidentals. Accidentals alter a note, by changing it a Half-Step either higher or lower. A Sharp is symbol that looks like the pound key on your phone (#), it causes a note to go up a Half-Step. So a C-sharp (could be written C#) is a Half-Step higher than a C note and is a Half-Step lower than a D note. You could say D natural, but in music when you say just the letter name, its the same as just saying that note, so you can just say, D. Speaking of natural, a natural sign looks like a diamond and that means that a note that was previously played as a sharp or as a flat (well get to flat in a minute) is to be played just natural. So if you were playing F#s in a song before, to play an F natural means to play the note just as a regular F note (a half step lower than before, because the sharp sign meant playing a Half-Step higher than a natural F, so the natural sign means to cancel out the sharp). One area of confusion Ive run into is that natural is listed under the heading of accidentals, and those seem to be contradictory terms. An accidental is any sign that is put in front of a note. When we get to certain scales and modes, a certain note or notes is always sharped or flatted, so in musical notation there will be whats called a key signature. A key signature consists of a note or notes that is always sharped or always flatted. So during the course of playing a song, you may want to switch gears and play in another key, so you might end of taking away sharps (say, go from always playing F sharps to playing F naturals). The other type of accidental is a flat, and in musical notation it looks like a lowercase b. This causes a note to be played a half-step lower than if it was just the plain letter. Guitarists tend not to play flats as much as sharps much because flats arent a part of guitar keys (more on that later). Still, its good to know how flats work. To review so far, a Half-Step is the distance of 1 fret (when both notes are played on the same string) on the guitar, and a Whole-Step is two frets. You now also know that there are three types of accidentals, sharps which raise a note a Half-Step, flats that lower it Half-Step, and naturals that cancel out any previous sharps or flats. Remember that not all of the 7 letters of the musical alphabet are a Whole-Step apart. Be careful of going from B to C, and from E to F, these sets of notes are only a Half-Step apart. This means that on the guitar if you are playing an E, if you go up one fret you are now playing an F, if you go one fret further than F then the note is a F-sharp. Whats helpful is that this is the case anywhere you play on the guitar.

Hows it going so far? Lets take a moment to review. A whole-step between notes is the distance of 2 frets (between notes on the same string) A half-step between notes is the distance of 1 fret (2 notes that are right next to each other on the same string)

How about accidentals? A sharp raises a note a Half-Step (1 fret) A flat lowers a note a Half-Step (1 fret) A natural cancels the previous accidental and means that the note that was previously played with a sharp or flat is now played as the plain musical alphabet letter

Ready to go on? Next well talk about how you can tell whether to call a note by its sharp name or its flat name.

Sharps and Flats

Remember how we just said that a flat makes the note go down a fret? So if you go down a Half-Step (1 fret) from G, you get a G- flat. But what if you go a Half-Step (1 fret) up from F, you get an F- sharp. If youre playing this on your guitar right now you may notice something, these are actually the same note. That is what called an enharmonic equivalent. (Isnt that a big word for something so simple?) Depending on what scale or mode you are playing, a note has to be called only one certain name. In other words, there are times that you have to call that note F-sharp, not G- flat, or vice versa. Dont let this stress you out or otherwise confuse you, Ill explain why this is and how can you easily know later on. It seems arbitrary at first (I know this because a lot of people in guitar lessons have said, Brian, this seems arbitrary, and Im nothing if not a good listener) but once you see how scales are put together, itll actually make life easier. So one more thing before we go on to playing actual, real, musical scales (exciting isnt it?) So at the beginning I said there are 7 letters in the musical alphabet, right? They are: CDEFGAB Well how about the accidentals? How many notes are there total? Well, you may remember that there is only a Half-Step (1 fret) between the notes E and F, and between the notes B and C. This means that there is nothing between the notes B and C and nothing between the notes E and F.

But there are notes in between the other sets of notes. For example there is a note in between C and D (well call this note C- sharp), a note between D and E (this is D-sharp), between the notes F and G ( this note is F-sharp), between G and A (this is G-sharp), and between A and B (A-sharp). To summarize: 7 natural notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, and B) 5 accidental notes (C-sharp, D-sharp, F-sharp, G-sharp, and A sharp)

7 natural notes plus 5 accidental notes equals 12 notes in music. (7+5+12, which pretty much exhausts my math skills) Keep in mind that you could write the accidental notes as flat notes instead. This means you could call each note by that particular notes enharmonic equivalent; which is just a fancy way of saying the same note called by a different name. Ill write the enharmonic equivalents below C-sharp=D-flat D-sharp=E flat F-sharp=G flat G-sharp=A flat A-sharp=B flat

Its worth noting that when you are in a particular key, all the accidentals will be the same. So either all the accidentals will be flats or they will all be sharps, you wont mix the accidental signs within the same key. A set of all 12 notes make an octave. Once you get to the end of an octave, the process just starts over again.

Scales

Ok, so lets go into some scales, thats youre here for, right? Every scale has 7 different notes that are in the scale, and 5 notes that are not in the scale. For every scale, all of the alphabet letters in the musical alphabet are used, its just a matter of what note you start on and what accidentals you add to the notes. One tricky, music teacher-y thing to watch out for: in any scale, the first note of the scale (also called the root note) is played twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. So a C Major scale starts on a C and ends on a C. That C that you end on is 1 octave higher than the C you started on. Enough talking, lets try the following exercise. Youll need your guitar, what were going to do is play a C Major scale all on the same string. Well get our notes by moving up the fretboard. C Major Scale

-Play the note on the B string, 1st fret. This may be basic for some experienced players, but the B string is the string 2nd up from the floor. The string closest to the floor is the high E string (the thinnest one), and the B string is the next one up toward the ceiling. Ok, so play that 1st fret, thats a C note. -Next, move up a Whole-Step (2 frets) to the 3rd fret, thats a D note -Move up a Whole-Step to the 5th fret, thats an E note -Move up a Half-Step to the 6th fret, thats an F (you may have remember that the musical notes E and F are right next to each other) -Move up a Whole-Step to the 8th fret, thats a G -Move up a Whole-Step to the 10th fret, thats an A -Move up a Whole-Step to the 12th fret, thats a B -Move up a Half-Step to the 13th fret, thats a C, 1 octave higher than where you started. Guess what? You just played a C Major scale. Did you notice the order of Whole and Half Steps? Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half Think of this as the recipe for a (delicious) Major scale. Master this, and the rest of the material will go down smooth, like a nice Goose Island beer. Notice that the C Major scale has no sharps or flats. Lets try a scale that uses some sharps. I promise it wont hurt. For this exercise, start by playing the G string open. The G string is 1 string towards the ceiling from the B string. Playing a string open means play the string without pressing down any of the frets. Think of open notes as being fret number zero. Ok, guess what? You all already know the recipe to make a G Major scale. To review, its:

Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half

-Play the G string open (fret zero) for a G (straightforward enough) -Go up a Whole-Step to the 2nd fret, this is an A note -Move a Whole-Step to the 4th fret, this is B -Now move a Half-Step to the 5th fret, this is C (hey, B and C are only a Half-step apart, so this works)

-Move a Whole-Step to the 7th fret, this is, you guessed it D -Move a Whole-Step to 9th fret, this is E -Move another Whole-Step, be careful, E to F is only a Half- Step, so you need to an additional Half-Step beyond F. To make a note a Half-Step higher add a sharp, meaning the next note in our scale is F-sharp on the 11th fret -Almost done, F-sharp needs to move a Half-Step, and look, going up a Half-Step from F-sharp brings you to G, which is where we started and where we needed to end up So if we start on G, and move according to our recipe for Whole-Steps and Half Steps, we get the notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F-sharp, G Notice how all 7 letters of the musical alphabet are represented in some form (with G, the root note being represented twice, once at the beginning and once at the end). This is important, keep in mind that you cant have 2 forms of the same letter in the same scale. For example, in the above G Major scale, you couldnt say, Well, F-sharp is the same thing (enharmonic equivalent) as G-flat, so Ill call it G-flat and then go on to G. The reason for this is that you would then have 2 forms of the letter G (G-flat and G-natural), but zero forms of the letter F. The more experienced you get with scales, and especially when we start to move into crazy, modal scales like Dorian and Mixolydian, youll see how this actually makes your life easier and takes the guesswork out of music theory. Youll no longer suffer the pain of not knowing whether to call that note F-sharp or G-flat and youll be able to play with much more confidence.

Minor Scales I love minor scales; they have a kind of somber, moody quality to them. Its possible to simply say Major=happy, minor=sad and leave it at that, but I think its a little more subtle. Going on well see that different scale have different moods, especially when we get into modes like Dorian and Mixolydian. Ok, so just like the Major scale, the minor scale has 7 different notes that are in the scale, with the root being played at both the beginning and the end, and 5 notes that are not in the scale. And just like the Major Scale, there are 5 Whole-Steps and 2 Half-Steps. Its just the order of where these Whole-Steps and Half- Steps fall thats a little different. Important tip- if youre taking notes (and you should be), this would be a good thing to write down. All of the scales covered in this book have the following things in common: -they use all 7 letters of the musical alphabet in some form (but in only 1 form), with the root (first) note being played once at the beginning and once at the end

-they contain 5 Whole-Steps and 2 Half-Steps -they never have 2 different forms of the same note; for example, they never have both F-sharp and Fnatural, or both B-natural and B-flat in the same scale.

Now youre ready for the minor scale recipe. Here it is: Whole- Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole

So get your guitar out again, lets try playing a minor scale one 1 string. Start by playing the A string open. The A string is the string that is 1 string down from the ceiling, so the 2nd thickest string. Ok, thats an A, next: -move up a Whole-Step to the 2nd fret B -move up a Half-Step to the 3rd fret C (just as before, B and C are only 1 fret apart) -move up a Whole-Step to the 5th fret D -move up another Whole-Step to the 7th fret E -here, move up a Half-Step to the 8th fret, which is an F note (E and F=Half-Step apart) -move up a Whole-Step to the 10th fret, which is a G -move up a Whole-Step to the 12th fret, and you should be back to A. So here are the notes in an A minor scale: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A Music Theory Tip: some people may have noticed that the C Major scale and A minor scale have the same notes but in a different order. Well talk about this phenomenon later on. For right now I applaud your attention to detail, but experience teaching private lessons has taught me not to try and jump the gun and make these connections too soon. What starts off seeming like a shortcut to learning everything really fast, ends up distracting from learning the fundamentals of building scales. Then you have to come back to this section and go over everything again. Its faster in the long run to learn the recipe for building Major and minor scales correctly the first time.

Lets try 1 more minor scale, lets begin on E. Remember, the recipe for building a minor scale is:

Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole This time, begin by playing the high E string open, the high E string is the string closest to the ground. -Move up a Whole-Step, which is an F-sharp on the 2nd fret (E to F=Half-Step, but we want a Whole-Step, so go, E to F-sharp=Whole-Step) -Move up a Half-Step, which is G on the 3rd fret -Move up Whole-Step to A on the 5th fret -Move up a Whole-Step to B on the 7th -Move up a Half-Step to C on the 8th fret (B to C = Half-Step) -Move up a Whole-Step to D on the 10th fret -Move up a Whole-Step to E on the 12th fret So you may have noticed that there is 1 sharped note (F-sharp), and the rest of the notes are natural. That means that in an E minor scale, we have the notes:

E, F-sharp, G, A, B, C, D, E

Try building a minor scale on the B string; well build the scale on B so start by playing the B string open. Remember, the minor scale sequence is: Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole -move up a Whole-Step to C-sharp (B to C=Half-Step, B to C-sharp=Whole Step) on the 2nd fret -move up a Half-Step to D on the 3rd fret -move up a Whole-Step to E on the 5th fret -move up a Whole-Step to F-sharp on the 7th (youre probably getting the idea now, E and F-sharp are always separated by a Whole-Step) -move up a Half- Step to G on the 8th fret -move up a Whole-Step to A on the 10th fret -move up to a Whole-Step to B on the 12th fret So, the notes in a B minor scale are:

B, C-sharp, D, E, F-sharp, G, A, B

To review (again, I know), the recipe for a minor scale is: Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole

Try the exercise of playing either a Major or a minor scale on a single string on as many strings as youd like. The most important thing is to know what note youre currently playing, and what note youre about to play. This may take a little more mental effort at first. But if you consistently practice this for even a few minutes a day (every day or close to every day) youll get much faster at knowing what note youre on, until the point it when it becomes automatic. So give it a shot. A great exercise is to write out the notes in a particular scale on a sheet of paper when youre away from the guitar. Start by writing the recipe for Major scales and for minor scales at the top of the piece of paper and then see if you can build, say, a Major scale on E, or a minor scale on D. (Feel free to come up with your own starting points) Dont go on to the next section until you feel you can easily play Major scales and minor scales up and down the length of a single string evenly. (You dont have to worry about playing really fast, just make sure youre not stopping and taking a big pause between notes). Once youre ready, well talk about putting Whole-Steps and Half- Steps together for bigger distances between notes and how to apply this knowledge to the fretboard of your guitar.

A Little More Theory (You can do it.)

So now were going to talk about intervals. In music, interval refers to the amount of distance between any two particular notes. The fact is youre already well on your way to becoming a master of intervals, because weve already done a lot of work with the smallest, or narrowest intervals, the Half- Step and the Whole-Step. If you combine multiple Whole and/or Half- Steps together, you get bigger, or wider, intervals where the notes are farther apart. When musicians talk about a Major 3rd or a Major 6th, what theyre referring to is a Major 3rd or Major 6th interval from the root note. Most of the time people wont actually say, scale degree. Note: From this point on if I say something like 2 Steps, that refers to 2 Whole-Steps. If I say something like 2 steps, that refers to 2 Whole-Steps and 1 Half-Step.

Remember, for notes that are on the same string: Half-Step= 1 fret Whole-Step=2 fret

Well also need to review the Major Scale: Major Scale recipe Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half Notes in a C Major Scale = C D E F G A B C If you need to play this again on your guitar, thats totally ok. Start on the B string (2nd string) on the 1st fret. Thats a C note. Move up a Whole-Step to D, Whole-Step to E, Half-Step to F, Whole-Step to G, Whole-Step to A, Whole-Step to B, and Half-Step to C. You should be on the 13th fret. If thats the case, great, if not, go back to the previous section and make sure youre absolutely rock solid on building scales before continuing. Ok, so each one of notes in the C Major Scale can each be described as an interval relating back to C, which is in this case the root note. Intervals have two parts1. a qualifier, these are; major, minor, perfect (but not imperfect, well get into more detail later ) 2. a number

C is the root note, all intervals relate back to C D is a Major 2nd = 1 Whole- Step (for all these examples the interval relates to C, so D is a Major 2nd away from C) E is a Major 3rd = 2 Whole-Steps F is a Perfect 4th = 2 Steps G is a Perfect 5th = 3 Steps A is a Major 6th= 4 steps B is a Major 7th = 5 steps

C is an Octave (same as 8th, but musicians will never use the term 8th) = 6 Whole-Steps, which is the same distance as 12 Half-Steps Make sense? This is just another way of thinking about the different notes in a scale. Truthfully, it will take some time and practice to become comfortable with how all these intervals sound and how to play them. When the notes are labeled the way I have done above, they are referred to as scale degrees. So for example, the note A is scale degree 6, and if I ask, What kind of 6th?, you can say that its a Major 6th. What Ive found confuses people is that when you get more advanced, you can start referring to intervals between 2 notes in the middle of the scale (where neither note is the root note). Dont let that intimidate you, all that this means is that C and E are a Major 3rd apart, and the notes G and B are also a Major 3rd apart. Why it that? Its because in both cases the two notes are separated by an interval of 2 Whole-Steps. In a C Major scale, E is the 3rd scale degree and its a Major 3rd, because its 2 Whole-Steps higher than C. The note B is scale degree 7, and its a Major 7th, but thats relative to the root note C. The note B is a Major 3rd away from the note G (scale degree 5), because they are separated by 2 Whole-Steps as well. If youre the type who likes to get all crazy and figure out every possible combination of intervals between every note in the scale, feel free to do so on some scratch paper. Either way, make sure you understand the concept of intervals and as time goes by the information will simmer in your brain. All you really need to understand is that while the actual intervals themselves (Major 3rd, Major 6th, etc.) are fixed and always the same, what the interval of any particular note is depends on where youre measuring from. So B is a Major 7th away from C, but B is only a Major 3rd away from G. Once you feel confident with the intervals in the Major Scale, move on to the next section dealing with the minor scale.

Intervals in the minor scale

Lets review the A minor scale. Play this scale on the A (5th) string, starting on the open note, which is an A. The notes are: ABCDEFGA The recipe of Whole-Steps and Half-Steps for a minor scale is: Whole-Half- Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole

Remember how there were a bunch of Major intervals in the last scale? Now were going to play some minor intervals now, so hold on. After youve figured out the notes, play this example on your guitar on the 5th string (A string), moving up the fretboard to the 12th fret. A = Root note B is a Major 2nd = Whole-Step C is a minor 3rd= 1 steps D is a Perfect 4th = 2 steps E is a Perfect 5th =3 steps F is a minor 6th = 4 Whole-Steps G is a minor 7th = 5 Whole- Steps A is the octave = 6 Whole-Steps

Ok, so what do you notice? You may see how relative to the root note, both a Major Scale and a minor scale have a Major 2nd, Perfect 4th, and Perfect 5th. It would be a good idea to put that in your notes, now that youve done that, take note of what changes. The 3rd, 6th, and 7th are all slightly different. In a Major scale, the 3rd, 6th, and 7th are all Major intervsals and in a minor scale the 3rd, 6th, and 7th intervals are all minor. (Pretty logical right?) Whats the difference between a Major 3rd and minor 3rd? Just a Half- Step. Major 3rd = 2 Whole-Steps Minor 3rd = 1 steps So in other words, if you lower a Major 3rd by a Half-Step, it becomes a minor 3rd. The same thing applies to 6ths and 7ths. Ok, but now you may be wondering about those Perfect 4th and Perfect 5ths. As in, whats the deal is with perfect intervals? Instead of getting too technical (at least for now); just think of those intervals as structural support notes. Theyre load-bearing intervals that keep the Major scale or minor scale up. If we mess with them, everything collapses and just doesnt sound very good. (Well reference this when we discuss Locrian mode). Once again, its super important that you really understand how the minor scale is put together. Lets think of it this way, to make an interval go from being a Major interval between itself and the root, and a minor interval between itself and the root is a matter of lowering (flatting) the note by a Half-Step.

The opposite is also true, to turn a minor interval into a Major interval, raise (sharp) the note by a HalfStep. I make such a big deal about this because when I first started teaching, I would have students figure an interval simply by counting up. In other words, I would have the student say, Ok, C is #1, so A is #6. While that was sort of true, it was a bit simplistic and it didnt teach the student the difference between a Major 6th and a minor 6th. That kind of simple number system works ok as long as you stay in the C Major Scale. What if you try a different scale? Lets do one right now.

In a D minor scale, D is the root note (I bet you figured that one out all on your own).

Ok fine, but what it the 6th note of the scale? Since its a minor scale, it has to be an interval of a minor 6th. If you use my handy number system (which I promise I discarded a long time ago), you would count up and say, D =1, E =2, F=3, G =4, A=5, and B= 6. Ok, so the answer you get is B, right? Wrong, B isnt a minor 6th above D. So something went wrong. Remember, a minor 6th = 4 Whole-Steps Also the recipe for a minor scale is (I may repeat this a million times, and thats fine):

Whole- Half- Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole

So D to E = Whole-Step (Major 2nd) E to F= add a Half- Step, so 1 step (minor 3rd) F to G = add a Whole-Step, so 2 steps (Perfect 4th) G to A = add a Whole-Step, so 3 steps (Perfect 5th) A to ?, Ok, so we already have 3 steps, how far do we need to go to reach a minor 6th?, we want 4 Steps, so in this case we just need to go another Half-Step. Our previous note was A, so A is now used up; we can only use each alphabet letter once in a scale. It has to be some form of the letter B, but remember that in the musical alphabet, the letters A and B are separated by a Whole-Step. So the answer is some sort of B note, but this note has to be a Half-step lower than a regular B note.

If only there was a musical device that would lower the B note by a Half-Step. Oh wait, there is and its called a flat. So the B is flatted in a D minor scale. So our answer is B-flat. This checks out because the distance (or interval) between A and B-flat is a Half-Step, and the distance between the root note (D) and B-flat is a minor 6th, which is a distance of 4 Steps. I would recommend that you play the notes from the following example going up the D (4th string). Begin by playing the open string note, and then proceed by Whole-Steps and Half-Steps in the way described above. The 2nd fret should be an E note, the 3rd fret an F, all the way up to the B-flat note, which should be on the 8th fret. Remember that B-flat is a minor 6th (4 Whole-Steps) higher than D. So on the guitar, a Whole-Step is 2 frets, and if want go 4 Whole-Steps you can go up a total of 8 frets. This is because 2 frets per WholeStep multiplied by 4 steps equals 8 frets. This checks out, since the B-flat note is on the 8th fret of the D string. I admit that this can be tricky at first. When youre starting out its easy to be intimidated by all the sharps and flats and intervals. I cant give you an easy way to magically know all the notes in every scale overnight, and I would be wary of anyone who promises that. But if you continue with the information you have so far, and dont move on until youve processed all the information, youll be fine. At this point I recommend that you use the above material and your notes to give yourself an open-book test on the notes in several Major and minor scales.

What do you know now?

-That every scale uses ever letter of the musical alphabet in some form once, with the root note being played at both the beginning and end of the scale -That intervals (Major 3rd, minor 6th, etc.) are fixed distances, and that a note can be called different intervals depending on where youre measuring from (for example, E is a Major 3rd up from C, but E is only a Major 2nd up from D) -That if you need to raise a note a Half-Step, you can sharp it - If you need to lower a note a Half-Step, you can flat it -If you need to raise or lower a note a Half-Step and its already a sharp or flat note, you can cancel out the sharp or flat with a natural (for example, if you want to lower F-Sharp by a Half- Step, make it F natural; if you want to raise B- flat a Half-Step, make it B natural)

Make sure you have in your notes the recipe for each of the intervals; so a Perfect 5th is 3 steps, a Major 3rd is 2 Whole-Steps, etc. Next well talk about one of my favorite issues, and something that nobody who plays at the rock bar near my house ever seems to know understand, which how a guitar is tuned.

Guitar tuning

Ok, so if you have a little bit of experience tuning a guitar, you may know the names of the strings, but if not, dont worry well go over them here. What people mean when they say that a particular string is tuned to a particular note is that the string is tuned in a way so that when you play that string open, that is, without holding down any fret with your left hand, the string plays that certain note. So for example, we say that the 5th string is tuned to A because when you play the 5th string open, the note it produces is an A note.

The strings of the guitar are tuned: 6th string (closest to ceiling) = E 5th string = A 4th string = D 3rd string = G 2nd string = B 1st string = E These are listed in the order low to high, meaning the 6th string has the lowest sound, and the 1st string has the highest sound. Its important to know that in guitar (and music in general), when we say low or high were referring to the sound. So even though the low E string is physically highest off of the ground, its referred to as the lowest string because it has the lowest sound.

The same thing is true of the guitar fretboard. When you play on frets that are closer to the body of the guitar, you are going up the neck because the sound is getting higher. When you move on the fretboard towards the headstock of the guitar, youre moving down, since the sound is going down.

When referring to either the 6th or 1st string, its usually best to qualify whether its the low E (6th string), or high E (1st string) to avoid confusion. (After years of teaching guitar lessons I can tell you thats the case). So heres the thing, the distance (interval) between the different strings on the guitar are not all the same. Some readers may be familiar with the method of tuning a guitar you play the 5th fret of the low E (6th) string, and tune the open A (5th) string to match. If thats you, do you remember how when you get to the part where youre tuning the open B (2nd) string you have to play the 4th fret of the G (3rd) string to match the notes? Well, why is that? Why is that set of strings different than all the others? Thats the question that this section will answer. If we start on the 6th string played open, we get an E note. The next string towards the floor is an A. So the question you want to be able to answer is how far apart are the notes E and A? If you start at the open note (fret number zero) and move up the low E string, how many frets do you need to move up in order to get to an A note? If youre familiar with the tuning method described in the previous paragraph, you know that the answer is 5 frets. 5 frets= 5 Half-Steps, right? And 5 Half- Steps is the same thing as 2 steps. What interval is 2 steps? (I dont expect you to have memorized this yet, but it would probably be a good idea to have this in your notes if you dont already.) The answer is a Perfect 4th. So the notes E and A are separated by an interval of Perfect 4th.

Lets move on, what is the interval between A and D?

If A is the root note, B is 1 Whole-Step away, B up to C is only a Half-Step away(1 steps so far), and C to D is another Whole- Step, equaling 2 steps total, which once again is a Perfect 4th. Its a good idea to try the next one on your own in your notes. Whats the distance between G and D? Once again, its a Perfect 4th.

Things get different

Ok, so now lets look at the distance between the G (3rd) and B (2nd) strings. Starting with G, what is the distance to the next letter of the musical alphabet? The note is A, and its a Whole-Step up from G. So whats the distance from A to the note we want, B? The answer is just one additional Whole-Step. That gives us a total of just 2 steps. Remember that a Perfect 4th is 2 steps, so what kind of interval is made up of just 2 steps? Once again, if you refer to your notes youll see that its a Major 3rd. So the notes G and B are separated by an interval of a Major 3rd.

When we go from the B (2nd) to E (1st) strings, what is the interval? B to C is a Half-Step, C to D is a Whole-Step, and D to E is a Whole-Step, for a total of 2 steps. That means that the notes B and E are separated by the interval of a Perfect 4th. So the obvious question is why have one set of strings (G and B) that are separated by a different interval than all the other sets of strings? Theres actually is a good reason, lets investigate what it is. Lets step back for a moment and imagine that all the strings were separated by equal intervals, so all of the strings were separated by Perfect 4ths. If this were the case, then what note would the 2nd string be tuned to? If all the other strings are separated by a Perfect 4th, well go ahead and say that the 2nds string will be tuned a Perfect 4th higher than the 3rd (G) string. So what is a Perfect 4th above G? G to A =Whole-Step A to B= Whole-Step (2 steps so far) B to C = Half-Step (2 steps total) So in order to keep the interval between every string the same as a Perfect 4th, you would have to have the 2nd string be tuned to a C note. What about the 1st string? If the 2nd string is a C, the 1st string would have to be a Perfect 4th above C, so lets work out what note that is. C to D = Whole-Step D to E = Whole-Step (2 steps so far) E to F = Half-Step (2 steps total)

So, the 1st string would be an F note, while the 2nd string would be a C note. That would leave us with a guitar tuned: E A D G C F (low to high, meaning the first note listed is the lowest- sounding string) Now, its fair to ask what would be so bad about the guitar being tuned that way. Youre probably familiar the chords in open position on the guitar. You know, the C chord, G chord, E minor chord, A minor chord, et al. If the guitar were tuned like this, playing a simple E minor chord would become a challenge to say the least. For most people, this is the most obvious disadvantage to having the guitar tuned in the way described above. Personally, I think playing all over the fretboard would be much more difficult if the guitar was tuned this way, and I think it makes a lot of sense to have the guitar be tuned the way that it is. Music is a constant exercise in problem-solving, and that often means find compromising and finding the best solution, which is often not perfect. Ok, Ill stop rambling and just say that you need to know that the guitar is tuned mostly in 4ths. That is, when you go to the next highest sounding string, you are usually moving up a perfect 4th, except when you go from the G to B string, where you are moving up an interval that is a Half- Step lower, which is a Major 3rd. Once you feel comfortable with this information, well move on to what I honestly think is the most difficult section of the book, finding intervals across strings. By now you should know how to find an interval by moving a certain amount of steps staying on the same string and counting up. Finding certain intervals between notes that are each on different strings may seem a little trickier at first, but its not so bad and in any case its how you are more likely to play and move around in the real world of writing music and making up solos, so lets take a look.

Finding Steps (Whole and Half) Across Strings

In this section well look at how to find Whole-Steps and Half-Steps across strings. Well start by figuring how to move between the strings that dont involve crossing strings 3 (G) and 2 (B). Once youre comfortable with the concept of string-crossing, you just have to alter things slightly when going between the 3rd and 2nd string, and its really not so bad. So make sure you have your guitar handy, and that youre all tuned up (that should be the case after that last section). Even more so than before, in this section its really important to play each of these examples so you really process the information.

Playing Whole-Steps across strings Start by playing a G on the 3rd fret of the low E string. Next were going to move to an A. First off, try playing an A by staying on the same string. You should have moved up 2 frets for a Whole-Step to play an A note. Ok, go back to the G on the 3rd fret of the low E string. To move up the same distance (a Whole-Step) from this G note, you can also move to the next highest- sounding string (5th string) played open. So in other words, by moving to the next higher string and moving 3 frets backwards (toward the headstock of your guitar), you have moved a Whole-Step. Lets try another example. This time, start by playing the A on the 5th fret of the low E string. Since we will go up a Whole-Step, we will want to end on a B note. To find a B on the next higher-sounding string, move up 1 string (to the 5th string again), and move back 3 frets. This will put you on the 5th string, 2nd fret for a B note. If you want to check and be sure that that note really is a B, you can see that the 5th string open is an A, and if you go up 2 frets on the same string (Whole-Step) you will also be on a B note.

Playing Half-Steps across strings

If you think about it, a Half-Step is a 1 fret difference from a Whole-Step, right? Ok, well if to find a Whole-Step across strings you need to go the next string and back 3 frets. To play a Half-Step across strings you need to the next highest string and go back 4 frets.

Lets play an example. If you play the 5th fret of the 6th (low E) string, you get an A note. What note is a Half-Step above A? You could call that note A-sharp, or you could call it B-flat. In this case, either spelling (thats the music theory geeks way of saying writing the note out) is ok because were not in any specific scale. Since we dont have a context other than this exercise, you can call it either name. In any case, we want to move up a Half-Step from that A note. Go 1 string down towards the floor to the next highest-sounding string, to the 5th string and move backward (towards the headstock of the guitar) 4 frets. This gives an A-sharp note. You can check your work by seeing that the 5th string open (fret number zero) is an A, so going up 1 fret to the 1st fret gives an A-sharp, a note a Half-Step higher than A.

What if you played the 2nd (B) string on the 4th fret? That would give a D-sharp note. (B is open, C = 1st fret, D = 3rd fret, D-sharp =4th fret) What note is a Half-Step above D- sharp? The note is E, or E natural. Lets look at how to find an E note on the next highest-sound string. If you go to the next highest-sounding string, the 1st (high E) string, and count back 4 frets, you get to the open note, or fret zero. So by playing the high E string open you of course get an E note. The important thing is that you now know how to play a note a Half-Step away from this E.

A note about moving up vs. moving down

So far in this book, you may have noticed that the direction that we move is always up. Ive found in private lessons that in thinking through the concepts, its naturally easier for most people to think in terms of moving up. The same concepts hold true when youre moving in the opposite direction, so the distances stay the same. For example, 2 frets up is a Whole-Step up, and 2 frets down is a Whole-Step down. In keeping with that principle, going to the next highest string and back 4 frets equals moving up a Half-Step (except between the 3rd and 2nd string), while thinking of it as going to the next lowest string and forward 4 frets is going down a Half-Step. It might be hard to keep all that information straight just by reading it, so its a good idea to play lots of little examples on your guitar. If its easier for you to think in terms of going down, then by all means feel free to do so. If youre able to comfortably play intervals going up, it wont be hard to move in the opposite direction.

Ok, so the above section can be summarized:

Between all strings (except 3 and 2) Whole-Step = next string up, back 3 frets Half-Step = next string up, back 4 fret

If youre like me, you may be stressed about how to find intervals between notes on the 3rd and 2nd strings. Wait no longer, lets take a look.

Finding Half- Steps and Whole- Steps between the 3rd and 2nd strings

This is actually not too hard. Since the 3rd and 2nd string are separated by an interval that is a Half-Step (1 fret) narrower than all the other strings, you can actually just take the chart from above and reduce the numbers by 1 fret (a Half- Step). So:

Between strings 3 and 2: Whole-Step = next string up, back 2 frets Half-Step = next string up, back 3 frets

Lets try an example. If you play the 5th fret of the G string, thats a C note. (G string open= G, G string 2nd fret= A, 4th fret = B, 5th fret = C) What note is a Whole-Step higher than C? If you said D, youre correct. So we want a D note. If we start on the 5th fret of the G string, we want to go up the next string (2nd string) and back 2 frets. So you should end up on the 3rd fret of the 2nd (B) string. Is this a D note? If you play the B string open, you get a B; to get to the next alphabet letter, C, is a Half- Step (1st fret) and to D is a Whole-Step up, so you should move to the 3rd fret of the B string for the alphabet letter D. so we were correct. Make sense? Then lets try moving between the 3rd and 2nd string by a Half-Step. This time, play the 4th fret of the G string. This note is a B. What note is a Half-Step above B? Remember that in the musical alphabet, the note B is only a Half- Step from C. So were looking for a C note. If you go to the next (2nd) string, and back 3 frets, youll be on the 1st fret, giving you a C note. See how that works? That spot on the guitar (2nd string, 1st fret) is always a C note, and now you have a couple of ways to arrive at that note.

Feel free to do as many of these examples in your notes as youd like, and of course play as many as youd like on the guitar.

Were almost ready to move on, to really dive into the meaty stuff, but before we do, make sure that you feel confident about everything on this guitar ninja checklist. Guitar ninja checklist (stuff you should know at this point) The difference between Whole and Half Steps The way the guitar is tuned, and in particular which set of strings are tuned differently How to play a Major scale and a minor scale going up on a single string How to determine what the intervals are between notes that are more than a step apart What a sharp, flat, and accidental sign do What notes are in the musical alphabet Which alphabet letters are separated by a Whole-Step, and which are separated by a Half-Step How to find Whole- Steps and Half-Steps across strings that dont involve crossing the 3rd and 2nd string How to find Whole-Steps and Half-Steps across strings that do involve crossing the 3rd and 2nd strings How to tell whether a note in a scale should be called the sharped alphabet letter, or by the next alphabet letter but with a flat sign

I promise that there will be some review of the concepts listed above as we go on, because its all so important and inter-connected and well run into trouble if youre not clear on these points. That being said, it would be good to pause here if need be and make up your own additional exercises before we move onto the next part, where we start to really have some fun and dive into what we mysteriously call modes.

Part 2

The part where you learn about modes

Ok, before we go any further, lets talk about the word mode. Its seems like a strange word to use for something thats so similar to a scale, and maybe it is. I know that maybe I should go into a technical discussion of the origin of the word mode, and how it dates back to the different scale patterns used in church music, and how it evolved over hundreds of years. If you really feel like thats vital, you can always refer to a music encyclopedia (or Wikipedia). Dont get me wrong, I think its good to be curious about things like this. Its just that in my experience, its easy to get bogged down and confused before youve even played a single note. Remember that theory follows practice. So make sure you can play these modes first, and then later you can read up on the history and development of the modes all you like. For the purposes of this e-book, were going to tend to refer to a regular Major scale or minor scale as a scale, and to any of the following scales that are based on the Major and minor scales as modes. Why? You ask. Well, this is the way that performing musicians refer to these scales. Think of the term, scale as being the generic, all-inclusive term; and think of mode as being more specific. I know that technically that a Major mode can be called Ionian mode, and the minor scale can be called Aeolian mode. The reality is that most musicians tend to say things like, this song is modal, or for this solo remember the chord progression is modal. Well learn what the means and how to navigate the modes, and have you on track to playing great solos and writing your own music in no time. In reality, the terms scale and mode are technically interchangeable, you just need to know the difference between a more common Major and minor scale, and a mode. The best way to think of the modes is to think of each particular mode as a unique color, or mood. I know that some other books present the modes as being connected, with each mode being built on a step of the Major scale. Ive found that this approach can be confusing because it is a result of backward-looking theory. In other words, its not really how people first started using it modes, its just that at some point, someone said, hey, look, if you put each of these modes in order they all fit together, isnt that neat? If youve learned, or tried to learn, the modes this way and have been frustrated, dont worry. If youve never read anything about modes before and have no idea what Im talking about, thats fine too. Were going to approach learning the modes the same they were developed, by focusing on the sound, and by extension, the mood and feeling that each mode invokes. Enough talk, lets get started.

Modes- A working definition

For our purposes, well define a mode as a scale that is based on either a Major Scale or a minor scale, but with 1 note in the scale altered by a Half-Step. The connation of using the word mode, is that you are doing something other than playing a regular old Major or minor scale. If you look back at your notes youll see that certain scales degrees in a scale are a certain interval back to the root. To review: Major scale = Root, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Major 7th, Root Minor scale = Root, Major 2nd, minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, minor 6th, minor 7th, Root Ok, so be sure you get this definition: a mode is a scale that is based on either a Major or a minor scale, but that has 1 note altered by a Half-Step. Modes can be based on either a Major scale or a minor scale. Well start with a discussion of the modes based on minor scales.

Modes based on minor scales

As I just said, a mode can be based off of either a Major scales or a minor scale. One note in that scale will be changed, which will alter the sound, or as I like to think of it, the mood of the scale. Make sense? Ok, lets start with my favorite, Dorian mode.

Dorian Mode

Dorian mode is based off of a minor scale, but there is 1 important difference. Whereas a minor scale has a minor 6th (as you can see from the list above), Dorian mode raises (or sharps) the 6th scale degree making it a Major 6th. That means that Dorian mode= a minor scale with a raised 6th. Functionally, thats all you need to know. Later on while get more theoretical and how see that works together with all the other modes, but for all you need to know is the Dorian is a minor scale with a raised 6th (a 6th thats a Half-Step higher than normal). Lets figure out the notes for A Dorian.

Im going to start this section by repeating the sequence of Whole-Steps and Half steps for a minor scale. For every scale and mode, remember that there are 5 Whole-Steps and 2 Half-Steps. This is always true; its just a matter of what particular order the steps are in. Personally, I recommend being an expert on the recipe of Whole-Steps and Half steps for the Major and minor scales, and when youre playing a mode, adjust as needed. Realistically, you dont need to memorize the Whole-Step and Half- Step recipe for every single mode. Dont get me wrong, you should be able to figure it out quickly enough for whatever mode you happen to be playing, but if youre really good at the sequence of steps for Major scales and minor scales, youll be fine. Ok, so that being said, lets write this out again. Minor scale Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole If we start on A, that gives us: A, Whole-Step to B, Half- Step to C, Whole-Step to D, Whole-Step to E, Half- Step to F, Whole-Step to G, Whole-Step to A In terms of scale degrees that means that in an A minor scale: A= root B= Major 2nd C=minor 3rd D = Perfect 4th E = Perfect 5th F = minor 6th G = minor 7th A = root

To make this A minor scale an A Dorian mode (or scale, either term is acceptable), all we need to do is raise the 6th, changing it from a minor 6th to a Major 6th. To do this, simply raise the F a Half-Step by adding a sharp. So the F note becomes an F-sharp note. If you look at your notes, youll see that a Major 6th is an interval of 4 steps. Is F-sharp 4 steps above A? A to B (1 Whole-Step), B to C (add a Half-Step, so 1 steps), C to D (add a Whole-Step, so 2 steps), D to E (add a Whole-Step, so 3 steps), E to F-sharp (add a Whole-Step, so 4 steps). So that checks out. Now, since in the minor sequence of steps we have: Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole = regular minor scale

See the 5th step listed above? The Half-Step? Well, in Dorian, you switch that one around with the next step, the second to last one, which is a Whole-Step. So now the sequence becomes: Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole =Dorian mode

Lets try another example. Lets build a Dorian mode on the note E. If youre already at the point where you feel that you know the notes of an E minor scale really well, then all you need to do is take the 6th degree, which should a minor 6th (4 steps) from the root, and make into a Major 6th (4 steps from the root). I wont give the answer away quite yet. If you need to work through the scale degrees and the sequence of steps, thats completely fine, lets do it right now.

If we want a Dorian mode and E is our root note, then we need a Major 2nd, minor 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, minor 7th, and root above E. Lets figure the notes by scale degrees first and then well check our work by looking at the sequence of Whole and Half- Steps. Starting with E as the root note, we next want a Major 2nd above E. This is a Whole-Step, so the note is a F-sharp. Next we want a minor 3rd, thats 1 steps above the root, so the minor 3rd is G. Next we want a Perfect 4th. This note is 2 steps above the root, giving us an A note. Next is a Perfect 5th, which 3 steps above the root for a B note. Next we have the Dorian note, we want a Major 6th, which is 4 steps above the root, so this note is a C-sharp. Make sure you count all the steps up to C-sharp as youre working through this example in your notes, so you understand why a Major 6th above E is a C-sharp. Ok almost done, a minor 7th is 5 steps above the root, giving you a D note. Finally, the next octave up from E of course is an E. Whew, lets review.

E =root, F-sharp = Major 2nd, G = minor 3rd A = Perfect 4th B = Perfect 5th C-sharp = Major 6th D =minor 7th E= root (again, 1 octave higher)

So how does that square with our sequence of Whole and Half Steps for Dorian? Remember the sequence for Dorian mode is: Whole Half Whole Whole (Whole Half) Whole

So, if E is the root note, then start by moving up a Whole-Step to F-sharp. Next, move a Half-Step to G. so far so good. Now, coming up we have 3 Whole-Steps in a row, lets see if it this checks out. From G, a Whole-step up is A, another Whole-Step up is B, and another Whole-Step up from B is C-sharp. Those are the same notes as before, so were good so far. From the C-sharp note, we want to move up a Half-Step, so this takes us from C- sharp to a D note. Ok, so now all we need is a Whole-Step above D, which takes us back to our root note, E. Make sure to play this example on your guitar. For fun, try do it twice, one time playing on the low E string and on time playing on the high E string. So you can think of the scale in terms of scale degrees or in terms of the recipe of Whole-Steps and HalfSteps. Feel free to use whatever approach works better for you. Some people prefer to think of intervals relating back to the root, other people find it easier to think, ok, I played B here, so I need to go up a Whole-Step to play a C-sharp. What these 2 approaches have in common is that either way, you really have to think about what note youre playing and what note you want to go to. The more you do this, the more connections youll make and youll start to recognize groups of notes all the fretboard. I recommend that you play the following scales all over the guitar fretboard. You can work your way up a single string for several notes, and then jump to the next string. Remember, when crossing strings: Sets of strings except 3 and 2: Whole-Step = next string up, back 3 frets Half-Step = next string up, back 4 frets Between strings 3 and 2: Whole-Step = next string up, back 2 frets Half-Step = next string up, back 3 frets You might get lost at first, thats ok, start over again and see if you can find where you went wrong. Instead of giving you a giant pile of scale diagrams, I encourage you to find your ways of navigating the fretboard. One complaint I often hear from private lesson students is that they learned a scale diagram from a book and they can play it well enough, but after a couple of weeks theyre totally bored because they feel stuck in a box. They can play the fingering pattern but they dont know how to move beyond it. So I know that my method of not writing out big complicated diagrams might seem strange at first to some readers. Theres no shortage of books at there already that will give you diagrams and charts of the patterns for all of the scales and modes. It may seem like more work in the short term, but if you can

mentally work through the notes for a particular mode or scale, youll be a scale master much faster in the long run.

So to review, Dorian = minor scale, with a raised 6th scale degree.

If theres only 1 thing you take away from this section, let this be it. I like Dorian because that raised 6th degree gives the mode a brighter, more optimistic sound. It still has a minor sound and feel, but its not so dark. Speaking of dark, lets go on to the next mode based of a minor scale, Phrygian mode.

Phrygian Mode

Phrygian mode is also based on a minor scale. Remember the intervals of a minor scale? Minor Scale Root- Major 2nd- minor 3rd- Perfect 4th- Perfect 5th- minor 6th- minor 7th- Root Whats different about Phrygian is that in Phrygian mode, the 2nd scale degree is flatted, so instead of a Major 2nd there is a minor 2nd. So: Phrygian is a minor scale with a flatted 2nd scale degree. That means that the scale starts off with a Half-Step. From the root note, the next note in the scale (the minor 2nd) is only a Half-Step away. Instead of having the minor scale recipe: Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole For Phrygian, the first steps swap places, so instead of starting with a Whole-Step and then a Half-Step, you have: Half Whole Whole Whole Half Whole Whole

Lets go through the scale degrees, again starting on the note A. A = root, B-flat (minor 2nd), only a Half-Step up from A), C =minor 3rd (1 steps from A) D = Perfect 4th (2 steps from the root) E = Perfect 5th (3 steps from the root) F = minor 6th (4 steps up from the root), G = minor 7th (5 steps up from the root), back to the root note A, 6 steps up from where we started. A Phrygian mode = A, B-flat, C, D, E, F, G, A So, try playing this mode all on the 5th (A) string. How would you describe the sound of Phrygian mode? I think of it as being kind of dark, kind of mysterious sounding. Theres not one right answer, but if you think that this mode sounds really chirpy and happy youre probably playing a few (or all) of the notes incorrectly. Lets build a Phrygian mode on E. Keep in mind that Phyrgian mode is a minor scale with a flatted 2nd scale degree, so that means when youre playing a Phrygian mode, right after playing the root note, the next move you make it a Half-Step, which brings you to a minor 2nd scale degree. So what note is a Half-Step above E? Thats right, its the note F. Starting with E as the root note, we then get F for the minor 2nd. Next is the minor 3rd (a minor 3rd is 1 steps up from the root) which is the note G. Next we want a Perfect 4th (2 steps above the root) for the note A. Now we want a Perfect 5th, and Ive found that its helpful to just remember that a Perfect 4th and a Perfect 5th are 1 Whole-Step apart. So whatever note is a Perfect 4th is, the Perfect 5th is a Whole-Step higher. Since the perfect 4th in this case is the note A, the Perfect 5th is B. (B = 1 Whole-Step higher than A) Ok, now we want a minor 6th. You could think of the minor 6th as being 4 steps above the root, but you could also think of it as being a Half-Step above the Perfect 5th. So if the Perfect 5th is a B note, then a Half-Step above B is just the note C. Almost done, so if you want a minor 7th, thats another Whole-Step up (5 steps up from the root), giving you the note D. From there its just a Whole-Step up to the root note again, E, 6 steps up from where we started, just as it should be. Lets look at the recipe for Phrygian again: Half Whole Whole Whole Half Whole If the we start on the note E, then this gives us the notes: E F G A B C D E = E Phrygian mode

Make sense? Before you go on, make sure to read the following footnote/rant: Brians rant about thinking about the modes If you look at the notes above, youll notice that there are no sharps or flats. You may be saying, Hey! Those are the same notes as a C Major scale!, that means that E Phrygian and C Major are related. Technically that is true, from a backward-looking analysis point of view. But be careful, do you remember when I said that if you play a Phrygian scale and it sounds chirpy and happy, then something is wrong? Well guess what, Ive had students who think they can save time by just playing a C Major scale when theyre supposed to be playing an E Phrygian mode. The idea is to save time, Hey, I already know to play a C Major scale, so Ill save time and energy by just using what I already know. The problem is context. If you begin and end on the notes C, and use the notes above, it will sound chirpy and happy because your ear will hear all the notes in relation back to the note C, and so it will sound happy, like you would expect a Major scale to sound It may be helpful to think of it this way, the root note of any given scale is home. If you establish C as home, then your ear and the listeners ears will hear all the other notes you play in terms of how they relate to home. The sound of Phrygian absolutely depends on the sound of a minor 2nd scale degree above home. If you want to create the sound and mood of E Phrygian (or any other given mode) then you have to (have to, underline this in your notes) establish the root note as home and then establish the other intervals above that root. If you try to find a shortcut right off the bat, youll end up being more confused, because youll be playing the correct notes, but it wont sound right, which believe me, I know is very frustrating. I promise well get back to work on the modes in a second; I just want to say that I didnt always necessarily think about/teach the modes this way. I didnt set at my desk and ponder the mysteries of the modes and come up with this approach. (Although that wouldve been pretty cool) I started explaining things this way because I had lessons with students (some of whom already played very well) who were really frustrated because they could play the fingering patterns they found in books, but they couldnt hear the difference between a C Major or E Phyrgian scale, even though by all accounts they were technically the correct notes. So, if you only take 1 thing from this book, just remember that any scale or mode depends on establishing the intervals above that root. Make sense? Dont worry so much about which scales share the same notes. To use one last metaphor; a nice warm cup of dark roast coffee (like the coffee Im drinking right now) is great on a cold, Chicago February day. That very same coffee may not be what Im craving as Im sitting on my porch on a hot, sticky summer night reading a book. Its the same with the notes in the modes.

The notes E, F, and G may sound pretty and upbeat in the context of a C Major scale, but they can sound downright scary (in a good way) in the context of an E Phrygian mode.

Ok, so what do you know so far? Dorian mode = minor scale with a raised 6th (brighter and more optimistic sounding) Phrygian mode = minor scale with a lowered 2nd (darker sounding) Remember that its actually acceptable to use the terms scale and mode interchangeably. Its just that people tend to use the terms scale when talking about Major or minor scales, and the term mode when referring to one of these altered scales, like Dorian or Phrygian. Next up were going to talk about the modes based on Major scales. Some readers may be wondering why we havent discussed Locrian mode yet. Were going to skip it for now and give it a brief discussion later because in practice, you probably wont use Locrian very much. Personally, when I hear someone say something like that, it just makes me more curious and want to know about it all the more, so I promise I wont skip any information. Its just that I want you to have a running start on playing the modes that are used the most commonly. Why are certain modes used more commonly? Because they sound cool. Locrian has a stranger sound. Dont take that to mean that you cant use Locrian to write a chord progression or play a solo. Its just that its hands down the least- used mode. Stay with me, and eventually well get to a technical discussion of just why its used so seldom. For right now, well continue by taking a look at modes based on Major scales.

Modes based on Major scales So there are 2 modes based on Major scales and they both have similar names. They are Mixolydian, and Lydian. Im going to start with Mixolydian, just because I like it more, not for any technical reason. I know you can hardly wait to jump into Mixolydian, but 1st lets review the recipe for a Major scale. Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half While were at it, lets review the scale degrees, what intervals they are relating back to the root. Root- Major 2nd- Major 3rd- Perfect 4th- Perfect 5th-Major 6th- Major 7th - Root Try building a Major scale starting on the note G, then well compare whats the same and whats different about a Mixolydian mode built on the note G.

G Major Start on G, Whole-Step up to A (Major 2nd), Whole-Step up to B (Major 3rd), Half-Step to C (Perfect 4th), Whole-Step up to D (Perfect 5th), Whole-Step up to E (Major 6th), another Whole-Step up to F-sharp (Major 7th), Half-Step back to G (root again). Keep in mind that all the intervals are relation back to the root, so in this case G is home.

Ok, ready? Heres the definition of a Mixolydian mode Mixolydian mode = Major scale with a lowered (flatted) 7th scale degree This means that Mixolydian mode is similar to a Major scale, but when you get to the 7th scale degree, it should be a minor 7th degree (instead of the Major 7th degree that would be typical. Im a big fan of Mixolydian because it sounds Major and upbeat, but that flatted 7th scale degree keeps things from sounding too corny. Feel free to come up with your own description of this mode, lets build a Mixolydian mode on G. Well start by building the notes in the mode, thinking in terms of scale degrees, and then well look at the sequence of Whole-Steps and Half Steps. G Mixolydian So, G is the root, A is the Major 2nd, B is the Major 3rd, C is the Perfect 4th, D is the Perfect 5th, E is the Major 6th, now next well go up just a Half-Step up from E in order to get a minor 7th. What note is a Half-Step from E? Thats right, F. So F is the minor 7th, and then we go a Whole-Step back up to G, the root. Compare the difference between: G Major scale= G A B C D E F-sharp G G Mixolydian mode = G A B C D E F(natural) G Try playing these scales on the 3rd (G string) of your guitar. Pay special attention in the difference in sound between a G Major scale and a G Mixolydian mode. It will be helpful to remember that the only difference is the F-sharp is lowered to an F-natural for the G Mixolydian mode. Lets compare the sequence of Whole-Steps and Half-Steps between a Major scale and Mixolydian mode. Major Scale = Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half

Mixolydian mode = Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole The only difference is at those last 2 steps get switched around. So its a Whole-Step from the 7th degree of the scale back to the root again.

Make sense? Lets try building a Mixolydian mode on D.

D is the root, Whole-Step up to E (Major 2nd), Whole-Step up to F-sharp (Major 3rd), Half-Step up to G (Perfect 4th) Whole-Step up to A (Perfect 5th), Whole-Step up to B (Major 6th) Now you just move a HalfStep up to C for the minor 7th. From there its just a Whole-Step back to the root, D. D Mixolydian mode = D E F-sharp G A B C D If you were playing a regular D Major scale, the 7th scale degree would be a Major 7th back to the root, so it would be a C-sharp note. D Mixolydian lowers the 7th scale degree (which is a Major 7th), by a Half-Step, so the C-sharp becomes C-natural. You can build a Mixolydian mode on any note. I would recommend building a Mixolydian mode on all the notes that are open strings on the guitar, and playing all the notes in the mode up the guitar fretboard. Ok, one more time to review: Mixolydian mode = Major scale with a flatted 7th scale degree Ok lets go on to Lydian mode.

Lydian mode

Lydian mode is also based off of the regular old Major scale, but this scale has kind of a dreamier sound to it. In fact, the Joe Satriani song, Flying in A Blue Dream uses Lydian mode. Lydian mode is simply a Major scale with a raised (sharped) 4th scale degree. Ill write it down here so you have a clear reference. Lydian mode = Major scale with a raised 4th scale degree. So remember when we talked about Perfect intervals before? Well, now were going to see what happens when we mess with Perfect intervals. The rules for altering Perfect 4th and Perfect 5ths are a little different than the rules for altering Major and minor intervals.

Its also good to keep in mind that 4ths and 5ths are the only the only intervals that are called Perfect. All other intervals (and here Im using the word interval to refer to what could also be called scale degrees) are called either Major or minor.

When you raise (or sharp) a Perfect 4th or 5th, it becomes augmented. When you lower (or flat) a Perfect 4th or 5th, it becomes diminished.

So youll recall from above that Lydian mode, has a raised (sharped) 4th scale degree. Another way to say this is that Lydian has an augmented 4th. Lets build a Lydian mode on C, and then we can compare it a C Major scale and see how the two scales are similar and how they are different. C Lydian For this scale, C is the root, and we want a Major 2nd, so the next note is D. We then want a Major 3rd, so the next note is E. Be careful on this next part, this is where we need an augmented 4th, so it will be a Half- Step higher than a typical Perfect 4th. Well want to go a Whole-Step up from that Major 3rd, so well be going a Whole- Step up from E. By this point you probably know that the note thats a Whole-Step up from E is F-sharp. Ok, lets keep going. Next, we want a Perfect 5th, which is only a Half-Step away. What note is a Half-Step above F-sharp? Thats right, G. So G is the Perfect 5th. From there, we want to go on a Whole-Step to the Major 6th, which is an A note, followed by a another Whole-Step move to the Major 7th, which is a B, and from there its just an easy Half-Step back to the root note, C.

Lets try 1 more example of Lydian mode, and then we can step back and look at the recipe that gives us Lydian mode. F Lydian This time, well start on F. So if F is the root note, then the Major 2nd is a Whole-Step higher and is a G note. Easy enough, the Major 3rd is another Whole-Step up, so we go from a G note to an A note.

Once again, the move from the 3rd to the 4th scale degree is what you have to watch out for. Just for fun, lets figure out what a Perfect 4th would b, even though for this scale we want an augmented 4th. Since for a Perfect 4ht we want to go up a Half-Step from A, it has to be some form of the letter B, right? But it cant just be B, (that phrase really sounded funny, didnt it?) because A to B is a Whole-Step. So how do you make the move up a Half-Step from the note A? Just make the B note a B-flat note. Now we know that when F is the root note, B-flat is the Perfect 4th. But right now we want a dreamy, evocative Lydian mode, so how do we make that B-flat a Half-Step higher so that its an augmented 4th? Simple, just cancel out the flat and make it a regular B note, or another way to say it would be to call it B- Natural. Next, lets go from the augmented 4th to the Perfect 5th. This is only a distance of a Half-Step and so a Half-Step up from B is the note C. Lets finish the rest of the scale quickly. After C, we want to go up a Whole-Step to the Major 6th, so the note is D. Then we want a Major 7th, so the note is E. From the Major 7th, its just a small Half-Step move back to the root note, F. Alright then, heres the recipe of Whole-Steps and Half Steps in Lydian mode. Whole Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Half You can see that Lydian mode begins with 3 Whole-Steps right off the bat, and I think thats what gives it that dreamy, moody sound. To repeat one more time, you can think of Lydian mode as a Major scale, but with a raised 4th scale degree. So instead of a Perfect 4th, Lydian mode contains an augmented 4th. Before moving on, try playing C Lydian and F Lydian, all on one string. For C Lydian start on the 1st fret of the B string, which is the root note, C. For F Lydian, begin on the 1st fret of the high E string, which is F.

Review of the Modes covered so far

At this point weve covered 4 modes in addition to the Major scale and the minor scale. So really you know 6 different scales. There is a 7th scale that we havent looked at yet, and well take a brief look at this mode at the end of this section. For now, lets review what we know, organizing the scales into Major and minor. Major = regular Major scale, Mixolydian mode, Lydian mode minor = regular minor scale, Dorian mode, Phrgyian mode Keep in mind that its totally acceptable to use the term scale for any of these. So for example, you could say either Dorian mode or Dorian scale. The terms are interchangeable, its just that in practice people tend to use the word mode when referring to these altered scales. Speaking of altered scales, whats distinctive about each of these scales? Make sure you very solid on understanding each of these constructions before moving on. Just in case you dont already have them in your notes, Ill list them below.

Mixolydian = Major scale with a lowered (flatted) 7th scale degree Lydian = Major scale with a raised (sharped) 4th scale degree Dorian = minor scale with a raised (sharped) 6th scale degree Phrygian = minor scale with a lowered (flatted) 2nd scale degree An exercise that seems to really help (although to be honest is a little tedious) is to write out and/or play each of the scales, starting on the same root note. In other words, build each scale starting on the musical alphabet letter C and build a Mixolydian mode, Lydian mode, etc. Try doing this on the B string of the guitar, starting on the first fret for the note C. Doing this forces you to really think about what scaled degrees and by extension what notes are in each scale. It also helps highlight the differences and similiarities in each scale. This brings up one last point which will help transition to the next section where we talk about Locrian mode. If you were to write out all the above modes starting on C, you would notice that there are only 2 notes that are the same in every single scale. These notes are C (the root note) and G. (the Perfect 5th). As I mentioned earlier, these are very important intervals that provide the foundation for the scale. It would be pretty hard for a C Major scale to sound right if you messed around with the C note. Messing with the Perfect 5th is almost as bad, and

well see that thats the reason why Locrian mode is so seldom used, because Locrina mode lowers the 5th by a Half-Step, making it a diminished 5th.

A Brief Discussion of Locrian Mode The first thing we need to do is review what happens when we lower a Perfect interval. What happens? It becomes diminished. Locrian mode is based on the minor scale, but in addition to a lowered (flatted) 2nd scale degree (just like Phrygian mode) it also has a diminished 5th. This makes the scale unstable, which is the music theory nerd way of saying that its hard for your ear to find anything to hold on to. Another, less objective way to say this is that it just doesnt sound very good. Dissonance is the musical term for sounds that rub up against one another and clash, and theres nothing wrong with some well-placed dissonances. But dissonances depend on context, and if theres a framework in place where the dissonance can occur and eventually resolve then dissonance can be pretty cool. The thing about Locrian mode is that due to that diminished 5th scale degree, there isnt really a framework for the dissonances to operate in and the result usually sounds more like a jumble. Again, I know that by avoiding talking about Locrian mode, it just makes some people all the more curious. Maybe you feel like you want to get your moneys worth, because after all, Locrian mode does exist, so you figure you should learn about it. Fair enough. Here is a discussion of Locrian mode. Locrian Mode Locrian mode is a minor scale but with a lowered 5th and a lowered 2nd. I realize that some people with a music theory background could argue that the because Locrian has a diminshed 5th scale degree, it means that Locrian should be placed in a category that is technically neither Major nor minor, but diminished. For the purposes of this e-book, the most practical route that will allow you to quickly play this scale on your guitar is to think of Locrian mode in terms of what you already know and think of it as a minor scale with a lowered 2nd and lowered 5th. Lets try an example of Locrian mode, beginning on the note E. So starting with E, you want a minor 2nd, which is only a Half-Step away which is in this case the note F.

After F, you want a minor 3rd, so you should move up a Whole- Step to G. After G, you need a Perfect 4th, so you want to move up to the note A. After the Perfect 4th, remember that you want a flatted 5th, or diminished 5th, so you need to move from the note A to the note B-flat. After this you want to go to a minor 6th, so youll need to play a C note. After C, you need a minor 7th, so you should play a D. from there its just a Whole-Step move back to the root note E. The recipe for Locrian mode is: Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole You may notice that this is the only scale where the last 3 steps are Whole- Steps. This is part of why the scale has such an unbalanced, dissonant feel. I do think its worth the time to know the theory and construction of the Locrian mode. That being said, in practice the only time youll probably use Locrian mode is if you were soloing over a jazzy chord progression and you encountered a diminished chord. Well talk about in detail about chords in Part 3, but for right now you should know that you would only use a Locrian mode over a chord called a diminished chord. This kind of chord is neither Major nor minor, but it most resembles a minor chord more than a Major chord. Dont get me wrong, the diminished chord can sound cool in the right context, it can make a chord progression or a song sound more interesting. Think of it this way, the other scale and modes sound cool in of themselves. The Locrian mode itself doesnt sound all that great (I know that thats my opinion, but this is my e-book, which means I get to write my opinions), but within the larger context of a song or composition, the Locrian mode can add some color and make things sound better. Think of Locrian as that exotic spice that youve seen at Trader Joes. You wouldnt that to be the main ingredient in your meal, but it can spice things up a bit, thats Locrian mode.

Ok, so we have 1 more thing to talk about, and then we can move to Part 3, where well talk about chords and how to set up chord progressions so you can start writing your own songs and play all of these awesome scales. First, well spend some time discussing the Circle of 5ths.

The Circle of 5ths

The circle of 5ths is a system of helping you know what notes are in each scale. The terms scale and key (and by extension, the term mode) are all interchangeable. So if you the notes in a C major scale, thats the same as knowing the notes that are in the key of C Major. If you know that notes in an E minor scale, then you know the notes that are in the key of E minor. You get the idea. Keep in mind that if someone says just the key of C, thats referring to C Major. If its a minor key (or chord) you have say the word minor, but for Major keys and chords you can just the alphabet letter. It may seem a little strange that the Circle of 5ths dont appear until this point in the book, but Ive found from experience that it doesnt help much to explain what the Circle of 5ths are until you know what a Perfect 5th is. And what is a Perfect 5th? Perfect 5th = interval of 3 steps So the circle of the 5ths is a circle with all the Major keys going around it. At the top center of the circle is the key of C Major. As you move to the right you start going slightly downhill around the circle clockwise. This side (the right side) of the circle is the sharp side, or the side that has whats called sharp keys. Theyre called sharp keys because they are the scales that use sharps to alter the notes in the scale. The main thing you need to remember is the recipe for a Major Scale. Major Scale Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half

Basically, the Circle of 5ths is a chart that can quickly tell you what accidentals (sharps or flats) you get when you start on a given note and follow the sequence of notes as listed above. For example, if you start on the note G, and then build a scale according to the above sequence of steps, youll have 1 note that is sharped (F-sharp), while all the other notes are natural. If you begin on the note E, and proceed up according to the sequence of steps, youll get 4 sharps, Fsharp C-sharp G- sharp and D-sharp. So you can see how knowing the Circle of 5ths is a good to quickly remember what notes are in a given scale (a scale can also be thought of as a key).

The problem Ive found in lessons is when people try to straight up memorize the Circle of 5th right at the beginning. If you try to learn the Circle of 5ths before you have any idea of how a scale is built and only a dim understanding of things like Whole- Steps and Half- Steps, then the Circle of 5ths seems random and its hard to remember anything. On the other hand, if you feel comfortable with things like putting together a Major scale, putting together a minor scale, sharping or flatting a note in a scale to make that scale become a different type of scale; then the Circle if 5ths is a helpful tool that lets you see how all the big pieces fit together.

Sharp keys It would be a good idea to draw a Circle of 5ths on a piece of paper for your notes. Start by drawing a circle. Ok, at the top of the circle should be C. The key of C Major has no sharps and no flats. Were going to go clockwise, to the right side of the circle which is the sharp key side of the circle, then well come back and do the left side of the circle, the flat key side. (In other words, the keys that require you to use flats as you add notes according to the sequence of steps in a Major scale) Ok, as we move through the sharp key side of the circle, well move up by Perfect 5ths. So what should come after C? The note G should come after C because its a Perfect 5th (3 steps) above C. Try to work out what the next keys should be. After G is ? If you think 3 steps above G, you should get D. After D you should get A, and after that, E. After E, you should get B. The key after B is the one thats at the very bottom of the circle, in a direct line down from C. What note is a Perfect 5th above B? This one can be tricky. If you start on B, go up to C, thats a Half-Step. C to D is a Whole-Step, so now we have 1 steps. D to E is another Whole-Step, so now we have 2 steps. We now need another Whole-Step up from E, so our answer here is F-sharp. So far your circle should look like this: C G D A E B F-sharp Ok, the other thing that you need to know is what notes are sharped in each one these keys. Heres the good news, each key keeps all the sharps from the previous keys, and adds 1 additional sharp.

Ive seen different methods out there for figuring out/remembering which sharps are in which keys. Ill share the method that Ive found works best for me in lessons with students, but if you have some sort of approach or idea that works for you, feel free to use that. Lets start at C. Remember that C that has no sharps (or flats). Next, the key of G, or the G scale has 1 sharp. Ive found that its easy for most people to remember that for the sharp side of the circle, all you need to think of is the note thats a Half-Step behind the root, thats your new sharp note. So what note is a Half- Step behind, or backwards, from G? If you go back a Half-Step (1 fret) from G, you get F-sharp. If you go on to the key of D, whats your new sharp note? Just go back a Half-Step from D, and your note is C-sharp. The F-sharp from the previous key remains and you add the C-sharp, so in the key of D Major the sharps are F-sharp and C-sharp. Going on to the key of A, you keep the F-sharp and C-sharp, and add a G-sharp. If you think of the note a Half-Step lower than A, youll get a G-sharp. That means the accidentals (the notes that arent natural) in the key of A, are F-sharp, C-sharp, and G-sharp. As we saw earlier, the key of E has 4 sharps. What are they? We already know that there will be F-sharp, C-sharp, and G-sharp. If you go a Half-Step behind E you get D-sharp, so in the key of E Major there is Fsharp C-sharp G-sharp and D-sharp. The key of B has 5 sharps, and you may have already figured out by now that the new sharp note is Asharp, in addition to F-sharp C-sharp G-sharp and D-sharp. Before we move on to the flat key side of the circle, lets take a look at the key of F-sharp. This is kind of a tricky one. What note is a Half-Step behind F-sharp? Ill give you hint, its not E. Although it does need to be some form of the letter E, an E natural would a Whole-Step behind F-sharp. We need to raise that E by a Half-Step, so in this case it would be an E-sharp. I know that seems weird at first, after all, isnt there only a Half-Step between E and F? Technically thats true, but since we already used up the letter F (on the F-sharp) we need some form of the letter E. Remember that E-sharp is the enharmonic equivalent of F. In this case, its necessary to call that note an E-sharp. So the sharp notes in the key of Fsharp are: F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp, D-sharp, A-sharp, and E-sharp. Make sense? To be honest, as guitar players, we will spend most of our time playing in sharp keys as opposed to flat keys. That being said, for now we are only dealing with Major keys. After we finish the Major flat keys well take a look at whats called the relative minors, referring to which minor keys and which Major keys share a key signature. (Key signature= what notes are sharp or flat in a given key, so the key signature for D Major would be 2 sharps, indicating F-sharp and C-sharp)

Flat Keys Ok, lets try the flat side of the circle. Theres a couple of ways to think about this. One way to approach it is to think that is the sharp side of the circle goes up by a Perfect 5th every time you move to the next key, the flat side goes down a Perfect 5th every time you move to the next key. For some people, thinking in terms of moving down a Perfect 5th from a given note is hard, so to get the same answer, you can think in terms of moving up a Perfect 4th. So basically, moving up a Perfect 4th from a given note; and moving down a Perfect 5th from a given note gets you to the same place. Starting on C, go up a Perfect 4th (2 steps) = F Starting on C, go down a Perfect 5th (3 steps) = F You should have C sitting on top of the circle in your notes, so to the left of that C you can put an F. So the key of F Major has 1 flat. I promise well come back and figure what flat that is in a second, but first lets find the next couple of keys on the flat side. Starting from F, lets figure out the next key by going up a Perfect 4th. F to G is a Whole-Step, G to A is a Whole-Step, so now we have 2 steps. We need to go another HalfStep from A so well go up to next alphabet letter and call it B-flat. So B-flat is our next key, and it has 2 flats. Just for fun, lets keep going. Whats a Perfect 4th above Bflat? Well, B-flat to C is a Whole-Step, remember that this is the case because the letters B and C are only a Half-Step apart. C to D is a Whole-Step, so now we have 2 steps. What note do you get when you add another Half-Step? A Half-Step up from D is E-flat. So E-flat is the next key, with 3 flats. Go up a Perfect 4th from E-flat, and what do you get? E-flat to F is a Whole-Step (because E to F is only a Half-Step) F to G is a Whole-Step, and then another Half-Step (for a total of 2 steps) brings you to Aflat. So A-flat is the next key, with 4 flats. Were almost done. From A-flat to B-flat is a Whole-Step, B-flat to C is a Whole-Step, and a Half-Step above C is D-flat. D-flat is our next key, with 5 flats. Ok, just one more to do and youll be a master of the Circle of 5ths. Lets start at D-flat and move to E-flat, thats a Whole-Step. E-flat to F is another Whole-Step, bringing us to 2 steps. A Half-Step above F is G-flat. So the last key on the flat side is G-flat with 6 flats.

So the key G-flat should be at the bottom of the Circle of 5ths. But wait a second, isnt F-sharp already there? Well, what do you notice about F-sharp and G-flat? Theyre the same thing. F-sharp and G-flat are whats called enharmonic equivalents, which is just a fancy way of saying that they are the same thing with 2 different names.

Ok, the only thing were missing now is what notes are actually flat in the flat keys. Lets quickly review what the flat keys are: F = 1 flat B-flat = 2 flats E-flat = 3 flats A-flat = 4 flats D-flat = 5 flats G-flat = 6 flats

Just as there are several ways to find which notes are sharp in the sharp keys, Ive seen several different approaches out there for finding the flat notes in the flat keys. and if you already use something that works for you, its completely fine to keep using that. Something Ive found to be sticky in the brains of my students is to remember that the new flat note in a key is just the name if the next flat key. In other words, the key of F Major has 1 flat, and its B-flat. The key of B-flat Major has 2 flats, and they are B-flat, and E-flat, because E-flat is the next flat key. In the same way, the key of E-flat Major has B-flat, E-flats, and A-flats. Try doing the rest on your own in your notes, and then compare to the list below. F = B-flat B-flat = B flat, E-flat E-flat = B-flat, E-flat, A-flat A-flat = B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat D-flat = B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat

G-flat = B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat, C-flat How did you do on that last one? I know that we really didnt cover the key of C-flat, but let me ask you, on your notes, whats the next key after G-flat (or F-sharp), going counter- clockwise on the sharp side? Its B Major, which is the enharmonic equivalent of C-flat, so the information checks out. Another way that you could go about it would be to cover up the flat of the G-flat for a second, and figure what note is a Perfect 4th above G. Its C, so you could go back and add a flat to each note. To illustrate: G to C = Perfect 4th G-flat to C-flat = Perfect 4th This works for any combination of notes. B to E = Perfect 4th B-flat to E-flat = Perfect 4th Just make sure both notes become flatted.

Ok, one last thing before we leave the Circle of 5ths. Lets figure out the relative minors for each of the Major keys. The relative minor of a Major key is the minor key that shares the same notes and the same sharps or flats. For example, the keys of D Major and B minor both have 2 sharps, and they are F-sharp and Csharp. The keys of F Major and D minor both have 1 flat, which is B-flat. Instead of memorizing all the relative minors, Ive found that its also sticky to just remember a simple process for finding the relative minor of any given Major key. So here it is. All you have to do is move backwards a minor 3rd (1 steps, or 3 frets on the guitar) to find the relative minor. Since in the recipe for a Major scale (which you hopefully have tattooed on your brain at this point) you end with a Half-Step, Ive found its a good idea to think of first going back a Half-Step, then a WholeStep when looking for the relative minor. For example, if we start on G, what note is a Half-Step behind G? Thats right, F-sharp. Keep gowing, by figuring what note is a Whole-Step below F-sharp. The answer is the note E. That means that E minor is the relative minor of G Major.

The way this works out on the guitar is that starting for the root note of a Major key, if you stay on the same string and move back 3 frets, youll find the relative minor. So why am I making such a big deal about starting with a Half-Step and then adding a Whole-Step? The reason is that following this approach makes you process the notes that are actually in that scale. Going back to the example above, if you started at G and moved back a Whole-Step, you would have an F note, and if you moved back another Half-Step you would have an E note. You would technically arrive at the correct note, but you notice that the note F (F-natural) isnt in a G major/E minor scale. Maybe it isnt a huge deal, but I think it will actually make things easier in the long-term. In any case, remember that there must be 1 alphabet letter separating the Major key letter and the minor key letter. Try filling in the relative minors on your Circle of 5ths chart (which by now may be pretty full of information) and see what you get, then check your answers below. C Major relative to A minor- no sharps G Major relative to E minor-1 sharp (F-sharp) D Major relative to B minor- 2 sharps (F-sharp, C-sharp) A Major relative to F-sharp minor- 3 sharps (F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp) E Major relative to C-sharp minor- 4 sharps (F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp, D-sharp) B Major relative to G-sharp minor-5 sharps (F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp, D-sharp, A-sharp) F-sharp Major relative to D-sharp minor (have fun with that one)-6 sharps (F-sharp, C-sharp, G-sharp, Dsharp, A-sharp, E-sharp)

Ok, now for the flat keys: F Major relative to D minor- 1 flat (B-flat) B-flat Major relative to G minor- 2 flats (B-flat, E-flat) E-flat Major relative to C minor- 3 flats (B-flat, E-flat, A-flat) A-flat Major relative to F minor- 4 flats (B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat) D-flat Major relative to B-flat minor- 5 flats (B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat) G-flat Major relative to E-flat minor- 6 flats (B-flat, E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, G-flat, C-flat)

Its worth pointing out that G Major is relative to E minor, while G-flat Major is relative to, you guessed it E-flat minor. You may have heard the (corny) joke about A-flat minor and what you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft. But hey, theres no A-flat minor up there, what gives? Think of it this way, if C Major is relative to A minor, what Major key is relative to A-flat minor? Thats right, C-flat Major. Realistically, youre never going to look at your band mates and say, Listen up everybody, this next tune is in C-flat Major! So while A-flat minor exists in theory (but even in theory its a stretch), it doesnt really exist in practice. It goes to show you, most comedians never studied the Circle of 5ths.

Part 3

Putting it all together: Playing chords with scales and modes

So hopefully by now youre starting to get a feel for using scales and modes and youre just raring to go. The next step is to know what chords go along with the modes youve been playing. After all, at some point youre going to want to jam with other musicians, and that awesome solo youve been playing using an E Dorian mode wont do much good if you dont know what chords go along with it and how to communicate that to other musicians . So lets dive in, first well talk about how chords themselves are put together, and then well look at how different chords are put together in whats called chord progressions to form songs. Thats the short summary of everything thats in this section. The truth is that this section (like the previous sections) requires some work, but dont worry, well look at everything you need to know to be a chord master in bite-size chunks. Feel free to go at your own pace and take as many or as notes as you need. Well start by looking at what in musical terms we call triads.

Triads

All major and minor chords have 3 notes in them; the technical term for the set of 3 notes that make up any particular chord is triad. Sometimes people ask me why that is. After all, when you strum a nice, big open G Major chord on the guitar youre playing more than 3 notes ,right? The answer is that a triad represents the 3 different alphabet letter notes that are in the chord. These 3 notes can be played at as many different octaves and as many times as you want. For example, in a G Major chord, the notes in the triad are G, B, and D. So you could make a G Major chord with just 3 notes, playing each note in the triad once. You could also play a G Major chord by having 2 different octave versions of the letter G, 2 different octaves of B, and 1 version of D. Or you could have 3 octave versions of G, 2 of B, 1 of D, etc. You get the idea. Disclaimer: If youre more into classical-style composition, technically there are a ton of different rules about which notes of the triad are repeated, and how the notes have to be ordered, and how the individual notes of each chord have to move when you switch to a different chord. This is included under the heading of counterpoint and voice-leading, and despite the fact that these rules often makes people want to tear their own hair out, I recommend that in some point in the future

you take a look at a good counterpoint book. If you end of playing in more of a rock style then youre not going to want or need to follow all the rules of counterpoint to the letter, but knowing the principles of counterpoint will undoubtedly improve your writing and playing. Major triads Ok, lets look at how you build a Major triad, and then after you know that it will be a piece of cake to see how you build a minor triad. Right now it would be good to review what we know about Major 3rds and minor 3rds. The thing is, chords are built on 3rds, which means that you start at the root note, go up a 3rd, and then go up another 3rd from that note. This means that all Major and minor chords have a root, some sort of 3rd, and a Perfect 5th. As youre working with Major and minor chords, keep this in mind: Both Major and minor chords have a Root and a Perfect 5th; Major chord have a Major 3rd Minor chords have a minor 3rd.

Lets try some examples, but first, well review what a Perfect 5th is. Perfect 5th = 3 steps

How about Major and minor 3rds? Major 3rd = 2 steps Minor 3rd = 1 steps

What do you notice when you add a Major and minor 3rd together? 2 steps added to 1 steps equals 3 steps. So if you add a Major 3rd and a minor 3rd together, you get a Perfect 5th. All Major or minor chords use a combination of a Major 3rd and a minor 3rd to make up their notes. Major chord = go up a Major 3rd first, then go up a minor 3rd Minor chord = go up a minor 3rd first, then go up a Major 3rd

If you want to make a Major chord, you take the root, and the first note you add above the root is a Major 3rd. Keep in mind that a Major 3rd is 2 Whole-Steps. Lets work through an example using G Major.

G Major

G= root note The next note is a B( 2 Whole-Steps above G note) = Major 3rd, At this point you need to move a minor 3rd up from the B note because you already moved up a Major 3rd. So what note is a minor 3rd above B? Remember that a minor 3rd is 1 steps. B to C =Half-Step, C to D = Whole-Step, so, D = minor 3rd (1 steps above B) That gives us the following notes for a G Major triad: GBD Its worth pointing out that the terms triad and chord are technically interchangeable. In real life you would use the term chord in more practical setting, like if you were telling another musician what youre going to play next. Triad is more typically used in a theoretical, analytic setting, like when you are trying to figure out exactly all the notes that youre playing. Lets do some more Major triads, Ill give you a couple of harder ones.

E Major Triad

So if E is the root note, what note is 2 Whole-Steps (a Major 3rd) above E? E to F-sharp (Whole-Step), F-sharp to G-sharp (Whole-Step) The note G-sharp is a Major 3rd above E.

Side note: Make sure that you understand how we got there. Remember that E to F is only a Half-Step, so E to F-sharp is a Whole-Step. Also, Ive found it a handy tool to keep in mind that in between 2 notes that are separated by a WholeStep (F to G, A to B, et al.), if both the notes have the same accidental then they are still separated by a Whole-Step. For example: F to G = Whole-Step, so F-sharp to G-sharp= Whole-Step.

It would be the same thing for, say, C-sharp to D-sharp = Whole-Step, because C to D = Whole-Step.

Going back to our E Major triad, so far we have E and G-sharp. Since weve already moved up by a Major 3rd, we now have to move up by a minor 3rd from G-sharp. So what note is a minor 3rd (1 steps) from G-sharp? G-sharp to A = Half-Step, A to B = Whole-Step, so the answer is B. In an E Major triad, there are the notes E, G-sharp, and B.

Lets do one more, how about a Major triad that uses flats?

B-Flat Major triad

Start on B-flat, what note is a Major 3rd (2 Whole-Steps) up from B-flat? B-flat to C = Whole-Step, and C to D =another Whole-Step, so D is a Major 3rd above B-flat. (Remember, since B to C is only a Half-Step, B-flat to C is a Whole-Step.) Starting then on D, what note is minor 3rd (1 steps) above D? D to E= Whole-Step, E to F = step. So the answer is F. B-flat Major triad = B-flat, D, F

A handy way that you can check your work is to make sure that the last note of the triad is a Perfect 5th (3 steps) above the root. Lets check our answers.

E Major triad= E, G-sharp, B Starting on E, E to F-sharp = Whole-Step, F-sharp to G-sharp = Whole-Step (2 steps so far), G-sharp to A = Half- Step (2 steps so far), and A to B = Whole-Step, for a total of 3 steps. Side note (again): You may be wondering why I chose the order of steps that I did. (Whole Whole Half Whole).

The reason is that out of habit I went in a sequence of steps that followed the recipe for a Major scale. This isnt the only way to do things; so long as you correctly account for each letter of the alphabet youll be fine. What I mean by accounting for every letter is making sure that after E you have some type of F, and after F you have some type of G, etc.

This changes the order of steps, but the total when added up will stay the same, so E and B are always a Perfect 5th (3 steps) apart.

What about our flat-key chord, B-flat Major? B-flat Major= B-flat, D, F B-flat to C = Whole-Step, C to D = Whole-Step (2 steps so far), D to E-flat = Half-Step (2 steps), E-flat to F = Whole-Step, for a total of 3 steps. So B-flat and F are separated by a distance of 3 steps, making them a Perfect 5th apart.

On your own, try finding the 3 notes of the triad for the following Major chords: A Major D Major F Major E-flat Major B-Major

On your guitar, try playing the 3 notes of each triad both on single string, and then across strings. This is a great way to make connections on your fretboard. Minor triads If you feel pretty comfortable with Major triads already then minor triads shouldnt be very hard. Like Major triads, minor triads have 3 notes and the first and last note are separated by a Perfect 5 th, which you know by now is 3 steps. Minor triads are also similar in that they have a move of a Major 3rd and a move of a minor 3rd. The only difference is that now that minor 3rd move comes first.

So to build a minor triad, begin at the root note and move up a minor 3rd (1 steps), and then move up by a Major 3rd (2 steps). Its pretty intuitive, a Major triad begins by moving a Major 3rd up from the root note, and a minor 3rd begins by moving a minor 3rd up from the root note.

Try building the notes in an E minor triad. E is the root note, move up a minor 3rd (1 steps). E to F-sharp = Whole-Step, F-sharp to G = Half-Step. So G is the minor 3rd. To find the last note of the triad, move up a Major 3rd (2 steps) from G. G to A = Whole-Step, A to B = Whole-Step. B is a Perfect 5th above E, and its a Major 3rd above G. E minor triad = E, G, B

Lets try a harder one, lets build an F minor triad. F is the root note, so we need to find a minor 3rd (1 steps) above the root. F to G = Whole-Step, G to Aflat = Half-Step. So A-flat is the minor 3rd. After this note, we need to find a Major 3rd (2 steps) above A-flat. So A-flat to B-flat = Whole-Step, and if you move another Whole-Step above B-flat you get a C. This means that: C is the Perfect 5th of the triad. F minor triad = F, A-flat, C

Ok, so how do you feel about triads so far? Just remember that you need 3 notes; a root note, some type of 3rd (either a Major 3rd or a minor 3rd above the root note) and a Perfect 5th (the note 3 steps above the root note). Once again, it would be a good idea to try some examples on your own and then compare your answers to those at the end. Try finding the 3 notes in each of the following minor triads:

D minor G minor C-sharp minor

A minor F-sharp minor

Once again, try playing these on your guitar. Purposefully play in different places on the fretboard so youre forced to think where the notes are.

Chord voicings and inversions In this section well discuss the different ways that you can order the notes of a chord to make it sound slightly different. Think of a chord played with 2 different voicings as being the same color, but a slightly different shade. Truthfully, this section will only contain a brief overview of chord inversions. As I mentioned earlier, you could spend a whole year in a music theory class discussing the details of this subject. Typically it would be included under the heading of counterpoint and voice-leading. The goal here is to give you a basic understanding of chord inversions so that youll be able to play and communicate with other musicians, not necessarily to give an exhaustive study of voice-leading and chords. Ok, lets dive in. So, what does the word inversion mean in relation to chord anyway? Inversion = a chord when the root note is not the lowest sounding note Let me back up for a second and say that the root note is defined as the note that the chord is named for. So in a G Major chord, G is the root note. In an A minor chord, A is the root note. The bass note of a chord is the lowest-sounding note, but not necessarily the root note. When the bass note and the root note are the same, then the chord is in whats called root position. What does that mean? Well, in a G Major chord, if the note G (the root note) is the lowest-sounding note, then that G Major chord is in root position. Do you remember the notes of the G Major chord? You should have them in your notes, but to review the notes are: G B D Lets say you were to play the G chord in a way that the note B was the lowest-sounding note. Then the chord would be in an inversion. In a moment well learn how to notate this particular chord. Most guitar players play from whats called a lead sheet, and instead of having every note written out, guitarists tend to look at chord symbols. A chord symbols is just letter, telling the name of the chord.

For example, the chord symbol for a G Major chord would be written simply as G. An E minor chord would be written as Em, as the lower-case m stands for minor. When people are taking about chords, they tend to just say G instead of G Major. In music, when you dont qualify a chord, that means its Major. Also, when a chord is just written with the name of the chord, so G or Am, that means the chord is in root position. To review, root position is when the root note and the bass note of the chord are the same.

So, lets go back to our G Major chord with a B as the lowest-sounding note (bass note). This chord would be notated: G/B. The first letter is the name of the chord, so its a G chord. The B after the slash means that B is the bass note. Sometimes youll hear people call this type of chord G over B. That means that it is a G chord and that all the notes in the chord are higher-sounding than that B note. Another example would be: Am/E This means that it is an A minor chord, but that an E note is the bass (lowest-sounding) note. Its worth pointing out that in music theory textbooks, in most examples of inversions, the bass note is one of the notes of the triad. In actual songs, sometimes the bass note is a note thats not in the chord, so dont let this confuse you. Believe it or not, that pretty much covers all the information were going to cover on chord inversions. Its true that all the technical information on chord inversions and voice-leading could easily fill an entire book. I hope that at some point you continue your study of chords, but for now I want to equip you with what you need to make music and understand how chords and chord progressions are put together. That being said, I think the only thing we need to discuss before moving on is why we use chord inversions. Basically, we use chord inversions to move more smoothly between chords. When we talk about moving smoothly in music, what we mean is moving by the smallest amount possible. Moving by a Whole-Step or Half-Step sounds smooth, whereas moving a leap (an interval thats bigger than a single step) is less so. That doesnt mean its bad, just less smooth.

Lets try an example with 2 chords; lets say we want to move the chords Dm and A (D minor and A Major). Before we start, lets find the notes that are in each chord. D minor = Root, minor 3rd, Perfect 5th

A Major= Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th So in the D minor chord, start on D, then go up 1 steps, this should give you F. From F, go up 2 WholeSteps (a Major 3rd), this should bring you to A. D minor = D F A For the A Major chord, start on A, and the first move you make should be up a Major 3rd, to C-sharp. From C-sharp, move up a minor 3rd (1 steps) to E. A Major = A C-sharp E

Now lets say that were going to start with the D minor chord, and that were going to play the D minor chord in root position. That means that D is going to be the root note. Looking ahead to the A Major chord, what note in the chord is closest to D? You have the notes A, Csharp, and E to choose from. You probably said C-sharp, which is only a Half-Step away from D. Ok, so instead of playing the A Major chord in root position, you can play it as an inversion. In this case you would want to play it as A/C-sharp, or A over C-sharp. This is kind of exercise is actually much easier on the piano keyboard, but its worth giving it a try on the guitar. You dont have to have all the notes in perfect order; the most important thing is to have the correct bass note. You dont have to hold all 3 notes of the triad at once, you can start by playing the notes of the triads one at a time, either all on the same string or across strings. In the next section, we will start seeing what happens when you build a chord starting on each of note of a scale. This will give you a set of chords to choose from when deciding what chords to use for a chord progression or a song.

Building chords on each note of a scale (Division of chords)

Major Scale

If you remember the C Major scale, you know that the scale begins and ends on C and that there are no sharps or flats. C Major scale = C D E F G A B C Using that set of notes, what happens if you build a chord on every note of the scale? Think of it this way, you can start on a note and leapfrog over the next note to the note that 2 spots away, and then repeat that process. Its simpler than it sounds. For example: start on C, leapfrog over D to E. From E, leapfrog over F to G. (C E G.) Try the same thing starting on D. Leapfrog from D to F, leapfrog from F to A. (D F A) Lets do one more. Start on E and leapfrog from E to G. Then leapfrog from G to B. (E G B) You can do this for every note of the scale. The question then becomes, what kind of triad do get when you build a chord on each scale degree? Take a minute to figure out what kind of triads we have on the examples above, and then well look at what triads you get on each scale degree.

Ok, so heres the breakdown of what kind of triad (Major or minor) you get when you build a triad off of each scale degree. Scale degree 1 (root note) = Major triad Scale degree 2 = minor triad Scale degree 3 = minor triad Scale degree 4 = Major triad Scale degree 5 = Major triad Scale degree 6 = minor triad Scale degree 7 = diminished triad Scale degree 8 (root note, same as scale degree 1)

Theres a good chance your saying, whoa, hold on, whats with that scale degree 7 deal, whats a diminished triad? Good question. A diminished triad is a triad that is built by moving up 2 consecutive minor 3rds. This means you move up by 1 steps, and then move up 1 steps again. This is a total of just 3 steps. Remember, a Perfect 5th is 3 steps, so were coming up a bit short here. It is important to note that a Perfect 5th doesnt become minor if its lowered by a Half-Step, it becomes diminished. That means that a diminished triad has a root, minor 3rd and a diminished 5th. When you play a diminished triad it sounds kind of like a minor triad, but with a little darker, tense sound. In the music theory world, chords that are based off of a given scale are often represented by Roman numerals. A Major chord uses upper-case numeral and a minor scale uses lower-case numerals. This means that for a Major scale, the division of chords (the chords you get when you build a chord on each scale degree is: I ii iii (Half-Step move to) IV V vi vii (Half-Step move to) I

So youll notice the 7th scale degree is written vii. The lower case Roman numeral 7 with the super script 0 is the diminished chord symbol. Its very important (in terms of music, anyway) that you remember the recipe for the Major scale: Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half The division of chords moves the same way. For example, the 3rd chord is a minor chord, and the root note of the 4th chord (which is a Major chord) is only a Half-Step away. You can think if this division of chords as formula, and depending on what key you are in, the chords change accordingly. Lets compare 2 different Major keys. C Major- chords C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major, A minor, B diminished, (C Major) G Major-chords G Major, A minor, B minor, C Major, D Major, E minor, F-sharp diminished, (G Major)

Notice that both times, we get 3 Major chords, 3 minor chords, and 1 diminished chord. This will be true of every single scale and mode that we build chords from. The only difference is where those Major, minor, and diminished chords fall.

For now, lets look at where the Major and minor chords fall when you build chords on each scale degree. The Major chords are I, IV, and V These chords are often referred to as the 1, 4, and 5 chords. They are the tonal pillars of any given Major key, and you can use them to play thousands of different songs. Lets take a look at what alphabet letter each of these chords is in a few different Major keys. C Major= I is C, IV is F, V =G G Major= I is G, IV Is C, V is D D Major= I is D, IV Is G, V is A

Now lets try some flat keys. F Major= I is F, IV is B-flat, V is C B-flat Major= I is B-flat, IV is E-flat, V is F Since you know that the 1, 4, and 5 are Major, which ones are minor? Thats right, the 2, 3, and 6 chords. In Roman numerals these are written as ii, iii, vi As an exercise, try figuring out the minor chords for the Major keys above. So for example, in the key of C Major, ii would be D minor, iii would be E minor, etc. Youll hear people use the term chord progression. A chord progression is just a list of the chords that are in a song, in the order that they appear (or progress). What weve been working on this section is sometimes called the division of chords. The division of chords for each key is like a list of the chords that are available to use in any given key. So if you were writing a song in C Major, you could use a C chord, an F chord, a G chord, a D minor chord, etc. Some readers may be thinking that this seems a little limiting; it might sound like Im saying that you have to stay within the bounds of the division of chords for any key. Fortunately thats not the case. You can totally use a chord that is not part of the division of chords for a particular key, if you do, that chord is whats called a borrowed chord. Its called this because the chord is borrowed from some other keys division of chords.

The division of chords serves as a guide that you may or may not choose to follow. If you play these chords, everything will sound technically correct; it will sound like youre staying in the same key. That being said, Im not promising it will actually be original, beautiful music, thats the part thats up to you. The division of chords (and everything in this book) is just a tool, and its up to you to use it, which is the fun part. Ok, with that being said, lets take a quick look at the division of chords in minor keys. Once youre a rock star at the division of chords in good old fashioned Major and minor keys, well move to the last part of the book, where youll learn the division of chords for the different modes with a focus on quickly finding the best chord progression to make it obvious youre playing in a modal key, like A Dorian or E Mixolydian. Once you know the chords that you want or what chords are available to you in a particular key, then you can always look fingerings for the chords in a reference book or chord chart online.

Minor Scales

Lets start by reviewing the notes that are in an A minor scale, as well as the recipe. A minor = A B C D E F G A Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole The concept remains the same as with the Major scale, we need to build a chord on each note of the scale by leapfrogging two separate times. In other words, to build a chord on the note A, start on A, leapfrog from A (over B) to C, and then leapfrog again from C (over D) to E. This means that the first chord we get has the notes A C and E. What kind of chord is that? A to C is 1 steps, so that is a minor 3rd. From C to E is 2 Whole-Steps, so its a Major 3rd. So this process of moving up a minor 3rd and then moving up a Major 3rd gives us a minor chord. Lets do one more example and then Ill write out the chord thats on each scale degree. This time start on B, and leapfrog to D. That is 1 steps, so its a minor 3rd. If you leapfrog again, going from D to F, what kind of interval is that? Its also 1 steps, so its another minor 3rd. So this type of chord (a chord built with two consecutive minor 3rds) is called a diminished chord. Its not a pretty chord, but used in the right context it can sound pretty cool. This means that in a regular minor scale, the chord built on the 2nd scale degree is always a diminished chord.

Ok, so here are the scale degrees in a minor scale with the chords that are built on each scale degree. Keep in mind that the minor scale has a Major 2nd, Perfect 4th, and Perfect 5th just like a Major scale. The 3rd, 6th, and 7th scale degrees are all a Half-Step lower than they would be in a Major Scale, meaning that each of these scale degrees is a Half-Step closer to the root.

Minor scale Scale degree 1 (root note) = minor triad Scale degree 2 = diminished triad Scale degree 3 = Major triad Scale degree 4 = minor triad Scale degree 5 = minor triad Scale degree 6 = Major triad Scale degree 7 = Major triad Scale degree 8 (root note, same as scale degree 1) So the division of chords for a minor scale is as follows: i ii(Half-Step move to) III iv v (Half-Step move to) VI VII

You may notice that once again that the i, iv, and v chord are all the same, in this case they are all minor. The most straight-forward way to establish a Major or minor key is to play the 1, 4 and 5 chords. Youll notice that the 3, 6, and 7 chords are all Major chords. This is true for any regular minor scale that you happen to build chords on.

Try finding the i, iv, and v chords for the following minor keys:

E minor G minor D minor B minor F-sharp minor Once youve written them in your notes, try playing the i iv and v chord for each minor key on your guitar. Make up your own combinations. In no time youll be ready to move to Nashville and start your songwriting career.

Once you have those chords written out in your notes and youve played them on your guitar, see if you can fill in the other chords in the division of chord for each minor key. Remember that there is only a Half-Step between the 2nd and 3rd scale degrees, and the 5th and 6th scale degrees. This means that once you have the chord built on the 2nd or 5th scale degree, the root note for the next chord is only a HalfStep higher.

Its one of those things that I say a lot, but make sure that you have really processed the information in this section before going on. Basically, the division of chords tells you what chords are in the key youre playing. Remember that you dont have to stay within these 7 different chords. You can use a chord thats not in a particular keys division of chords, this is called a borrowed chord (because its borrowed from some other keys division of chords. Before we move on to the division of chords for modal keys (and I know you can hardly wait), well take a moment to discuss a very important topic. Why Use Roman Numerals? Several times in lessons Ive had people ask me why musicians use Roman numerals to identify chords. Its a fair question, and although this may seem unlikely at first glance the reason musicians use Roman numerals for chords is that it is an easier, more practical way to talk about chords. Let me explain, when describing a chord progression using Roman numerals, the first thing you need to know is the name of the key, and whether its Major or minor. The way Roman numerals are used is that you have either an upper-case letter by itself, which tells you that its a Major key, or else you have an upper-case letter with a lower-case m,: which means its a minor key. For example A: = the key of A Major

Am: = the key of A minor Once youve established the key, then you can write the Roman numerals for the chords that you want. In the example above, if I were to write I after the A:, it would mean to play the 1 chord in the key of A Major, which of course is just an A Major chord. What if you saw the following? A: I IV That would mean you should play the chord built on the 1st scale degree of an A Major scale, which is an A Major chord, and the chord built on the 4th scale degree, which is a D Major chord. Notice that both Roman numerals are written in upper-case, this tells you immediately that both chords are Major chords. I like using Roman numerals because theyre actually very practical instructions on what to play. If the numeral is upper-case, you have to play a Major chord, if its lower-case, you have to play a minor chord. When we get to modal keys, well start altering the number of the scale degrees. Remember that any mode is based off of either a Major or a minor scale, with a certain scale degree being altered. Well talk about that more soon, but for now How about a minor key? Em: i VII What chord would you play here? The first one is pretty easy, you would play a minor chord based off of the first scale degree in the key of E minor, which is E, giving us an E minor chord. For the next chord youll need to play a Major chord where the root note of the chord is the 7th degree of an E minor scale. This chord is D Major. The great thing about using Roman numerals is that you can easily play the same song in different keys. This is the reality of playing with other musicians, or if you want to sing along with your playing but the music isnt in your vocal range. You may know a song in one key, but you may want to play it another key. If you know what the Roman numerals for the chord progression are, you can quickly transpose (transpose is the musical term for taking the same song and putting into another key) the song and be making music in no time. Lets look at how you can play that chord progression above in some different key. To review, the progression was written like this: Em: i VII Remember that this means to play an E minor chord and a D Major chord.

What if we had the same progression, but in the key of A minor? It would be written like this; Am: i VII See if you can figure out what chords you would then need to play. The first one is pretty easy to figure out, you just play an A minor chord, since youre going to want to play a minor chord that has a root note that is the first scale degree of an A minor scale. The next Roman numeral is upper-case, meaning that it is a Major chord. Its a Roman numeral 7, meaning that is the 7th scale degree of an A minor scale. This means you want to build a Major chord on the note G, since G is the 7th scale degree. That means that the indication Am: i VII; means to play an A minor chord and a G Major chord.

Lets try an example in a Major key. C: I V So we want to play in the key of C Major, and we want the 1 chord and the 5 chord. Since both Roman numerals are upper-case, we want both of the chords to be Major chords. Once again, the first chord is pretty easy. We just want to play the chord built on the 1st scale degree in the ley of C, so we want a C Major chord. Now try to find the chord built on the 5th scale degree. The root note for this chord will be a Perfect 5th above C (3 steps), so it will be a Major chord built on G, more commonly called a G Major chord. Lets do 1 more example. G: I vi ii Ok, so this time you will start with the 1 chord. This is a G Major chord. Since the next 2 chords are lower-case Roman numerals they will both be minor chords. The vi means to play a minor chord based off the 6th scale degree in a G Major scale. This note is a Major 6th (4 steps) above G, and is the note E. This means that in this case the vi is an E minor chord. The ii is actually a little bit easier. All it means is that you want to build a minor chord on the 2nd degree of the scale. This is just a Major 2nd (Half-Step) above the root note; so in this case its an A note and an A minor chord. That means that: G: I vi ii means to play the chords G, Em, and Am

Dont let it confuse you that the even though the note E is a Major 6th from the root note G, you build a minor triad off it when using the other notes from the scale. The 6th note in a Major scale is Major in terms of scale degree but minor in terms of the triad thats built off of it.

Remember that when you see Roman numerals in a book or in a guitar magazine, you should think of them as blueprints. If you see something like, C: III, that means to play a Major chord (since its an upper-case Roman numeral) based on the 3rd scale degree (which is E). You may be confused because in the division of chords, the chord based on the 3rd scale degree (or the 3 chord) is typically minor. Thats true, meaning that the indication C: III is telling you to play a borrowed chord. Unfortunately, there usually isnt any bright shining sign that a chord is borrowed or not. Its up to you to recognize the chords that stay within the confines of the typical chords of a particular scale. For the sake of reference, Ill write the division of chords based on a Major and a minor scale below. Division of Chord- Major Scale I ii iii (Half-Step to) IV V vi vii (Half-Step to) I

Division of Chord- minor scale i ii (Half-Step to) III iv v (Half-Step to) VI VII i

These chords are sometimes referred to as the diatonic chords in each scale. This means that these are the chords you get when you build triads on each scale degree and stay within the notes of that scale. Remember that you can use chords that arent in the diatonic division of chords, when you play a chord thats doesnt fit into a particular keys division of chords, its called a borrowed chord. (Because its borrowed from a different keys division of chords) Before you go on, try writing out and then playing on your guitar the division of chords for several Major keys and several minor keys. Remember that every key is going to have 3 Major chords, 3 minor chords, and 1 diminished chord. Also keep in mind that if you come a triad where you find youre moving by 2 minor 3rd moves in a row, then that chord is the diminished chord. Alright, were almost done. The last thing well talk about is the division of chords and resulting chord progressions for the different modal scales that you can play on your guitar. Also, as a coda of sorts well have a section on the harmonic minor scale. The harmonic scale isnt all that crazy, but its one of those things that can trip people up. From a practical songwriting and composition standpoint, its a really

good thing to know so well talk about it at the end as kind of a bonus section. For now, lets move into chord progressions that are derived from modal scales.

Modal Chord Progressions

Mixolydian

Ok, here we finally are. Before we dive in headfirst to chord progressions based on modes, its important to realize that the Major and minor division of chords, the division of chords that we just finished talking about, are considered to be the default setting for Roman numerals. Let me explain. Lets start by reviewing the Division of chords for a Major scale. I ii iii IV V vi vii I

Keep in mind that there is a Half-Step between the iii and IV chords, as well as between the vii and I chords. Ok, so do you remember how to make a Mixolydian mode (scale)? You make a Mixolydian mode by taking a Major scale and flatting the 7th scale degree. All the other notes in the scale stay the same; the 7th scale degree goes down a Half-Step. Based on the notes that are in Mixolydian mode, this is how you would write the division of chords for a Mixolydian mode: I ii iii (Half-Step move to) IV v vi (Half-Step move to) bVII I

So I want to call your attention to 2 things. First off, youll notice that the chord built off of the 7th scale degree is now upper-case, and it also has a flat sign in front of it. The flat sign indicates the note that this scale is based off of is a Half-Step lower than you would typically expect in a Major key. This is exactly what we want, since the definition of a Mixolydian scale is a Major scale with the 7th scale degree lowered by a Half-Step. The second thing to take note of is that several of the chords above are different than what youd find in a Major division of chords. How many chords exactly are different? Well, think of it this way, how many notes are in a triad? Since there are 3 notes in a triad, that means that every note in a scale is going to function in a chord in 3 different ways. That means that each note of the scale or mode is going to be

the root note of a chord, the 3rd (Major or minor) of some other chord, and the 5th (most likely the Perfect 5th, but possibly the diminished 5th) of yet another chord. All that means is that when you change a note in a Major scale or minor scale, then 3 chords are going to be affected. Notice in the above division of chords for a Mixolydian mode that the v chord is minor and the iii chord is now diminished. To come back to the point we covered at the beginning of this section, the Major and minor division of chord is considered the default setting for Roman numerals. What this means in practice is that when you see the Roman numeral bVII, the flat sign refers to the fact that that scale degree is a Half-Step lower than what youd normally see in a Major scale. To illustrate, lets use C Mixolydian. C Mixolydian is very similar to a C Major scale, the only difference is that the 7th scale degree is a Half-Step lower. So lets spell (write out) the notes in C Mixolydian mode. C D E F G A B-flat C

If the above scale was just a regular C Major scale, the notes would be very similar, but the 7th degree would just be the note B. (B-natural) In C Mixolydian mode, the 7th scale degree is a Half-Step lower, so its a B-flat. So if you see the indication; C: bVII, this means that you should play a Major chord. (since its an uppercase Roman numeral) The upper-case C before the colon means our starting point is C Major (since its just an upper-case letter with no lower-case m). The Roman numeral with the flat sign before it means the root note of this chord should be a Half-Step lower than the scale degree youd typically encounter in a C Major scale. All that to say, C : bVII means that you should play B-flat Major chord.

To stay with C Mixolydian for a second, what would C: v mean? Since its a lower-case Roman numeral, it means that its going to be some kind of minor chord. Since its a Roman-numeral 5, its going to be based on the 5th scale degree of a C Major scale. This note is a Perfect 5th (3 steps) above C. So the note is G, meaning that C: v means to play a G minor chord. Lets see if a G minor chord makes sense in the concept of C Mixolydian. Something I tell my guitar students to be aware of is the modal note, in this case, the Mixolydian note. What I mean by this is to be aware of the note that changes between the regular Major or minor scale and the modal scale.

So in this case, the Mixolydian note is B-flat, because its the only note thats different compared to a regular C Major scale. Going back to that G minor chord, lets find out what notes are in it. Remember that a minor chord starts at the root, goes up a minor 3rd (1 steps) and then moves up a Major 3rd (2 steps). Relative to the root, this gives us the intervals of a root, minor 3rd, and Perfect 5th. Starting on G, if we move up 1 steps, we get a B-flat. G to A = 1 Whole-Step, A to B-flat= total of 1 steps. Note that it cant be an A-sharp, it has to be called a B-flat. This is because you have to leapfrog over the alphabet letter that right next to the root note. Since G is the root, you have to leapfrog over the alphabet letter A and land on some form of the letter B, in this case B-flat. From B-flat we need to go up 2 Whole-Steps. B-flat to C is a Whole-Step, and C to D is another WholeStep, for a total of 2 steps. This means the last note of the G minor triad is D. G minor triad = G, B-flat, D Notice that our Mixolydian note, B-flat, is right in the middle of this chord. So when youre putting together a Mixolydian chord progression, an effective and simple way to really get that Mixolydian sound is use the bVII and v chords. Its possible that youre wondering about the ii chord. Technically, the Mixolydian note is present in this chord as well. But since its a diminished chord, its kind of a weird (unstable is the technical music theory term) chord, so you probably wont use it much, even if its good to know that its there. When we move on, well go through the other modes at a quicker pace. For now, I just want to hammer home the point that youll start with either the Major or minor division of chords and alter the chords depending on what scale degree is change for that mode. In line with that thought, you should have this in your notes someplace already, but Ill write the definition of each modal scale below, so youll have it all in 1 handy spot. Mixolydian = Major scale with a lowerd 7th Lydian = Major scale with a raised 4th Dorian = minor scale with a raised 6th Phyrgian = minor scale with a lowered 2nd Locrian minor scale with a lowered 2nd and lowered 5th

Since Lydian and Dorian modes have raised scale degrees in them; that means youre going to have a sharp sign in front of the Roman numeral indicating the chord built on the 4th scale degree when youre working with Lydian mode, and on the chord built on the 6th scale degree in Dorian mode. Likewise, youll have a flat sign in front of the Roman numeral for the chord built on the 7th scale degree in Mixolydian, and in front of the Roman numeral for the chord built on the 2nd scale degree in Phyrgian. And the same is true for the chords built on the 2nd and 5th scale degree in Locrian. So we already have looked at the division of chords for one mode, Mixolydian. To help you have an idea of how to quickly establish a chord progression that works for a given mode, Ill end each modes section by giving you a list of the most commonly used chords for that mode. As you use Roman numerals to play chords more, youll become more familiar with what chords show up in what modes and so when you see a certain Roman numeral youll immediately know that youre playing either in a regular Major or minor scale or in a modal scale. Mixolydian chords: Major key: v bVII

So a big sign that you are in Mixolydian mode is when you see a minor chord built on the 5th scale degree, and a Major chord built on the flatted 7th scale degree. Next well talk about Lydian mode.

Lydian

Lydian mode is a Major scale, with a sharped 4th scale degree. There is a Half-Step separating the 4th and 5th scale degrees and the 7th and 8th(root) scale degrees. I think that this mode has a dreamy quality to it; its used often by film composers to set an ethereal, moody atmosphere. Here is the division of chords for Lydian mode: I II iii #iv (Half-Step move to) V vi vii (Half-Step move to) I

Youll notice that we have 3 Major chords, 3 minor chords, and 1 diminished chord. Whats most distinctive about Lydian is that the chord built on the 2nd scale degree is a Major chord. If you play a C Major chord and establish C as your tonal home, by playing a D Major chord youll get a bright, moody sound that will establish that youre playing in Lydian mode.

The important thing to keep in mind when youre playing a chord progression in C Lydian is to make sure that you establish C as your tonal center, or tonal home base. (If you were playing in G Lydian, then you would want to do the same thing with the note G.)This is because there are a lot of songs that use 2 Major chords whose root notes are separated by a Whole-Step (like C and D are), and these songs dont use Lydian mode. As I said earlier, the modes are all about context. Try starting with C as your root note. Build the notes in a Lydian scale. Remember, the notes will the same as a C Major scale except that the 4th scale degree will be raised by a Half-Step. C Lydian C D E F-sharp G A B C

Why does playing a D Major chord after first establishing C as home base sound like Lydian? Well, lets find the notes in a D Major chord. Starting on D, we need to go up a Major 3rd (2 steps). D to E = Whole-Step, E to F-sharp = another Whole-Step. From F-sharp we need to go up a minor third (1 steps) F-sharp to G = Half-Step, G to A= Whole-Step. So the notes in a D Major triad are D, F-sharp, A. Once again, you see that F-sharp (the Lydian note) is right in the middle of that chord. If you want to play a Lydian chord progression, you can use any of the other chords that are listed in the Lydian division of chords, but the Major chord built on the 2nd scale degree is the most effective for hammering home the Lydian sound. As I said, well go through these a little faster, but feel free to do as many examples as you like in your notes. Build a Lydian scale on several different root notes and then write out the division of chords.try playing these chords in combinations that you like. When writing the division of chords, start with the Roman numerals, and then see if you can plug in the actual chords.

In C Lydian, the chords would be: C D Em F# G Am Bm C

In F Lydian, the chords would be: F G Am B C Dm Em F

Note that the 4th chord is B, thats because in a typical F Major scale, the 4th scale degree would be Bflat. In Lydian we need to raise the 4th scale degree but keep the same alphabet letter, so the B-flat becomes a B-natural. (or just B)

It would be a good idea to try some more examples using different root notes. Try G Lydian and D Lydian as well. Remember that the Roman numeral division of chords will stay the same, but that the alphabet letters that you plug in will be different. Take all the time you need to work through the Mixolydian and Lydian scales in your notes. Next well look at the modes based off a minor scale, Dorian and Phyrgian, and then end with a short section on Locrian.

Dorian

Ok, time for one of my favorite scales, Dorian mode. Dorian is based off of a minor scale, but it has a raised 6th scale degree. Another way to say it is that it is a minor scale with a Major 6th scale degree. The Major 6th refers to the 6th scale degrees distance from the root note. For example, in A Dorian, the 6th scale degree is F-sharp. In a regular A minor scale, it would be an Fnatural. The interval of a Major 6th is 4 steps above the root, whereas a minor 6th is only 4 WholeSteps above the root. Once again, 3 chords will be changed as a result of the 6th scale degree being sharped. As always, there will be 3 Major chords and 3 minor chords, along with 1 diminished chord. Here is the division of chords for Dorian mode: i ii (Half-Step move up to) III IV v vi (Half-Step move to) VII i

Note that there is a Half-Step between the 2nd and 3rd scale degree and the 6th and 7th scale degree. Try plugging in the actual alphabet letter notes for the division of chords in A Dorian: Am Bm (Half-Step to) C D Em F-sharp (Half-Step to) G Am

The single-most significant change in the division of chords between a regular minor scale and a Dorian mode is that the chord built on the 4th scale degree is a Major chord in Dorian mode. If you wanted to create a simple, back and-forth progression to set up an A Dorian mode, you could just go back and forth between an A minor chord and a D Major chord.

E Dorian

How about E Dorian? Just keep this progression in mind, Em: i IV

Since there is a Em before the colon, the i symbol means to play an E minor chord, since its the root note of a minor scale. The IV means to play a Major chord (since its upper-case) built on the 4th scale degree. The 4th scale degree is a Perfect 4th above the root note E. A Perfect 4th is the interval that is a distance of 2 steps. If you go 2 steps above E, you get an A note. So Em: i IV means to play an E minor chord and an A Major chord.

In the key of E minor, the 6th scale degree would be C. Since Dorian raises the 6th degree a Half-Step, in E Dorian the 6th scale degree is C-sharp. The question is how does this affect the chord built on the 4th scale degree? If the root note is E, then the 4th note of an E minor scale is A. (Actually this would be true even if it were an E Major scale, since both scales have a Perfect 4th.) Ok, so starting on A, if we go up a minor 3rd (1 steps), what note will you get? Thats right, C. If you go up a Major 3rd (2 steps) from C, you get to E. This formula, a minor 3rd plus a Major 3rd gives us a minor triad. So in regular minor, the chord built on the 4th scale degree is a minor chord. Starting on A again, going up a Major 3rd (2 Whole-Steps) gives you a C-sharp note. When E is the root note of the whole scale, C-sharp is the Dorian note. Going up a minor 3rd (1 steps) from C-sharp gives you an E note. So this formula of moving up a Major 3rd and then a minor 3rd gives you a Major chord. This shows us that in Dorian mode, the chord built on the 4th scale degree is Major. You can use the other chords in the Dorian division of chords in your chord progression and song as well, but if you want to most effectively hammer home the sound of Dorian, the first place to go after the i chord is the IV chord. As always, take as much time to play, listen, and write in your notes before moving on. Lets go on to Phyrgian and Locrian, and well finish with a brief section on how to think of Roman numerals. Phrygian mode

Ah, Phyrgian mode, it has such a distinctive sound. After the root, the next note is just a Half-Step away, so right off the bat you get a dark, moody sound. Remember that Phyrgian is a minor scale with a flatted 2nd scale degree, so 3 chords are going to be affected. Lets use A as our starting point again. Normally A minor would have no sharps or flats. Since we need to lower the 2nd scale degree by a Half-Step that means that one of the notes in the scale will use a flat.

Heres a regular A minor scale: A B C D F G A

So A Phyrgian would be: A B-flat C D E F G A

One way its sometimes described is as a minor scale with a minor 2nd scale degree. A regular minor scale has a note that is an interval of a Major 2nd from the root, but in Phyrgian mode the 2nd scale degree is a minor 2nd from the root. In Phyrgian mode, the Half-Steps occur between the 1st and 2nd scale degrees, and between the 5th and 6th scale degrees. Ill write out the division of chords here, and then talk more in-depth on how we got there. I (Half-Step move to) bII III iv v (Half-Step move to) VI vii i

Alright, so lets talk about that second chord bII. Right off the bat, you can tell that this is a Major chord because its an upper-case Roman numeral. The flat sign is what sometimes gives people trouble. The flat sign tells you that the root note of this chord is the 2nd scale degree of a minor scale, but a Half-Step lower. This is what we were referring to earlier when I said that the regular Major and minor scales are the default setting for the Roman numerals. The indication Am: bII, means that the jumping off point is an A minor scale. This may be apparent by now, by its worth pointing out that the Am indication at the beginning will never tell you if you are in a modal scale. There is no way to notate the scale being used is A Phrygian instead of A minor, so its up to you to recognize the signature Roman numerals that tip you off that you are in a modal key. I really like the tension in Phyrgian mode between the root chord, which is minor, and the chord built on the 2nd scale degree, which is Major. Since the root note of these 2 chords are only a Half-Step apart, the Major chord sounds dissonant and aggressive in a way that you dont usually associate with Major chords. Ill write the signature chords for each of the modal keys. Remember that scale and key can technically be thought of as being the same thing, so A Dorian can be thought of as a key the same way that A Major or A minor is a key. Youll notice that the list doesnt have every single chord from each modes division of chords. Thats because all you really need to establish a modal key is one well-placed chord. You can also use the other chords that arent affected in the division of chords to make an interesting chord progression.

I think its better and easier in the long run to really comfortable knowing the main chord that establishes a certain modal key, and then you can add a few chords around that chord. Many songs only use 3 or 4 chords, and some only use 2 chords. Try to become really comfortable playing a simple chord progression for each mode, and in time youll become more and more knowledgeable about all the chords that are in a particular modes division of chords. That being said, here is the breakdown of the signature chords for each mode. Signature chords for Major modes Mixolydian- v, bVII Lydian-II Signature chords for minor modes Dorian- IV Phyrgian- bII

If you use these chords along with the other chords in each modes division of chords, youll be well on your way to making some great chord progressions and songs. The best way to start is to alternate between the modes root chord and the signature chord. On your own, try playing the following progressions, you should also be able to identify the particular mode. Am: i Em: i G: I D: I E: I Bm: i IV bII v bVII II IV

Locrian mode

Lets finish up by talking about Locrian mode. Locrian mode is a minor scale with a flatted 2nd scale degree and flatted 5th scale degree. Part of the reason it sounds so, lets say, unique is that when you build a triad on the root note of the scale, you get a diminished triad. Remember that a diminished triad is a chord that is built by moving up a minor 3rd and then moving up another minor 3rd. This means that you move up 1 steps and then 1 steps again, for a total of 3 Whole-Steps. Thats a Half-Step shy of a Perfect 5th, meaning you end up with a diminished 5th. Lets use the starting note of A, and build an A Locrian scale. A B-flat C D E-flat F G A

Since a regular A minor scale would have no sharps or flats, to make it a Locrian scale, you need to lower the 2nd and 5th scale degrees, so in this case you need to make these notes flat. Now lets look at the division of chords for Locrian. i (Half-Step move to) bII iii iv (Half-Step move to) V VI vii i

Its fair to ask how, if ever, Locrian mode is used in actual music. Locrian mode is most likely to be used in a jazz context. Jazz players tend to think of Locrian mode as the diminished scale. So when a jazz player comes to a diminished chord in a song, they will use Locrian mode to solo over it. In practice, youll never use Locrian mode as its own key or as a tonal center, the way that you would use Dorian or Mixolydian. That doesnt mean you have to miss out on playing in Locrian mode however. It just means that you will use it more fleetingly, and youll use it as 1 part of a larger context. You wont jam in the key of A Locrian, but you might play an A Locrian scale run if you come across an A-diminshed chord in a song.

Thats it for the modes, you now have everything you need to know in order to become a master. Its up to you to apply what youve learned so far. I recommend spending lots of time just playing in a particular mode, playing the notes of the mode individually and then playing the chords that go along with that mode. This information will take a while to sink in, and thats fine. Weve covered a lot of information, and it will take time before you internalize everything weve talked about. Sometimes you need to let things simmer a little bit before they take hold. As you continue to study and practice, try taking what youve learned and see if you can use it to make sense of the information youll find in other books. For example, since you know that Dorian is a minor scale with a raised 6th scale degree, see if you can recognize where that 6th scale degree is in the fingerings that you find a guitar reference book. Try

figuring out how it would be the fingering would be different if it was a regular minor scale. Once, you know why something is the way it is, plugging in the actual notes and fingerings is much easier. Ok, as promised well have a short, bonus section on harmonic minor.

Bonus Section- Harmonic minor I get a lot of questions about harmonic minor, mainly along the lines of, what does harmonic minor mean? A harmonic minor scale is minor scale with the 7th scale degree raised a Half-Step. The word harmonic trips people up. What do you they mean by harmonic? Harmonic refers to harmony, and harmony is multiple things sounding together at the same time. So the word harmony refers to chords, because a chord is just multiple notes sounding at once. So you could think of harmonic minor as chordal minor. But we need to explore what that means, so Ill start by writing out the division of chords for regular minor (also called natural minor). i ii (Half-Step move to) III iv v (Half-Step move to) VI VII i

Notice that the chords built on the 1st and 5th scale degrees are both minor. This is a larger topic for another book, but when the 5 chord goes back to the 1 chord its called an authentic cadence. Lets say that were in the key of A minor. That would mean the v chord would be an E minor chord. If you play an E minor chord and then an A minor chord that sounds pretty good. It sounds like youve come to the end of a musical sentence. But what if you played an E Major chord and then an A minor chord? The end of that phrase sounds even stronger, or even more definitive. If you played an E Major chord in the key of A minor, the Roman numerals would written like this: Am: V i So you may notice that thats different than the division of chords written above. In the original division of chords, the 5th chord is minor (lower-case). In our stronger example, the 5th chord is Major, and written upper-case. The question then becomes what specifically is different between an E minor and an E Major chord? E minor chord = E, move up a minor 3rd to G, move up a Major 3rd to B E Major chord= E, move up a Major 3rd to G-sharp, move up a minor 3rd to B The only difference between the 2 chords is the G is raised to a G-sharp in the E Major chord. So how does G-sharp figure into the context of the A minor scale? Its the 7th scale degree, but its a Half-Step higher, so its a raised 7th scale degree.

That gives us the definition of a harmonic minor scale, a minor scale where the 7th scale degree is raised. Now you know why its called harmonic minor. Its called harmonic minor because the 7th scale degree is raised in order to change a harmony (chord). So by sharping the 7th scale degree, you turn the v (lowercase 5) chord into the V (upper-case) chord. So if you see this; Am: i v Youll want to use a regular minor scale to play or sing your melody solo. If you see this; Am: i V

Youll use a harmonic minor scale to play or sing your melody or solo. Its the same concept as with the modes, the Am at the beginning wont tell you that its harmonic minor, its up to recognize that the upper-case Roman numeral 5 (V) means that you should use the harmonic minor scale is to play over the chord progression.

Conclusion So thats it, I hope you have fun using the information in this book. Now its up to you to make the music that you want to make, using these tools to express yourself musically. This is a point of departure, not arrival. Now that your equipped with all the technical skills you need to navigate the world of notes and chords the fun part can start and you start exploring the possibilities of your instrument. Dont let the amount of information overwhelm you. You may want to spend some time becoming an expert on a particular mode or scale. After youve really absorbed one mode, the concept will sink in and youll be ready to take on more information. Refer to your notes often and try as much as possible to play the examples on your guitar. Go slowly at first and think hard about what note youre playing and how it fits into the context of the scale and the song. This may seem tedious at first but youll soon find that youre making connections and mapping out your fretboard, which will make the guitar seem like less and less of a mystery. A good goal is to see if you can get to the point where you can explain some of these concepts to another guitarist. Once youve internalized the information, pass it on to someone else. For one thing it will help you become even more fluent in your understanding, but it will also be rewarding to be able to help someone else. Thats the main thing Ive learned so far while teaching guitar lessons and I feel lucky to have the chance to work with so many great students. Thanks for reading and good luck.