Welcome to the seventh installment of the GuitArcitecture Mode Visualization lesson series.

If you see anything unfamiliar here, you may want to check out:

part one,

part two,

part 3a

part 3b

part 4

part 5 or

part 6 of the series

In the last lesson, I took a look at the modes and the circle of 5ths. In this lesson, I’m going to:

show how to modify a minor chord to cover minor modal interchanges and
show how to switch modal patterns in position

Complimenting Modes with Chords

A lot of print has been used to describe how modes fit with chords but substantially less has been written about modifying chords to fit various modes. I’ve developed this approach as an introductory way to work on modal interchange it does three things:

Limits harmonic content to simplify the modal interchange process
show a way to modify chords to work with modes and
develops the skill set for changing modes in position.

(All useful skills to have – btw). Since I’ve been dealing with C major – I’m going to look at A minor (the relative minor chord) first.

One Chord Modal Interchange Exercise – Minor

Before we get into the exercise, let’s make sure we’re clear about the modes we’ll be using. Of the parent major scale modes I’ve covered – there are 3 that can be used over an A minor chord:

A Dorian (G major):

Click to enlarge

A Aeolian (C major):

Click to enlarge

A Phrygian (F major):

Click to enlarge

Here’s the accompaniment pattern:

Repeat each bar 2-4 times ** Click to enlarge**

Here are the steps:

Record or loop the pattern in time

Playing over the loop practice switching modes each bar. I’ve outlined the fingerings above (see earlier posts in the series if you want to see how I derived them) with a sample rhythm. As an initial step – just practice ascending and descending the patterns in a scalar fashion.

As the level of familiarity with the modal interchanges increases, try removing the repeats and increasing the tempo (thus increasing the difficulty level).

Note:

Make sure you don’t start every bar with the low A root!

The goal of this is to be able to switch between modes “mid-stream”. As a first step, when playing these ascending and descending make sure that wherever you are in the pattern ascending or descending that you transition into the next mode smoothly. The initial goal here isn’t speed – it’s fluidity and being in control of switching between modes.

(See the melodic note below for some other tips once you get comfortable with the transition).

Now let’s examine each chord (and mode) individually:

First measure: arpeggiate a minor chord in 4/4 time (in this case A minor).

A minor – Play A Dorian, A Aeolian or A Phrygian – Click to enlarge

In order of increasing darkness, the modes could be played over that chord are:

A Dorian, A Aeolian and A Phrygian

Measure 2: adapt the chord to a specific mode using the mode’s characteristic note.

The first mode explored in this example will be A Phrygian. Since Phrygian’s characteristic note is the b2, I’ll change the 2nd root (A) with the b2 (Bb) creating an A minor (add b9).

A minor add b9 – Play A Phrygian – Click to enlarge

Measure 3: I’ll continue the chromatic motion on the G string changing the Bb to B natural. This produces an A minor (add 9).

A minor add 9 – Play A Dorian or A Aeolian – Click to enlarge

Measure 4: Now the 5^th of the chord (E) will move chromatically to F, emphasizing the b6 of the Aeolian mode creating an A minor (add 9, b6) chord.

A minor add 9 add b6 – Play A Aeolian – click to enlarge

Measure 5: The 6th of the chord will now move chromatically to F# emphasizing the natural 6 of the Dorian mode and creating an A minor (add 6, 9) chord.

A minor add 6, 9 – Play A Dorian – Click to enlarge

The chord progression then goes back to A minor where any of the 3 modes could be used.

Notes:

Harmonic – If you’re playing with another musician try taking this one chord vamp idea and using your ear to change the chord when the soloist changes modes. You can make other chordal alterations as well creating melodic movement in the voicing – is a great approach to use both in comping on a single chord as well as creating melodic movement between 2 chords (more on that in another lesson).

Melodic – As the soloist in this approach – try to change modes then the rhythm player changes chords. As soon as you get comfortable with the shapes – try making melodies and taking them through each modal change. (See part 5 for an example of that process with one modal shape).

The nice thing about playing with human beings (rather than sequences) is that people can introduce random factors into playing. A person can make all kinds of melodic or harmonic decisions that require the other person to change and adapt. It develops a dialog and allows people to become more attune to playing with other people (and ultimately more musical).

The next lesson will cover Major chord variations in this same style. But if you want to get a head start the process is the same as what I just covered, the characteristic notes for the major modes are:

Lydian: #4

Major: Natural 7

Mixolydian: b7

As before, just go through the lesson at your own pace and return to it as you need to. Also please feel free to post any questions you might have (or pm me at guitar.blueprint@gmail.com).

I hope this helps and as always, thanks for reading!

-SC

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