The Guitar Resource » Music Theory

Modes – applying the major scale modes

Joe — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:15:04 +0000

Understanding modes
Understanding how to apply modes is one of the tougher concepts for guitarists new to music theory. Before you even try and understand how to apply modes on guitar you have to first make sure you understand what modes are and how they are created. If you are not crystal clear on those concepts than read my post Modes- An introduction to learning modes before reading any further.

Why you should use modes
Before we start talking about how to use modes, lets talk about why you should use modes. One reason of using a mode is to melodically outline the harmonic changes of a song. What do I mean by that? Well by outline the chord changes of a song is your solos it makes your solos more interesting and relevant. It helps the listener hear the chord changes and keeps your melodies in sync with the harmonies.

Another reason to use modes is for composition. If you harmonize notes of a mode by stacking 3rds the same way you would with the major scale, you will have unique chords and the diatonic harmonies would be a lot different. (If that is confusing just keep reading).
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Learning the Circle of Fifths to Improve Your Guitar Playing

Joe — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 03:33:43 +0000

Many things about playing guitar are glamorous. Knowing the circle of fifth's is not one of those things. Maybe that’s why so many guitar players overlook it. But the circle of 5th's can provide you with a wealth of information that will help your playing in so many places. Before we take a look at the circle of fifths, here is what you can get out of knowing it:
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Modes- An introduction to learning modes

Joe — Sun, 06 May 2007 19:56:00 +0000

This is a post I have been hesitating on for a long time. Since the theory behind a mode is somewhat hard to grasp at first, I was not sure how to break it down modes in a way that you could easily understand. But due to the importance of modes I decided I can’t push them off any longer. But I will try to cover modes in installments and as clearly as I can. This first lesson on modes will just outline what modes are and the names of the modes of the major scale. In later lesson I will cover modes in greater detail. So lets get crack’n.
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Creating tension and resolution—the V7 to I chord change

Joe — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:03:00 +0000

(Before you read this lesson you should make sure you understand Diatonic Harmony and Buliding 7th chords)

Good composition is about creating music that has movement. Music that has peaks and valleys. If your chord progressions don’t go anywhere, they are just boring. The best way to create music with strong movement is to create tension and resolution in your compositions. How do you do that? Well the easiest and most common way is with V to I (“Five to One”) chord changes.
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Chord Extensions-Building 7th Chords

Joe — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:49:00 +0000

Now that you know how to build a chord and use it in a diatonic progression, we can take a look at making more complex harmonies and interesting sounding chords by using 7th chords.

A 7th chord is called an “extension” b/c you are adding additional notes to the 1-3-5 notes that compose a common triad. As the name indicates, we are adding the 7th note of the scale, so the chord has 4 notes, not 3.
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