Mastering Modal Arpeggios: Understanding What Makes Each Mode Unique

it in a musical sense , and so what I thought we would do today is maybe just look at each individual more , excuse me , each individual mode and how it applies to the chord itself , so you can hear the sounds . So let's say we're in G major .

Okay , so I'm going to play a G major scale here , and let me preface by saying this if you don't know anything about modes , this is not the place to start . Okay , so this is assuming that you already understand , you know modes , you understand what Dorian is , that sort of thing , and so I'm going to give you some insight as we go through this .

But understand that you know all your modes obviously are based off the parent major scale , the parent diatonic scale in this case being G major . So what we're going to do here is we're just going to take that G major scale and let's look at the seventh chords that are created out of that .

So , for instance , we would get G major seven , and then we would get a minor seven . That would be the two chord . And then we would get B minor seven , okay .

Then we would get C major seven , and then we would get D dominant seventh , and then we would get E minor seven , and then we would get and it's hard to finger this all the way up here , but this would be an F sharp diminished , right , f sharp half diminished , okay , and then we'd be back on G .

So we're getting G major seven , a minor seven , b minor seven , c major seven , d seven , e minor seven , and then F sharp diminished , f sharp half diminished . So the thing to understand here is what makes a mode sound like a mode , right ? Well , there are certain characteristics for each mode and that is usually like a note that is different .

So let's say , for instance , if we were playing G major , okay , g major gets the root , second , third , fourth , fifth , sixth , seventh , and then the root again . If we were playing G Lydian , for instance , g Lydian would be a raised four , and that's what gives it its sound is the fact that it has this raised fourth in it .

So every mode has a distinct difference between each one . So , if we think about this , I always like to compare apples with apples . So the major modes we can compare to each other and the minor modes we can compare to each other , okay .

So , for instance , if we were playing let's just do this super quick so you understand what I'm doing so G major I'd get . If I was playing G Lydian , I'd get the raised four . If I was playing G Mixley and I'd get the flat at seven . Okay , so I'm looking at G major and simply flatting that seven . That's how I would get Mix Lydian .

If I was looking at minor , for instance , let's go up to the relative minor , in this case E minor and if I was playing E natural minor or E Aeolian , I'd get one , two , flat , three , four , five , flat , six , flat , seven , relative to the major , of course , but and then one or relative to major .

So if I wanted Dorian , I would have to raise the six , one , two , three , four , five , six . If I wanted Phrygian , I'd have to just flat the two . One , two , three , four , five , okay . So just subtle differences between those .

Now , if we're playing in the key of G major , all of this is happening naturally , because we're always using the notes G major , a or G , a , b , c , d , e and F sharp . Okay , so if I play G major , I get G , a , b , c , d , e , f , sharp and then G again .

If I play A Dorian in the key of G major , I get A , b , c , d , e , f , sharp , g A . It's the same notes , right ? Nothing's changing , it's the same notes .

So you always have to remember , when you're talking about modes , either you're talking about it in the context of a parent scale or you're talking about them kind of as A being against each other , like Phrygian , you know , kind of a parallel thing . So you're looking at G major versus G Lydian .

Well , we're going to be looking at all of this in simply G major . So if we take those seven chords I just played you and we kind of grow them out and look at all of the intervals that each one has , we can hear mode , the mode that is deriving from each one of those .

So , for instance , let's take G major Again , g major , g major , seven , whatever it is you're thinking of there . But that major seventh is very , very powerful because it defines the sound of that Ionian or major scale , right , that major seven . So let's go ahead and make an arpeggio out of this .

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna go the root , the third , the fifth , the major seven , and right there are the notes of the G major seven . We're gonna keep going here , we're gonna go up to the ninth , the 11th , the 13th and then the root , all over again .

So what's really great about learning how to think about this this way is you can hear all of the notes that culminate this G major , g Ionian sound . It also teaches you to think about each interval . So you understand root , third , fifth , seventh , ninth or second . Right , 11th is the fourth , 13th is the sixth .

So when you're playing , instead of just soloing and always thinking about doing that , you can think about those sounds that you're creating and really , if you want to add in the sound of that major seven or that ninth , whatever it would be , as opposed to just playing up and down inside that scale .

So it's great for visualization , it's great for theory understanding and for tonality being able to listen to this and really hear the sound of that , because as we go through each one of these , they're gonna have their own unique sound

. Let's look at the next one . We have A minor , the mode that exists . Here . We're in the key of G major . We're playing the second mode , which is A Dorian . So when we play this , we've got ourselves the . I'll just play it for you first here , just so you can hear this .

So I'm playing a five , eight , seven , five , nine , seven , seven and then five . Now what am I playing ?

I'm playing the root relative to the A here , the root minor , third , fifth , there's my seventh , a flat seven , my ninth , my eleventh and then my thirteenth or my sixth , and this is the big one , because when we think of Dorian , we always think of that major six sound right . Well , this , we can see it right there .

So we've got our minor arpeggio with our flat seven there . So as we see those , we could start trying to visualize the minor chord and maybe add that sixth in there and as we're soloing , visualizing those notes and also hearing this sounds like a compass and compass this and make it sound like Dorian , which is super cool .

The other thing I want to mention to you too is when you're doing this , what's kind of cool is , and you got to kind of visualize this , but as you're playing each one of these . What you're really doing is you're kind of utilizing the notes of the chord that you're on and the next chord that's going to be reoccurring , right .

So if we go back to G major here , let me just show you this so we're back on G major , you're going to have tap for all this , of course . So if we look at that , I'm playing a G major chord and I can see that right here , in the bottom half , right there .

But if I look at the top half , those notes right there , those notes are creating an A minor seven chord , which is what's coming up next . And when I play the A Dorian arpeggio , ok , I can see the A minor seven right down here . But if I play the top part , it's creating a B minor seven .

However you like to play B minor seven , but that's what it's creating . So it's kind of cool because each one of these arpeggios are actually creating the parent chord , whatever that is , and then the secondary chord that's coming up next . So you can kind of see both of those happening at the same time .

And so a nice way to try and learn to listen to this as you do each one is play a few notes , like if I took Right now I can only do so much with my fingers here , but so if I took this , you really get a sense of that Ionian sound .

Or if I go to Dorian and do the same thing , okay , and I can start exploring those those sounds over the top and get a sense of what Dorian Really needs to sound like Dorian , okay . So again , you know there's you only have so many fingers to do this , but you get the idea to trill it . Try and really listen to each one .

So it's not just a matter of Learning what I'm showing you and just memorize the tab , but really listen to these and see how they're working for you . So we move up to B minor . Now we're in B Frigian , right , because frigid and be the third mode .

So as I play this , so I'm playing seven , ten , nine , seven , ten , nine , eight , seven , okay , so it's a . It's obviously based off B minor , seven . But the big thing with friggin , if you know anything about friggin , is it's it's got the flatted to well , we can hear that Right there .

And then there's the rest of our chord there , because we're playing the root minor , third , fifth flat , seven . There's our flat nine , 11 , 13 minor , six is what that is , and then the root again . So as we listen to this , you see , we can really hear the sound of that friggin by kind of playing some of those , those intervals over the root itself .

You know , it's quite strange sounding . The other thing too is , again , looking at this , the bottom half . There's my B minor seven chord . When I get here , the top half is actually creating a C major seven , which is what's coming up next . So I moved to seven . Now I've got my C major seven happening here . Now what happens on this fourth chord ?

Well , this is the Lydian , so we got the sharp four . Okay , so are we getting that sound as we play this , this arpeggio ? It's right there , there's your sharp four , so we've got the root . The third , the fifth major seven , nine . There's the 11th , right there , it's a major 11 or sharp 11 , and there's the sound of our Lydian Very pretty sound .

Okay , you just got it . Whoops , sorry , c , you just got to explore these a little bit , but you can make some really nice sounding chords as well , a lot of this stuff . So there's that . Then we move on . Now we move on to the top part . Now , if we look at the top part of this chord that I just played . So there's our major seven .

There's the top part , okay , what we're actually creating right there is part of a D7 chord , right there . Okay , with the seventh , okay . So let's take a look at D7 , which is D mix , a Lydian , right there , okay . So we've got our root .

Third , fifth are flat at seven , nine , eleven , thirteen , and then roots again , okay . So , as I'm listening to this , there's all the notes I need right there , okay , and then we move up again . Now I'm on E minor , e , minor seven , which is the E aeolian or E natural minor . So as I play this , okay , I've got my root , my flat .

Third , fifth , flat seven , ninth , eleventh , there's my 13th or minor of flat six , the minor six , as opposed to Dorian that had that major six , or that six , we can call it . I've got that flat six in there , okay . So it's just cool how you can hear all these things .

And then , if I take those notes , that starts outlining the F , sharp , low Korean or Locrian , however you like to say it . That's coming up next , okay .

So there I'm playing 14 , 17 , 15 , 14 , 17 , 16 , 15 , 14 , so which , of course , we can see right there it's starting to outline the major seventh again of the next chord , which is G major seven , all over again .

So if that makes sense , again , this is kind of a higher level theory thing , but it's really , really effective when you learn how to do this , because as you're playing you know if you're thinking Dorian , regardless of all these other things .

You know , let's just say you're in Dorian , you could be doing your normal kind of thing , but you might want to throw in that kind of arpeggio to start defining the outline of the notes , to make it sound a bit more like Dorian as opposed to simply playing through .

You know , if you throw that over the top of that A , you'll really define the sound of that . So it's nice to know your intervals and then decide from there , because you don't have to just sit and play as arpeggios right , you can at any time drop into something Sorry about that Play the right note there and then you fall back in Sounds pretty cool .

So hopefully that helps you a little bit in understanding how you can approach these and think of them as modal arpeggios .