6 Chord Progressions in the DORIAN Mode

the Dorian mode is really good for songwriting because it has this mellow almost wistful Vibe so it has this really cool sound that songwriters use all of the time you'll hear it a lot in jazz music but it's really in all genres all styles of music as you'll see and you can use the Dorian mode too so in this video we're going to look at how it works we're also going to look at six really good chord progressions that use the Dorian mode so you can get the juices flowing to apply to your own songwriting and then we're also going to look at why certain chords are used so you know how to include them in a chord progression to give it a distinctive Dorian sound so to start the Dorian mode is just a permutation of the major scale it's the second mode of the scale and what that means is that if you start with say the c major scale for example you have notes c d e f g a b c but starting on each separate note you can form seven different modes the first mode the major scale itself is the ionian mode and then starting on the second note in this case D the pattern is d e f g a b C and D or the D Dorian mode starting on the third scale degree or e in this case we get the phrygian mode and then the lydian mode mixolydian aeolian and locrian seven different modes or permutations of the source scale which in this example is C major these are called relative modes because they're all related they all stem from the same shared pattern but each separate mode has its own sequence of notes its own interval pattern that gives it a distinct sound so if we label the first note in each mode as one the different sequence of whole steps and half steps in these modes results in different interval patterns the major scale or ionian mode is one two three four five six seven eight the Dorian mode is one two flat three four five six flat seven eight and so on and these seven mode patterns apply in any key for example if we align all of these modes so that the ones all start on the same note in this example on the C note we get the 7 C parallel modes and they're called parallel instead of relative because all of the modes Foods align they all start on the same note in this case C and looking at these patterns like this it's easier to see the differences between interval patterns to create different sounds for each mode the most common one the most popular one that you hear in music is the ionian mode or the major scale one two three four five six seven eight and it has a happier or more uplifting sound the next most popular one is the aeolian mode also known as the minor scale which sounds relatively sad or Melancholy and the Dorian mode is also really popular because it's emotionally midway between the two it shares most of the same intervals with the aeolian mode or the minor scale but with a raised sixth here making it sound kind of like the major scale or kind of like the ionian mode which makes the Dorian mode sound somewhere between the happy ionian and the sadiolian with the sort of smooth wistful Vibe so you can arrive at Dorian either way for my onion you just flatten the third note and the seventh note to form this pattern or from eolian it's the same pattern but a raised Sixth and this sixth note this raised sixth is what gives Dorian its distinctive sound none of the other modes have this exact same interval pattern so the Dorian mode is in that middle range of Sonic Vibes created by different modes it has more of a nuanced ambiguous and intriguing sound that like I say is used in a lot of jazz but used by artists like Pink Floyd Radiohead Harry Styles and many others so we're going to look at the theory behind how the Dorian mode is used so you can use it in your own songwriting so first let's take the mode like d Dorian for example and we'll build the chords on each scale degree starting on each note and then combining every other note to form seven different Triads seven different chords in D Dorian the first chord is a minor chord or D Minor the second chord is also a minor chord E minor the third chord starting on the flat three is a major chord so it's a flat major three or F major the Triad starting on the fourth scale degree or G is Major so it's a major IV chord the fifth chord is a minor chord a minor the sixth chord is a diminished chord B diminished and then the seventh chord in D Dorian starting on the flat 7c is a major chord so it's a flat major seven chord these are the seven chords in the Dorian mode D Dorian specifically minor one minor two flat major three major four minor five diminished six and flat major seven and with just these seven chords we can create some really cool stuff shown here as guitar chords in D Dorian these harmonies are just the same chords as in the key of C major or C ionian because again D Dorian is a permutation of C major it's just that in C major C is a major one and then all of the other chords have different numerals to represent where their respective harmonies fall within this pattern within this mode and likewise these same seven chords are also used in a minor or the aeolian mode which is another permutation of the same pattern which has its own set of numerals when a minor is the one chord is the minor one but in the Dorian mode in this case D Dorian where D Minor is the minor one when this chord is the tonic or the tonal home base the point of resolution in a song the chords into progression take on a Dorian feel as we'll look at in the next examples but something to remember is that because that that raised sixth interval in the Dorian mode is unique it's what gives the mode its distinctive sound any chords with a raised sixth note reinforce the Dorian feel and in the case of D Dorian as our example B is the sixth note is that raised sixth which is found in the minor two chord the major four chord and the diminished sixth chord and it's also the Major Seventh in the flat major seven chord so sometimes that chord is used to reinforce like I say that Dorian feel so in the examples we're going to look at you'll notice that these chords in particular show up a lot okay so let's look at these six Dorian progressions with increasing complexity as we go the first is by far the most popular and common Dorian progression which is just going back and forth between a minor one and a major four the third note in the major four chord is the raised sixth note of the Dorian mode so this major four has a very Dorian sound and you'll hear this progression the minor one major four all the time in fact it's so common that it's sometimes called the Dorian Vamp so it's a staple of jam bands who can trance out on this progression for hours on end it's also the signature sound of Pink Floyd it's used in the Wall Part Two any color you like and a bunch of other songs by them Santana's oye como va is also built on this basic progression in Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk here's what it sounds like Uptown funk you up Uptown funk you up and you can play this same minor one major four progression the same pattern in any key it's the same in every key and these diagrams are in the community if you want to check them out the link is in the video notes the next chord progression we'll look at in the key of b b Dorian for example is the minor One Flat Major seven major four progression or in this case is B minor a major and E major and it sounds really good too it's used in a lot of different songs like Lana Del Rey's blue jeans which has a sultry Vibe the same pattern is actually used in Chris Isaac's Wicked Game as well which sounds like this [Music] strange would desire s [Music] no I Don't Wanna Fall in Love with you the next progression that we'll look at in the key of f Dorian adds one more chord to the mix so it's minor one flat major three flat major seven and major four or in this example F minor a flat major E flat major and then B flat major used in the song Mad World by Tears for Fears which has a very Dorian sound to it and it goes like this all around me are familiar faces Worn out Places Worn Out faces bright and early for the daily races going nowhere going nowhere and then the progression repeats following this really beautiful pattern so we've looked at the first three progressions and now that we're Midway through you may have noticed a pattern which is that each one goes from a major IV chord to a minor one the major four has that raised sixth in it that interval of a raised sixth which has a distinctive Dorian sound and so going from major four to minor one really gives it that Dorian feel now that's not necessarily the case you don't have to have a major four to a minor one but so far that's been the case though we're going to look at three more progressions that build on these different patterns and have some really cool sounds the next example is in the key of E so e Dorian and the chords include minor one flat major three major four and flat major 7 but rearranged in a different way and this progression shows up in Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair which is actually an old folk tune that sounds really nice [Music] remember me to one who lives there she once was a true love of mine even the lyrics of this song reinforce that wistful longing feel of the Dorian mode and this next example in the key of D Dorian includes an additional chord the minor two which has that raised sixth in it so it sounds really good and this progression is in rem's song drive that starts with that classic minor one major four minor one sequence and then ends with the major four minor two and minor one or the major four and minor two both have that raised sixth note in it and then the progression resolves to that minor One Kiss rock and roll nobody tells you where baby baby what if I ride what if you are what if you rock around the clouds what if you did what if you want what if you tried to get off baby this song like all of the others is recognizably Dorian and then the last example we'll look at the sixth progression is in the key of A A Dorian includes six chords from this mode minor one minor two flat major three major four minor five and the flat major seven and then interestingly it uses a borrowed chord the flat major six to give it a little unexpected variety and the song is Karma Police by Radiohead and notice how it starts with a minor one major four and then ends with a minor two major four minor one again we're the major four and the minor two both include that raised sixth note which is what gives the Dorian mode its distinct sound [Music] radio [Music] and then the progression Cycles through the same Dorian pattern and if you didn't know the Dorian mode then you might think these chords seem kind of random but they're not they're all from this mode which is why the song has this pensive nuanced sound so all of these examples show that you can do a lot with the Dorian mode that raised sixth in the pattern gives it its distinct sound so it's somewhere between the happy ionian mode and the sadiolian it's in that wistful Zone in between which sounds really interesting like I say you can do a lot so hopefully this was helpful please let the algorithm know if you liked it all of these diagrams are in a post in the community the link is in the video notes so uh thank you for watching and I will see in the next video

Channel: Mike George

Views: 151,283

Keywords: music theory, guitar, learn guitar, songwriting, colormusic, scale degrees, intervals, patterns, color wheel, geometry, key, composition, music, learn to play, music lesson, guitar lesson, guitar theory, notes, chords, progressions, Dorian, chord progression, mode, Mark Ronson, Uptown Funk, Chris Isaac, Wicked Game, Tears for Fears, Mad World, Simon & Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair, R.E.M., Drive, Karma Police, Radiohead, minor key, song, examples, modes

Id: 6OSDbarIiYs

Length: 12min 1sec (721 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023