Exploring Dorian on Guitar Meaningfully

I often get asked the question of when to use a mode once you understand that a mode consists of the same notes as its parent scale and all its related modes you might wonder then what makes each mode unique for example if C Major D Dorian and G mixian all contain the same seven notes what makes them different as we'll learn it's the backing music that allows us to bring out A's unique flavor in other words without any musical reference there's no tone or Center so playing any mode of the major scale note for note without accompaniment will likely just sound like the major scale let's put our focus on the second mode of the major scale Dorian a mode around which a lot of music is centered first we need to get an ear for dorian's sound I've uploaded some chord tracks on the lesson page to help with this as we can see Dorian consists of the intervals of A Minor triad this means we can use it over minor chords it also contains a minor 7th giving us a minus 7th chord but the interval that gives D in its distinctive sound is the major sixth hold this note over a minor chord with the same root to get a taste of Dorian in this example our root is D so we're playing D Dorian over D [Music] Minor this also means if you hear a movement of minor Harmony that touches on this major six there's a strong chance it's [Music] endorian as mentioned earlier Dorian is the second mode of the major scale which means that Dorian uses the same notes as the c major scale in turn this means you only have to learn one scale pattern the major scale and you'll have all its seven modes covered dorian's route is always a whole step above the major scales route so if you want to play D Dorian just play C major from its second degree for E Dorian play D major for FSH Dorian play E major however many guitarists like to think of Dorian having its own pattern really dorian's first position pattern is the same as the major scale second position since Dorian is the second mode of the major scale it takes time to fully get your head around this relationship between modes and their parent scale but the key Point here is that to really hear a mode unique flavor the backing music must share the same root and if it's a cord the same cord quality as the mode you're using so one of dorian's functions is like any other scale it has a related chord type and therefore can be used over instances of that chord Dorian is especially versatile in that respect unlike the natural minor scale Dorian sounds good over unusual or non-diatonic minor chord changes for example take this movement between a flat minor and and B minor we could play a flat Dorian over a flat minor and B Dorian over B [Music] [Applause] [Music] minor Dorian also works nicely over a minor four chord for example let's say our key was C major our tonic chord would be C major and the minor four chord would be F minor I'm using an A String Dorian pattern here so we can play both C major and F Dorian conveniently in the same position the c major scale would be a Natural Choice over C major but changing to F Dorian would really complement that F minor chord let's take a listen as we know Dorian also has a modal function that is it works over certain sequences of related chords that we might call Dorian chord progressions these are progressions centered around dorian's related chord since Dorian is the second mode of the major scale we're listening out for progressions or mov movements that gravitate around the two cord probably the most common Dorian based movement is between two and five in C major that would be D minor and G Major D Dorian and therefore C major would work over both these [Music] chords [Music] you'll hear that movement being used in countless songs and film scores in different keys for example listen to the main part of Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd for a powerful use of Dorian 25 in fact it seems Pink Floyd thrived on the Dorian mode listen to songs like breathe and Another Brick in the Wall for more Dorian magic being able to recognize these movements will help you determine when to use Dorian and therefore where to position your scale pattern sometimes that 25 movement will be extended in the following way 215 an example of this can be heard on aliceon chains down in a hole [Music] another common Dorian centered movement is as follows you can find extended backing tracks and more examples of Dorian progressions on the lesson page notice how all these progressions resolve around the two chord of the major scale making Dorian the modal center now it could be argued that all these progressions are simply in C major as this is is the key signature but while this is true as far as the notes we are using by thinking in modal terms we can build our Melodies and harmonies more consciously around the actual key Center as opposed to the theoretical key signature if you're unsure of this difference between key Center and key signature don't worry about that for now your ears are the most important tool in identifying a key and given mode finally be aware that most songwriters and composers do not intentionally write a song in a given mode it just happens because it sounds natural to them so don't set out to write songs in specific modes as this will limit where you can go rather learn to recognize when these movements occur in music so you can jump to the right place on the fretboard and accompany them with purpose visit the lesson page for backing tracks and more supplemental content [Music] cheers [Music]

Channel: fretjam

Views: 450,900

Keywords: Dorian Mode, Guitar (Musical Instrument), dorian guitar lesson, dorian chord progressions, dorian backing track, dorian scale, dorian solos, dorian chords, dorian music

Id: 2KTAEDeXD7E

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Sun May 18 2014