Re: Mouths of Horses

Charmed Snark wrote:
[mode names]
Any memory tricks used for this? I can
remember Ionian and Aeolean, but I often
forget which is which. So maybe I'll just
think that Major is stronger than Minor,
and that Ions (Ionian) has stronger chemical
reactions than Aeolean, which sounds lame. ;-)

Maybe a couple. If you think of things in the key of C,
"dorian" is the mode that starts on "d". "Aeolean" is
the mode that starts on "a". I've heard people say
"Mixo" starts with M like "middle". It's not really
the middle of the scale but the 5th kind of seems
like the middle.

I think(?) it's more productive to NOT use memory tricks
that cause me to think of a third, unrelated thing, like
chemical reactions or alliteration. Instead, I think it's
better to approach it like morse code or like the musical
notes on the staff.

didah is A in morse code.
I don't want to introduce "di-dah reminds me of Aardvark
which starts with A" etc. I just want to have my brain
recognize didah as A.

Same with notes on the staff. I don't want to have to
see a note, count which line it's on, then recite
Every Good Boy Does Fine and all that. I just want
to "See that note, play THIS fret".

So with modes, I would think like - Play a Lydian mode scale
while thinking "LYDIAN". Play it a lot so that your brain
recognizes the SOUND of the Lydian mode. It's not really
the name in Greek that's particularly important. But that
will probably burn a groove in your memory about the name.

What would be productive (maybe), at least in terms of
getting familiar with the SOUND of modes,
would be to start on any note on the
guitar. Let's say F# on the 9th fret, 5th string.
Now with that note as the root, play an Ionian mode.
Now keep the same root, F#, and play a Lydian mode.
Then a Phrygian mode. etc. That forces you to rearrange
the order of whole and half steps based on what each
mode should SOUND like.

It's a lot easier to do if you start each mode on the
next note of some scale/fret pattern. That way you're
just playing one scale but starting on a different
degree each time.

Then when you've mastered modes you can sit around and
think "Now what the hell do I do with them". I don't
know the answer to that.


Lumpy

You played on "The Love Boat"?
Yes. White tux, huge sideburns.

www.LumpyMusic.com




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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Old/new dulcimer
    ... Wade is a national champion dulcimer player, ... To try playing Lydian mode on the guitar, in the key of C the augmented 4th ... This makes Lydian kind of umusual, in that you wouldn't play the IV ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic)
  • Re: What scale/mode?
    ... When we start on the non root, like C scale starting ... "I expect to hear a Maj 7th but I'm trying to play a min 7th" ... then playing the notes of the C Maj scale starting on G, ... C D E F G A B = Ionian ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)
  • Re: What scale/mode?
    ... When we start on the non root, like C scale starting ... "I expect to hear a Maj 7th but I'm trying to play a min 7th" ... C D E F G A B = Ionian ... C D E F G A Bb = Mixo ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)
  • Re: Old/new dulcimer
    ... This makes Lydian kind of umusual, in that you wouldn't play the IV chord. ... you are not playing in Lydian mode anymore. ... The chords would be as you described, but the scale is the one I mentioned. ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic)
  • Re: What scale/mode?
    ... "I expect to hear a Maj 7th but I'm trying to play a min 7th" ... then playing the notes of the C Maj scale starting on G, ... C D E F G A B = Ionian ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)