USING MODES - Part 2
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
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PART I: How to USE modes!!
• How to USE modes!!
I know, I know, I've already made a video about modes but from the comments I received it was clear that could be value in making a part 2 to clear up some of the things I didn't explain well or skipped over.
Hopefully this video helps to fill in some of those gaps.
In this video I'm aiming to answer questions like:
"Why even bother with modes at all?"
"How do I write a song in a mode?"
"How do I know which modes and scales I can use over which chords?"
For those of you asking, here's a pdf I've made that shows a list of common chords and scales that can be used to improvise over them:
CHORDS AND SCALES PDF: drive.google.com/file/d/1E8xf...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:52 Why bother with modes?
07:36 How to write a song in a mode
11:56 What modes for what chords?
#modes #modal #theory #musiceducation #musictheory
If you’ve not watched Part I, watch it here: How to USE modes!!
czcams.com/video/rV0VCPL4s2s/video.html
I only just finished a comment on Part 1. Which you resolve immediately in Part 1 (using the home base of the chord that you're on, rather the tonic of the key of the piece). Again, thank you for a clear, elegant, enjoyable lesson.
To answer your question: I'd love a Part III, not because this Video was lacking educationally, but rather because your presentation and explanations were so enjoyable.
Ha! Cheers, I appreciate your kind words. 👍🏼
Hear, hear!!
New favorite yt music teacher
Non-Player: There are 88 or 97 notes on the keyboard. Play random notes and wonder why it just sounds bad.
Novice: There are 12 notes. Play 7 of them. Avoid the other 5; they're bad notes.
Beginner: There are 7 notes. Play a major scale for happy songs. Play a different set of 7 notes for sad songs. STOP.
Choose a new root note. Repeat.
Intermediate: There are 7 notes. Play one set of notes for the verse, then modulate to a different set of notes for the chorus.
Advanced: There are 12 notes. Draw the listener's attention to a set of notes to set a mood. As your emotional story unfolds, introduce some of those "other" notes; they're not so bad when you get to know them. They enhance the flavor palette when they're allowed to be themselves. Phrygian tones for a darker turn of the conversation? Or more care-free, perhaps? Mixolydian tones will lighten the mood.
Too many changes, though, and you risk sounding like Non-Player. The thing is to build a believable narrative that resonates within the listener.
I don't usually comment on videos, but I've been trying to understand modes for years now and it wasn't until this video that it started clicking. You are a phenomenal teacher! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world.
Ah Michael, thanks for commenting, it’s really great to get messages like yours so I’m glad you did! Thanks for your kind words. I just took a look at your channel, you’re putting out some good content too, keep it up 👍🏼
Jesus sir, you are an absolute wonderful teacher. Answered so many questions I have had for years.
Ah, thanks Luke. I appreciate your kind words. I'm glad you found some value and have had some questions answered! Cheers.
Dorian was my gateway drug to the addictive world of modes. That vamp from ii to V pulled me toward certain musicians, eg JJ Cale. I used to be one of those people who said publicly that music theory was unnecessarily confusing and could be detrimental to creativity, but privately felt embarrassed at my own ignorance. So glad I eventually made the effort to explore further and break through my confusion. I am by no means an expert. Still learning, still exploring. But I feel I 'get it' now, and can enjoy content like this because of that deeper perspective.
Ha! That opening sentence is brilliant! Have fun exploring this endless journey through Music Theoryland!
Niiiiiice, thanks! Allan Holdsworth said he used a few parent scales to play everything, and Pat Metheny made fun about just playing the right notes in the chromatic scale... We have homework and you help a lot with that!
Cheers Kevin! Mere mortals like myself need this sort of stuff to help organise things, it's crazy to think Pat Metheny can do what he does with minimal reference to theory!
awesome vid! That's the first time someone has *shown* how each chord matches with each mode. It's obvious once you show it, but no one'd ever shown it before. And great PDF!
Thanks for the nice comment Will, I really appreciate it. I'm glad you feel like I filled in some of those gaps. 👍
I agree it's frustrating that this info is not readily available. I studied music theory and was so frustrated when we learned the basics but were never told why and where the music really lies!
Best explanation of modes I’ve seen
Thank you 🙏. Hope it was useful. Cheers for the comment.
Talk less, demonstrate more. I enjoy hearing you play and apply the lessons.
I drift away after some time listening to the explanations but I never skip your playing.🎹
Cheers for the feedback 👍 Thanks for watching.
Amen brother from another mother.
You are a phenomenal instructor man, I’ve always had trouble understanding, now I get it, thanks for your video!
Ah thanks Eduardo! 🙏
Really glad you've found the video useful! Thanks for leaving a comment, much appreciated.
Best explanation I’ve ever heard about this topic. Great!
🙏 Thanks Matthias, I appreciate your kind words.
I began to hear the different "feelings" that I could get by how the different notes sounded in relation to the three base notes of the underlying chord. A flat 6th (dark, eastern, sad) as opposed to a major sixth. The major 7th (the champaign and bubbles chord) as opposed to the dominant seventh. etc.
Also remember that just how a more extended chord will direct you to a more specific mode, the rest of the info in the music will also do the same.
If you have a chord progression like D major to E major, then this is telling you that a the notes that will work are the notes in them chords (D major = D F# A and E major = E G# B, so the scale will have the notes D E F# G# B A), meaning that you can assume that this will be D Lydian.
Also you can listen to what the melody is using and this will give you the notes you can use too.
Of course, you can still experiment with different modes that don't fit this process (e.g you can still try a D Ionian over the D to E progression but it will definitely be more crunchy/dissonant in a way since there is that G# in the E chord that you wouldn't be playing in a D Ionian).
Thanks for the PDF.
Definitely need a modes part three. I like the idea of thinking vertically for each chord as well as horizontally. A chart for when you get into harmonic minor, melodic minor, altered scales etc... also awesome.
Thanks! I’m glad you’ve found the videos useful although I’m not sure what else I’d talk about in a Part III!
Thanks for the comment.
A guy I know said “all that theory stuff will just stifle my creativity.” That’s just a thinly veiled cop out of course. It’s the same thing as someone saying they were going to go in the service, but they won’t have drill sergeants yelling at them. I instantly lose a little respect for people who say that kind of stuff. You Michael are definitely not one of those people and thank goodness for that! I immensely enjoy your videos and I am so glad that you were so dedicated to music/theory. I will definitely watch your whole catalog at least once, probably more for some videos. Thank you!
Ah, thanks for the kind words! I’m so glad you’re finding some value here. Thanks for leaving the comments, it’s much appreciated. 🙏
New viewer here. Have digested about 10 of your vids. For me, as a novice, it's your lean-ins to the camera that let me know if I need to go back and review before I move on that make me adore your teaching style.
Hey Mike, thanks for the comment and watching through my videos! I'm really glad you're enjoying them and finding some value. Cheers 👍
You are a national treasure. I’m attempting to learn piano after a lifetime of playing drums. You’ve made a lot of things that seem mysterious much more clear.
Thanks Brian! I'm sure about the national treasure bit but I appreciate the sentiment! Really glad the videos are useful. Thanks for the comment 🙏
I like the idea of a tone in the mode making the music feel like it arrived home. And using modes to modulate is a technique I've used before to make it feel like music's giving you a ride around several "homes".
Ages ago (90s), studying jazz guitar while playing in local rock and metal bands, I was taught about modes and found it interesting. And my first approach was like "ok, so I play over the major/minor scale's "other chords" but use these other chords as tonal centers, right?"
With that in mind, and to get used to using them, I began to play around with melodies/accompaniments/themes.
I'd play the same theme in a few different modes, either major or minor without minding its original tendency. With some of them, I would find out, it was really like strolling elsewhere and arriving at some other place but that other place, at that point, would feel more like what you call home.
Sometimes, a modulation would suggest some tempo or rhythm change, some other melody complementing the original one, or whatnot.
Toying around with this tool I found out it can be as subtle or blunt as you want. Also found out it can turn into a bit of a crutch if you get used to relying on it as the first resource, but it's a relatively easy trick with easily noticeable results.
Excellent video! TYSM!
Another way to look at modes, in the jazz context: they just show options available for passing notes between chord tones e.g. in the key of C there are three minor 7th chords: Dm7, Em7 and Am7. Each has the chord tone formula 1, b3, 5, b7. The mode defines what you do with the passing notes 2, 4, 6. Dorian has 2, 4, 6, Aeolian has 2, 4, b6, Phrygian has b2, 4, b6. So if you just know your chord arpeggios, you can almost determine by ear what to do with the passing note. In most cases, the decision is 6 or b6 in minor and 4 or #4 in major. For a dominant chord 1, 3, 5, b7 the passing notes can be b2, #2, 4, #4, 6, b6. To cater for all possibilities with the dominant scale you have to know the melodic minor modes, the harmonic minor modes, the diminished modes, the whole tone modes etc. All these modes just group various combinations of chord tones and passing tones. If you add approach notes (upper and lower) you then have the entire 12 notes of the chromatic scale available. The moral of the story is to learn your chord tones first and then place the passing notes in various combinations to get the sound of your choice. If you want to name this sound collection as a mode, this is more of an "after the fact" analysis.
Thanks for your comment 👍
Very helpful! I wonder if what you described factors in to the concepts of “hinging” and soloing vertically? Basically, be viscerally aware of and mostly rely on the chord tones, while using any of the other notes in the scale or alterations as passing tones to hint at the flavor of a certain mode or scale?
@@jwardbass4452 I agree with you. Looking back at my musical development, as a guitarist, I started with the minor pentatonic scale. I could play rock and blues but not country until I learned the major pentatonic scale. I then added notes to the minor pentatonic to get the dorian mode. This was the sound of Santana and cool jazz like Miles Davies' So What. When I started playing jazz standards, I moved more towards a Charlie Parker method of phrases, arpeggios and jazz-like riffs rather than running scales. When I studied traditional harmony like Bach Chorales, I didn't use modes at all. Now, on jazz piano I tend to voice chords and phrases by going to the 3rd or 7th first and then building the mode from there in small chunks. Also modal subsets are very useful for a particular sound e.g. rather than playing the full mixolydian mode, I tend to leave out the 4 to get a six note scale or leave out the R and 4 to get a 5 note scale. Ultimately now, I'm viewing the keyboard from the perspective of knowing what every note is in relation to a root e.g. B is the 7th of Cma7, it is the 9th of Am7, it is the 3rd of Gma7 etc. This allows me to slow down and sustain notes and phrases across changing chords without thinking of the mode but rather the sound and interval in play at the time.
@@alexgostin1990 That's a brilliant approach. You need to create some videos to share your knowledge with the world!
Thank you SO much for your videos and your pdf Chord & Scales Chart! Such a thoughtful and generous gift!
Appreciate your comment Frank, glad you found the video useful 👍🏼
THIS is what I have been looking for, YES!!!! Watched loads of tutorials and this is the only one that clearly shows how to APPLY the modes in your playing. EXCELLENT
👌👌👌
Appreciate your comment James and super pleased it was helpful. 👍🏼
It's really amazing how you explain music theory so much clear. Thank you so much for all these videos and for being a good teacher.
Thanks Rusiru, I'm really glad you've found my videos useful! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, much appreciated! 🙏
Thanks for this second part. Good that you didn't just make one huge video to start with as it is more digestible in two parts and the second part builds nicely from the first. I agree with the comment below that your videos are very enjoyable.
Thanks again man, appreciate your comment 👍
Ive been paying for and taking lessons off and on for years, and in two CZcams videos youve taught me more about modes thank anyone lol. Stellar stuff
Hey Eli, thanks for your comment. It's great to hear you've found some value in the videos. Cheers.
Definitely clarified the first video! Thank you ☻
👍
You can do a ton of stuff with the concept of modes. For a nice Phrygian cadence, incorporating a Picardy third, check out Thomas Tallis third mode melody for example.
And then there is also modal modulation…
Great video, your teachings gave me some lightbulb moments on how to use different modes on simpler chords with chromatic harmony. Which helps me a lot with my composing. Thank you for that! I definitely hope we see a part 3 soon. Would love to see the other modes explored from harmonic minor, melodic minor, harmonic major and double harmonic major
Thanks for your comment Ryan, really appreciate it. I’m glad you found it useful!
Nice tutorial. However, I find it faster to view each of the modes, with their distinct character, as displaced scales just for the simplicity of improving, while still thinking of the displaced tonic note as central to the aural character of the specific mode. Really enjoy your content. Keep them coming!
Cheers! I’m glad you’re enjoying the content.
I think, with a lot of this stuff, it’s all about finding the hook that helps you most. Thanks for watching! 👍🏼
That was a gold mine! I'm just beginning to learn to use modes and their value is obvious to me. Part 3 please!!
Thanks Reba! I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for your comment 🙏
Very useful for beginners, thanks for taking the time to complete your last video that was maybe too much for our advanced jazzy friends ! ❤😅
Thanks a lot. I’m glad you found it useful. There were definitely some problems with the first modes video I made so I certainly needed to make some things a bit clearer! Thanks for watching!
Yes, more examples of applying modes to songs - jazz standards or blues progressions - Please. Merci!
Great follow-up lesson!
🙏
Great addendum Michael! Your first vid was clear to me but this just added more great info!
Thanks Jason, I'm really pleased you found the videos helpful. Cheers. MK
That D Dorian jumps right out at me. The others modes I don’t have an easy of a time hearing in the music.
You should listen to Agnes Obel’s album « Aventine », many beautiful songs in Dorian mode, not jazz at all of course, but nice examples like « Fuel to fire » and « the curse » :)
Part 3 ! 😁. I really like hearing more music advices and knowledge from you.
Ah thanks man, I appreciate that. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep you entertained with whatever comes next!
Outstanding stuff man , learning so much from your videos , please keep them coming , cheers!
Thank you! I’m super pleased you’re finding some value across my videos. There’s plenty more to come so keep checking in! Cheers
Splendid! That cleared up a lot for me. Thanks. 😊
Hey Glen, thanks for your comment, I’m pleased you found it useful. 👍🏼🎹🎵
Thanks for all this additional tricks, very much appreciated!
Thanks. I hope it was helpful.
Great content ! Thank you for sharing
Thank you. I hope it was useful. Thanks for watching.
Eloquently explained.
Thanks Quentin, I hope these videos have been useful.
Thanks for pdf. I'll see if I can use it with Nica's Dream, one of my current trumpet practice session tunes.
I'm into Woody Shaw and if I can get the discipline together I'll start thinking through some of tunes.
Great tune!
Thank you so much for answering my question on the last video!! :D
No worries Tristan, I hope it made sense and was helpful. Cheers. MK
THANK YOU!
You're welcome!
Thank you so much for this!
Cheers Vivek! Hope you found it useful! 🎹
Thanks! This was super helpful
That's good to hear. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for the video, excellent as always. Minor typo in the last row and column of your chart.
Hi Flavio, glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for the heads up on the typo 👍
More modes part 3 please
Cheers Glen. I’m not sure I know anything else?!
Thank you!
My pleasure! Hope you found it useful. 👍🏼🎹
@@michaelkeithson No doubt about that.
Awesome, keep going
Thanks Jovan!
I love your explanations ... but more examples (you playing) would bring it home even more ...
Cheers man, glad you like the videos and appreciate the feedback 👍
Thanks
🤯😮🥰🙏❤️😳
Tough topic, not for usage but for explanation. You covered a lot and made a wise decision to include a second video. Here’s some comments/suggestions strictly my opinion.
Start by explaining that D Dorian is called a mode, derivative of C scale, not a scale. Otherwise, everything would be a scale and redundant. Don’t alternate as you explain, otherwise you’ll confuse.
Don’t use the 4th degree “avoid note” crap. Call it a passing note, we use it all the time. Just don’t lean on a 4th over I chord.
When you played the Ab Ionian over the C Phrygian and you felt sucked into the Ab, that’s just ear/ muscle memory kicking in. Yet you heard the 4th note as the flat 2 of Phrygian and liked it. You have a great ear, just split the brain and run exercises. Loop E Lydian and keep trying B Ionian, etc.
Dividing into improve/composition was excellent.
The comment about root defining everything is critical. If you’re blowing over G13 and bass and Keys lean into an F bass note, you’re now in F Lydian.
To me, everything is available. As you stressed, use your ears and taste. Enjoyed your clips, thanks!
BTW- I know you know this stuff!
Just trying to help stop the confusion and frustration.
Cheers. Appreciate your feedback and contribution. Thanks!
Great video ! thx for sharing :) I have a question : How do make a chord progression in a mode ? like for example, how to get a chord progression to sound Phrygian, or lydian or else ?? hope I didn't miss the answer in the video THX !!
I think I talk a bit about that in the video, at around 7:30.
In the same way a major scale (Ionian mode) gives us seven chords, the other modes are the same.
Chords from C Ionian are the same as Cmajor. Chords from C Dorian are the same as Bb major.
The important thing about playing a mode is making the chord that’s built from the tonic, feel like the resolution. I’ve been thinking about doing a stand alone video about this topic as I think I only touched on it a little here.
Hope that helps though!
@@michaelkeithson Thx for your quick answer ! I'll watch this part again then but I guess it would be so cool if you were doing a video on this topic
Great video. I feel like modes are incredibly important when describing the overall key/tonality of a piece of music.
My problem is about ascribing a scale to a chord. For example, if a piece is in C major and there is a D minor 7 chord, you describe three possible scales (dorian, phrygian and aeolian). If you choose D dorian, all of the notes in that scale will be diatonic and included in the C major scale. But if you choose one of the other modes, at least one note will be non-diatonic and out of the C major scale. That note(s) will presumably be interesting, but why is it so much better than say some other random non-diatonic note? Does a scale that is non-diatonic to a given key but is still one of the 7 standard modes sound better than some bizarre scale that isn't?
Thanks!
Michael
Hey Michael! Thanks for your comment. I think modes are a tricky subject and can be a little divisive, as I've come to discover!
My question would be why are those two things separate? You mentioned that you felt modes were important for creating an overall tonality (or some might say a 'mood' or 'flavour') to a piece of music but could you not ascribe the same reason to the chord scale idea? Creating a 'tonality/mood/flavour' to a phrase over a specific chord.
Also I like to think about it as giving options to create different colours over a single chord. Especially in the case of improvising within a band context. Using your example of a minor 7 chord, you know that the other musicians are playing those four chord tones of the chord (R 3 5 7) so it wouldn't be complimentary to alter any of those notes but you could potentially use modes to include other non-diatonic knowing that you're still including the chord tones the rest of the band are playing. I don't know if that makes sense or helps!
@@michaelkeithson Thanks! Makes a lot of sense.
I guess if you're going to play a scale over a chord, that scale should have all the chord tones in it, which means if you're going to use one of the basic modes, that limits the modes you can use. I'm not completely clear why you need to limit yourself to one of the basic modes and can't just play the chord tones plus some "other" non-chord and maybe non-scale notes, but I assume using one of the modes that fits the chord tones will give a more pleasing and maybe more familiar effect. Thanks again, slowly getting there!
Michael
Just realized modes have different cadences as well... just expirementing
tshirt idea for you: " There are 2 kinds of people" 😅 or "Got Modes?" 😀
😂 Love it!
Thank you for this, and hopefully my q will make sense. At around the 10 min mark you're in D minor / D Dorian. When you start changing your left hand to G, F, and so on, are you still "thinking" that you're in D Dorian with your right hand emphasis note choices? Or at that point is it all just a feel thing and the direction you want to take it.
Thanks for the comment. I think of it in the same way I would if I was composing in D major/D Ionian. I use other chords from the key to create some more harmonic movement. So in D Dorian I have Dm Em F G Am Bdim and C to use within my harmonic movement. But I am still thinking that I'm in D dorian so I make sure to resolve to a Dm and, as I mention in the video, use certain tones in my melody to accentuate the Dorian characteristics. Hope that helps!
@@michaelkeithson this does help.. thanks! Love the channel btw!
only now that I'm listening with mixing headphones at home I'm noticing a slight shimmer reverb on the piano. Is that valhalla?
It's not Valhalla, I don't have that own that. It's most likely just the onboard reverb from the keyboard but I can't really remember.
The important chords in the major key system are 1, 4 and 5 which creates tension and resolution.
Just wondering...does each mode also have 3 important triads ?
On the chart you obviously referring to different diminished scales for dim and 7b9. The first one starts with the whole tone and second one starts with half-tone. I guess technically these are the two modes of the diminished scale.
Good spot. Yes, effectively you could call these two the modes of the Diminished scale, usually referred to as the 'Half-Whole Diminished' and the 'Whole-half Diminished'. Thanks for pointing it out, I've updated the pdf chart to now differentiate. Thanks!
I feel like thinking they're the same notes is misleading. It's different intervals, and that's what matters in creating the sonic landscape of the piece/improv
Isn't the 4th mode of the harmonic minor the Dorian ♯4 and Locrian 6 the 7th mode? I haven't checked further...
I also disagree that all you need to do is go back to the Major scale for everything because that doesn't cover things like the Phrygian Dominant scale, which actually comes from the Harmonic minor and not the Major scale. One might say that the Harmonic minor comes from a Major and so you should use the Major scale, but what Major scale would one use on top of G7b9b13 for example?? As far as i know, there isn't one, hence why learning modes is important.
Another great video, Michael! Thanks for your last reply to my comment. I have just posted a new piece (czcams.com/video/vijLAksYa9k/video.html), which includes a diminished chord and a line cliche. Thanks to you. Feel free to not watch any other songs - I'm not particularly proud of them as I still see my creations as stumbling experiments. Always learning!
Thanks for sharing Mark, it feels great knowing that the stuff I’m putting out is inspiring people to create. I liked your piece, it would be nice to here it played by a pianist or orchestrated with other instruments. Often those programmes lack the dynamics and human touch to really bring it to life and I think it could sound really good.
Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙏
I'm a guitarist that go to pianist for my source of music theory. I feel guitarist tend to be acrobatic in their examples unlike pianist that show the essential things for giving samples. Plus your explanation is slow
Nice, I've had a few guitarist say that they're enjoying my videos maybe for the reasons you've listed. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for some clarifications but sorry for my persistent stupidity, Michael, and with all the respect (RE previous video): I just can not comprehend why a musician like you would need to artificially attribute a sooo classic and simply genius harmonic MINOR (and actually, purely tonal) piece Autumn Leaves to a parallel MAJ (even in a context of "explaining" the modes... :-((( ... (you are not the only one :-(((). However, what you called BbMaj key as the key containing the "first four chords" of the piece ... sounds like a total nonsence though, considering the progression and the cadences..., why would you need that??? - It does not help explaining anything but rather confusing. Yes, the sequence you played might be heard as belonging to Autumn Leaves (like any consecutively played fourths on a Circle) but just because it is just a genius demo of the Circle progression without any exception, isn't it? Nothing to do with the BbMaj though besides it is parallel. So what?.. Asa matter of fact, the key you were "quoting" the four-chord segment would be actually Gm (!) as the Cm chord (in your case) was not the 1st but the second chord in the piece (functionally, the subdominant). Thus, it seems to be a very crooked way to pass a message on possible modal "modulations" - if you will - of a so pure tonal and so classically functionally organized piece. I can not play a thing, LOL (but I can hear a little), but please, just play the whole piece (in Gmoll, if you like) as it was composed, to start with: i-iv-VII-III-VI-iio-V7-i. In your chosen key, it would be (Gm)-Cm-F...-Bb...-Eb...-(-)-Adim-D7-Gm. Then, spice the chords as you wish (7, Maj7,++...) AND, if you are what you claim to be (:-)) - play possible real "modal" variations, alterations, all the possible modulations, whatever. Show me the money! I am eager to hear how far YOU could deviate from a harmony and progression with such clear functionality... and without actually changing the functionality - till you get your audience bored or annoyed. ;-) - please no offence!...
Hi Andrei, thanks for your comment (I think!). Yes, you're right, Autumn Leaves is in Gm. But the video is about modes and I used the chord progression Cm7-F7-Bbmaj7-Ebmaj7 to briefly show how looking at that progression 'horizontally' I can identify that they are chords ii-V-I-IV in Bb major and I can improvise over all of those chords using Bb major scale. Am I wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that it's the first four bars of Autumn Leaves but i feel you might be getting a little bit hung up on some insignificant details. Or maybe I'm not aware of the significance of that as an example of thinking 'horizontally' when improvising.