The Classical Guitar Blog

We’re going to step outside the normal CG realm today to talk a bit about modes and improvisation. When I first started guitar (electric), people threw around mode names and I had no clue about them. Then I looked them up and got more confused.

“There are hundreds of scales out there and I have to memorize them all?” is what I thought to myself

Turns out you don’t have memorize them all. My first real jazz guitar teacher taught me that. So here’s what I learned.

Start with Major Scales

Step one is to learn the four main boxes of Major Scales (PDF)

In addition to practicing the scales as the linked PDF indicates, you can also do scales in thirds, triads, and seventh chords. The first scale pattern is shown below in thirds (click for a larger image).

The Modes and their Tonalities

Certain modes work with certain types of chords. Here’s a general list of the standard seven modes of the major scale. The method outlined in this article can also be use with modes of the melodic and harmonic minor or any other collection of modes. If you’re unfamiliar with modes, check out this article.

1. Ionian: use over major triads and seventh chords
2. Dorian: use over minor triads and seventh chords
3. Phrygian: use over minor triads and seventh chords
4. Lydian: use over major triads and seventh chords
5. Mixolydian: use over dominant seventh chords
6. Aeolian: use over minor triads and seventh chords
7. Locrian: use over diminished triads and half diminished seventh chords

Covering the Changes

So say we have a major chord. C major 7, for instance.

A few modes work over major7 chords: Ionian (the standard major scale) and lydian.

If we want to play ionian mode over this Cmaj7 chord, we just play a C major scale. End of story.

If we want to play the lydian mode, we don’t need to learn a new scale pattern. We relate it to another major scale. In other words, we treat C as the fourth scale degree of another key. In this case, we can play a G major scale over the Cmaj7 chord to get that lydian sound (from the F# in G major) while still keeping all the chord tones from the C major (C E G B).

Instead of learning a new scale, we related the root of the chord to a new major scale. We treated C as the fourth scale degree of another key rather than the root of its own.

Take a Look at a Minor Chord

Say we have a C minor 7 chord. We could play an aeolian mode (natural minor) over it by treating C as the sixth scale degree of another key. Meaning we play a Eb major scale to get an aeolian sound over the C minor chord:

Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb

We could also treat C as the second scale degree of Bb major. If we play a Bb major, we’ll get a dorian mode sounding over the C minor chord.

Bb C D Eb F G A

Or you could even do Ab major scale to capture a phrygian sound.

Ab Bb C Db Eb F G

In all these case all we’re doing is relating the root of the chord to another major scale. We’re using the major scale, which we know really well, to solo in various modes. The thing to notice in each of these scales is that the chord tones for Cmin7 (C Eb G Bb) are still there.

How to Practice

Obviously if you’re just starting this stuff it’s not goign to be easy. Grab a Real Book and pick a standard like Autumn Leaves. Write in the major scale you plan to use over each chord. And don’t feel like you have to change scales on each chord! Find or record a backing track and play the scales in eighth notes over the changes.

After you feel more secure with just the scales in eighth notes, you can try improvising over the backing track. If you’ve practicing the scales in thirds, triads, and seventh chords as I mentioned above, you should find that some of those finger patterns come out in your improvising. This makes less of a “up and down the scale” improviser.

Why Use this Method for Modal Soloing?

• Because it requires less memorizing, giving you more time to really work on improvising
• Because it makes you less root oriented when soloing
• Because it’s easy to understand and easy to put into place

One of the very first posts on the CG Blog was about The Six Day Week: taking one day off from practicing each week for rest and recuperation.

What we do when practicing and performing is intense. It’s easy to get burnt out. So here’s three things you can do on your days off to keep them musical.

1. Listen

Part of being a good musician is listening. We have to be aware of all genres and periods of art music, so it makes sense that we should listen to as much as we can.

But let me make a more specific suggestion: don’t listen to guitar music.

Check out some opera or art song. Listen to a symphony or a string quartet. Maybe even tune into a sonata for trumpet and piano. Step outside the box. Listen critically and read the liner notes.

Want more music for listening, but don’t have the budget? Check out the local library.

2. Read

Read about a music subject that interests you. If you’re into music theory, read about it! Or cruise Wikipedia for some articles about guitar composers. I personally read a lot about business and, right now, choice. I find it relates very well to music. More importantly, it makes me think. And the thinking often leads to posts on here.

If you want an overview of music history, check out a book about Great Composers.

3. Play

Just because you’re taking a day off from practicing doesn’t mean you can’t play guitar.

You can just play on your day off. Read through new works, or play old favorites. Improvise or compose something of your own. Play for the pure enjoyment of playing guitar; forget all those little trouble spots and let loose.

Just don’t fall into practicing on accident!

“You’re trying to hit emotions–you’re trying to move people.”
-Derek Trucks

My former teacher Stanley Yates just put a few new videos up. The footage was done for forthcoming DVD about building concert guitars by J.S. Bogdanovich.

I’ve been reading a lot about choice lately. Specifically, I’m interested in how and why people make choices. And a lot of it has applications to practicing and playing a guitar (or any instrument).

Satisfice for a While

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz spends a lot of time talking about maximizing and satisficing. Maximizing is finding the best choice or option. Satisficing is finding one thing that works and doing it.

We need to spend more time satisficing and less time looking for the ideal solution or the ideal technical routine or the perfect way to practice scales. Chose first option that meets your minimum requirements (ex. “I need a 30 minute technical routine), then practice. There are no bad choices in practicing. If something doesn’t work for you, you’ve gained valuable knowledge for later on (see below). If something does, then keep using it until it stops working.

Analogues

When things are analogous they relate in some respects, but may be different in others. This is different from a metaphor, which relates dissimilar things. Both analogues and metaphors can be used as problem solving strategies. In our case, analogues are more useful.

Everything we do is similar something else. Every practice event probably relates to something we’ve done before. There are only so many things we can do on the guitar, and once you have some experience with most of them you’ll have a huge knowledge base on which to draw.

Think critically about how you solved similar problems before tackling a new one. Look at your practice log if you have to. If you don’t have anything in your memory that relates, ask your teacher about it. Ask him/her to tell a story about how they would solve the problem.

Here’s an example:
I know that when I learn a complex arpeggio pattern–or something unfamiliar to my right hand–that I tend to accent the first beat after a left hand shift. My right hand gets a little too excited and the tension from the left hand carries to the right in the form of an accent. Not good. Because I know this, I (1) look out for it in situations where it might happen in hope of avoiding it and (2) notice it when it does happen so I can fix it. Because my previous experience has taught me this technical quirk, I can work to correct it before it becomes a habit in a piece.

In Sources of Power Gary Klein writes…

The method we have found most powerful for eliciting knowledge is to use stories. If you ask experts what makes them so good, they are likely to give general answers that do not reveal much. But if you can get them to tell you about tough cases, nonroutine events where their skills made the difference, they you have a pathway into their perspective, into the way they are seeing the world (p. 189).

Practicing and performing and gigging are problem solving. How do you work out that touch section? How do you get over stage fright? How do you organize a concert program? How do you book gigs?

The best advice I can give anyone is to find a local teacher or, if nobody is available locally, take webcam lessons. Teachers have short cuts and knowledge and, most of all, stories.

Klein is right that the best way elicit knowledge is through stories. Every time I write a post on The Classical Guitar Blog, I’m telling a story about what has worked for me. Or I’m telling you a story about what I do in the practice room or on stage. These are authentic stories I live every time I sit down with the guitar. Your teacher has just as many stories and just as much knowledge.

So ask for those stories. Ask your teacher what she did the first time she performed. Ask him how he practiced that difficult bit in a piece, even if it’s not a piece you’re working on the lessons in those stories can often be applied to other works. Ask about their early years or playing and what they did to get better during them. You’ll be amazed at the responses you get.