Modes Lesson III Mixolydian The V-7 Chord

Copyright © 2004 John Mericle All Rights Reserved.


Improvising from Modes: Lesson Three

Musical notes are not absolute, they are relative.

Even though A above middle C (A440cps) has an absolute frequency, this note can be made to sound different specifically by what note or notes preceed it. Musical note frequencies are absolute, A 440 will always be A 440. However, the mood of this note will change dramatically by the notes preceeding it. The human ear evaluates music as a series of notes, not as an isolated event or note.

Happy or Sad ... Tension or Resolution.

Intervals between notes can either be "happy" as in a Major 3rd or "sad" as in a Minor 3rd. When we go from a b7th tone to the tonic or 1st degree we feel resolution. Play a Locrian mode (half-diminished) and feel the tension left on the last note of the mode, it just demands that you add what would be in essence a 9th to resolve it.

The answer to the question at the end of lesson two.

The reason why the Lydian mode sounds different is that the 4th degree is different than what we are used to hearing. We are expecting a G and instead get a G#. Immediate tension and some slight dissonance. The art of improvising revolves around the improviser's ability to create tension and then release or resolve that tension. Take one more look at the construction of the Lydian mode and we can see that starting this scale on the 4th degree causes us to go whole, whole, whole as opposed to a normal Major scale that would go whole, whole, half. This is the essence of intervals and why some modes are sad (minor modes), some are happy (major modes) and some really beg to be resolved (locrian half-diminished) creating tension.

D whole E whole F# whole G# half A whole B whole C# half D.

Now our song has moved along and we have gone from the IV chord back to the I chord or as some songs do, go from the IV chord to the V chord. Since we are in the key of A the V chord will be E7th. Why E7th instead of just E Major? Back to our modes and this time we will build a scale on the 5th degree (Mixolydian) mode.

A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F# whole G# half A.

The A major scale. Now let's build a scale from the 5th degree of the A major scale.

E whole F# whole G# half A whole B whole C# half D. whole E

Starting on the 5th degree or E we go whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole. Why is this chord called E-7 and not E major 7? If we take a close look at the construction of the mixolydian mode we start out whole, whole, half, whole, whole which so far sounds like our normal Major scale, however, this is where things change. The next interval is half, not whole. This lowers the 7th degree by a half step. This is a very important concept in music to understand. The difference between a Major 7th and a Mixolydian or dominant 7th is the 7th degree or tone is flatted in the Mixolydian mode, thus altering the mood of the notes. To me, the Mixolydian mode is not as happy as a Major 7th but is not sad like a minor third. It is a less rigid and maybe a more free sound. Almost all blues are written in a dominant 7th or Mixolydian mode.


Retain The Guidetones.

In any series of notes there are what have been termed the "guide" tones. These are the tones that really construct the mood of the music. They are the 3rd (major 3rd happy, minor 3rd sad) and the 7th (Major happy, dominant 7th not as happy, "bluesy" and maybe more free). Just as in chord theory we try to retain the guidetones it also helps in improvisation to retain the notes that are going to characterize the mood of our solo.

Note in the above mode that we now have a whole step (2 frets) between the 7th degree and the next octave (root) 1st or 8th depending on what you want to call it. Compare the Mixolydian b7th to the Major Ionian 7th below where there is only one fret between the 7th degree and the next 8th (1st) octave or root.




Now if we look at the scale degrees mode chart we can see that the 5th degree is at the 7th fret on the 5th string. That note is E and all we have to do here is to move from either the A position on the 6th string or the D position on the 5th string. Play a dominant 7th mode starting on the E on the 5th string at the 7th fret. As an alternative you could play a root 6/4 dominant 7th mode starting on the 12th fret on the 6th string, another E. This is somewhat more problematic for those playing your typical classical or flamenco guitar.

The Mixolydian root 6/4 mode.

Time now to record a complete three chord sequence.

Now record a complete three chord sequence making the changes very long giving yourself plenty of time to make the changes and still have time to really improvise a bit over each of the chords. Please understand that the modes can be moved anywhere up and down the neck of the guitar. It is good to practice the modes in all positions where the whole mode can be completed. As you practice up and down starting on the 5th and 6th strings think of the starting note so that you will become more familiar with the guitar fretboard and what key you are playing in.


The Mericle Mode Chart.

This is a place where the Mericle Mode Chart can really help. It has all the above modes plus about 27 more in both root 6/4 and root 5/3 all on one sheet. The modes are arranged into four groups Major 7th, Dominant 7th, Minor and Half-Diminished/Diminished. As you play further down the chart the modes become more dissonant and usually are more technically difficult to play. Suprise your friends by playing a whole tone mode, usually only played by the jazz group.

Please stay tuned for lesson four where we will discuss the Aeolian mode or the relative minor and what we called in the folk heydays, the Sears Roebuck progression C-A minor-F-G7th-C. In lesson five we will discuss the Dorian minor mode as used in the classic jazz progression of II-V-I.

Copyright © 2004 John Mericle All Rights Reserved.

Lesson Two Lydian Mode The IV Chord

Copyright © 2005 John Mericle All Rights Reserved

Improvising from Modes: Lesson Two

At the end of lesson one the Major Ionian mode had been introduced and practiced at the 5th fret (key of A major). Practicing a mode and improvising only on one chord needs to be done to gain familiarity with the fingering of the mode but can become somewhat musically boring. Today we will discuss improvising over a chord change.












The Ionian Major mode root 6/4.

The IV chord.

A rather large percentage of music has only a three chord structure. For instance in the key of E major the other two chords would be A major and B7th. If we count from E to A starting with the E as one, F would be two, G would be three, A would be four and B would be five. Therefore we would call the A major chord the IV chord and the B7th chord the V chord. (Note chord annotation utilizes Roman numerals). Countless songs use this structure. On the guitar the key of E major is frequently used so that the song starts in E major, moves to A major for a while then back to E major then to B7th and then back to E major again.

The Scale Degrees.

The following below indicates the scale degrees for the ionian (major) mode.













This scale is built on the scheme below:

1st degree or tonic (key) ... Ionian
whole step (2 frets)
2nd degree ... Dorian minor mode
whole step (2 frets)
3rd degree ... Phyrgian mode
half step (1 fret)
4th degree ... Lydian mode
whole step (2 frets)
5th degree ... Mixolydian
whole step (2 frets)
6th degree ... Aeolian
whole step (2 frets)
7th degree ... Locrian
half step (1 fret)
1st (8th) degree

Thus we have the following:

whole whole half whole whole whole half.
This is the construction of a major scale.

What does this have to do with improvising?

Back to our last lesson improvising with the Major (Ionian) mode starting at the fifth fret (Key of A). Now our song changes to the IV chord of the key of A which is D major. If we continue to play in the same position some of the notes in the scale will not sound right for the D chord. By looking at the scale degrees we can see that the 4th degree corresponding to the IV chord is the 5th string at the 5th fret for the key of A that we started in.

Major Ionian mode root 5/3















All we now have to do to improvise over this chord change is to start using the root 5/3 major mode at the 5th fret on the 5th string. This would then be a D major Ionian mode pattern since the 5th string fretted at the 5th fret is D. This requires learning another mode. However, you could use the same Ionian Major mode used in lesson one by moving up the neck of the guitar to the 10th fret 6th string which is also D. As an aside this is a good demonstration of what makes the guitar in some ways easy but in other ways very difficult. There is more than one location for any given note (frequency) as opposed to a trumpet or saxophone where there is only one key configuration for any note (frequency).

Try using the Lydian (major scale with a +4) mode for a different sound
The Lydian mode is built by simply starting the scale on the 4th degree. Remember the "mathmatical" relationship demostrated at the beginning of this lesson.

whole whole half whole whole whole half.
This is pure math. No matter what scale or mode you are playing these relationships are present. The "modes" are actually just starting any scale or series of notes on any of the degrees of the scale. The Lydian mode is built on the 4th degree of the scale. In the key of A, that would be D. Follow the construction of this mode.

A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F# whole G# half A.
The A major scale. Now let's build a scale from the 4th degree of the A major scale.

D whole E whole F# whole G# half A whole B whole C# half D.
Starting on the 4th degree or D we go whole, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half. Why will this scale sound different that the A major scale? Play them both and listen.













Stay tuned for the answer to this question and Lesson 3 which will discuss the next chord change to the dominant 7th chord (the V chord) which in the key of A will be E7. We will also look at the Mixolydian mode which is built on the 5th degree of the scale.

Improvising from Modes: Lesson One

Introduction: The Trio.

Three of the world's greatest guitarists, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola first played together on a Friday night in San Francisco in 1980. In a video about Paco, he discusses how he really struggled to "keep up" with John and Al. He would get back to the hotel and be exhausted, have headaches and difficulty sleeping. How could this be? For me, Paco was always the world's greatest guitarist. I was lucky to have met him once in 1974 well before he became known here in the United States. While studying studying flamenco with Rene Heredia in Denver, Paco came to play a concert there. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the "juerga" afterwords.Traditional Flamenco is not really "improvised."Traditional flamenco may sound spontaneous and "improvised" to the unfamiliar but really most of it is not spontaneous and usually worked out well before it is performed. While Paco had incredible technique and compositional skills he rarely "improvised" in the true sense of the word.

On the other hand both John and Al had grown up playing modes (known to them or otherwise) and spent most of their guitar time really improvising, especially John. If you listen to Paco's flamenco it is really fairly structured. Listen then to John playing on Shakti. The cut "All is Bliss" sounds to me as if the whole 29:02 minutes is one incredible long improvisation. Having studied flamenco since 1962 I could play many solo pieces but much to my chagrin I could never really "sit in" with a group of other musicians. I didn't really know the basics of improvisation.

Do you have to improvise to be great? Absolutely not. There are some really great musicians who never really have improvised at all. It really depends on whether or not you enjoy it and it fits your perceived musical "style." I really like to improvise now that I have some idea of "how" to improvise. However, while it is easy to learn to improvise, it takes a lot of practice to really improvise well. There are many great guitarists out there but few who can improvise as well as John McLaughlin, Alex Lifeson or Paco de Lucia.

Where to start?




The above diagram from the Mericle Mode Chart demonstrates the Major (Ionian) mode. This is a good place to begin since no shifts are required for a full two octave mode (scale). The diagram below demonstrates the left hand fingering for this mode. There are a variety of fingering codes or schemes but for this we will use the following:

2nd finger or index = i
3rd finger or long = m
4th finger or ring = r
5th finger or small = s













The above mode is a Major Ionian with the roots on the 6th and 4th strings. Note the fingering on both this and the mode below.

Ionian Major 7th root 5/3

The mode chart below is the same Major Ionian but with the roots on the 5th and 3rd strings. In order to get a full two octaves starting on the 5th string requires a shift on the third string. This mode could be rewritten to shift on a different string if you preferred that. As an aside however, the Segovia Scales all shift on the 3rd string (for what that is worth).















To Begin.

To begin first just play the mode until you are fairly familiar with it. A good place to start is at the 5th fret on the 6th string (A) or for the root 5/3 mode start on the 5th string at the 5th fret (D major 7th). Play the modes in both directions until you can play them without having to think which fingering comes next. Practice starting them at all frets on the 5th and 6th strings where you can complete the mode with no open notes.

Add some rhythm guitar.

Now that you are familiar with the modes add some rhythm guitar behind you. Record an A chord evenly in 4/4 time (4 quarter notes per measure) for at least 2 or 3 minutes and then play this mode over that.

If you don't have access to a recorder then try to get one of your guitar friends to play rhythm for you or purchase a Jamey Abersold play along CD. (Volume 1 "How to Play Jazz and Improvise" and volume 26 "The Scale Syllabus" are really good for this). Initially just play up and down and listen to the notes. Then maybe just go up two or three notes and back down. After that go up a full octave and back down. Next try leaving a few notes out on the way up or down. Soon you will begin to hear groups of notes that you like. You are now "improvising."

That concludes lesson one. Please stay tuned for lesson two where we will discuss changing modes over the chord change from the I chord to the IV chord (Ldyian Major 7th).Thanks for your attention.Play to express -not impress.

John Mericle
http://www.4ImprovGuitar.com

Welcome To Improvisational Guitar

Welcome ... I would like to thank you for visiting this blog. Learning to improvise on the guitar is something that anyone who plays the guitar, would like to do well. While it takes a lot of practice to learn to improvise well, there are certain patterns on the guitar that make the path a little more clear. These are called modes and we plan to discuss them on this blog.

Always play to express, not impress.

John Mericle
http://www.4ImprovGuitar.com