Improvisational Guitar Lesson IV Aeolian Mode The Relative Minor
Copyright © 2004 John Mericle All Rights Reserved.
Improvising from Modes: Lesson Four
"D minor ... The Saddest of All Keys"
Nigel Tufnel -Spinal Tap
What makes music sad? Remember from lesson three that we touched on the intervals between notes and how that relationship controls the mood of the music. What makes sad or moody music is the relationship between the 1st degree and the 3rd degree. When that is 2 whole steps as it is in a major scale (whole, whole) then it is a "happy" interval. When however, that relationship is only three frets or one and one/half steps then it is a minor third or "sad." We will build the Aeolian mode below from the 6th degree of the A major mode.
Construction of the Aeolian (pure minor) mode.
A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F# whole G# half A.
F# whole G# half A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F#.
If we look at the first two intervals in this Aeolian mode we can see that we go whole half. That is only three frets or one and one-half steps. This is a minor third interval and will be sad or moody. That is why this is a minor mode. Remember the 3rd degree of the scale is one of the "guidetones." The other guidetone is the 7th degree.
Note in this mode that the interval between the 7th degree and the next octave is a whole step or two frets with a normal 6th degree. This defines the pure minor Aeolion mode.
Time for a new progression
This time we are going to start out in the key of C with a Major 7th mode root 6/4 on the sixth string at the 8th fret which is C. The next chord in this progression will be A minor (the VI chord), the relative minor in the key of C. Just drop back to A on the sixth string (5th fret) and start the mode with your index finger. The next chord will be the IV chord which will be F. For this F we can use the Major 7th root 5/3 mode starting on the 5th string at the 8th fret which is F. Then the V chord G7th. For this we will use the either the Mixolydian root 6/4 at the 3rd fret on the sixth string or the Mixolydian root 5/3 at the 10th fret on the 5th string
The modes for this progression.
Start this mode on the 6th string, 8th fret with your long finger.
Start this mode on the 6th string, 5th fret with your index finger.
Start this mode on the 5th string, 8th fret with your long finger.
Start this mode on the 5th string, 10th fret with your long finger.
An alternative to the last Mixolydian mode would be using a root 6/4 Mixolydian mode as shown below. For G you would want to start this mode with your long finger on the 6th string at the 3rd fret.
Learning to improvise in the Major and Mixolydian modes is very important especially in Rock and Country where a large amount of music is written for these modes. A lot of rock chords are incomplete and it is very important to recognize the "guidetones" in these chords so that you use the correct modes when you are improvising. This is fairly easy to hear when it comes to Major vs Minor (happy vs sad) but becomes a bit more subtle when it is Major 7th vs Dominant 7th. Record a lot of this progression and then improvise over it. Then pick up a music book of your choice and with a song playing in the background start trying to play along and improvise with the song. Always make sure to be in tune.
Next up is lesson five where we will venture into a little jazz and the Dorian minor mode as part of a typical II-V-I progression. Lesson six will cover the blues mode and lesson seven the pentatonic modes.
Improvising from Modes: Lesson Four
"D minor ... The Saddest of All Keys"
Nigel Tufnel -Spinal Tap
What makes music sad? Remember from lesson three that we touched on the intervals between notes and how that relationship controls the mood of the music. What makes sad or moody music is the relationship between the 1st degree and the 3rd degree. When that is 2 whole steps as it is in a major scale (whole, whole) then it is a "happy" interval. When however, that relationship is only three frets or one and one/half steps then it is a minor third or "sad." We will build the Aeolian mode below from the 6th degree of the A major mode.
Construction of the Aeolian (pure minor) mode.
A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F# whole G# half A.
F# whole G# half A whole B whole C# half D whole E whole F#.
If we look at the first two intervals in this Aeolian mode we can see that we go whole half. That is only three frets or one and one-half steps. This is a minor third interval and will be sad or moody. That is why this is a minor mode. Remember the 3rd degree of the scale is one of the "guidetones." The other guidetone is the 7th degree.
 |
Note in this mode that the interval between the 7th degree and the next octave is a whole step or two frets with a normal 6th degree. This defines the pure minor Aeolion mode.
Time for a new progression
This time we are going to start out in the key of C with a Major 7th mode root 6/4 on the sixth string at the 8th fret which is C. The next chord in this progression will be A minor (the VI chord), the relative minor in the key of C. Just drop back to A on the sixth string (5th fret) and start the mode with your index finger. The next chord will be the IV chord which will be F. For this F we can use the Major 7th root 5/3 mode starting on the 5th string at the 8th fret which is F. Then the V chord G7th. For this we will use the either the Mixolydian root 6/4 at the 3rd fret on the sixth string or the Mixolydian root 5/3 at the 10th fret on the 5th string
The modes for this progression.
 |
Start this mode on the 6th string, 8th fret with your long finger.
 |
Start this mode on the 6th string, 5th fret with your index finger.
 |
Start this mode on the 5th string, 8th fret with your long finger.
 |
Start this mode on the 5th string, 10th fret with your long finger.
An alternative to the last Mixolydian mode would be using a root 6/4 Mixolydian mode as shown below. For G you would want to start this mode with your long finger on the 6th string at the 3rd fret.
 |
Learning to improvise in the Major and Mixolydian modes is very important especially in Rock and Country where a large amount of music is written for these modes. A lot of rock chords are incomplete and it is very important to recognize the "guidetones" in these chords so that you use the correct modes when you are improvising. This is fairly easy to hear when it comes to Major vs Minor (happy vs sad) but becomes a bit more subtle when it is Major 7th vs Dominant 7th. Record a lot of this progression and then improvise over it. Then pick up a music book of your choice and with a song playing in the background start trying to play along and improvise with the song. Always make sure to be in tune.
Next up is lesson five where we will venture into a little jazz and the Dorian minor mode as part of a typical II-V-I progression. Lesson six will cover the blues mode and lesson seven the pentatonic modes.
posted by John Mericle M.D. D.A.B.R. @ 8:18 PM
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