Again, my post is about, hopefully, some interesting and helpful connections etc re modes, and about finding a mode, in your head, quickly and accurately. Its not about using pen and paper, or moving your fingers in a pattern on the guitar.
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Shane if it works for you thatās great, for me itās too slow and long winded, I see no value in it but if you do thatās all good too, as I say different people can think in different ways, thereās no right and wrong just differing opinions to reach the same goal. Personally I learn theory to get the notes and intervals under my fingers so when Iām playing Iām not thinking about theory at all I just know where to go and Iām comfortable with that. YMMV.
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Again, Im not talking about an exclusive method. Im talking about another tool/ perspective, with some good theory behind it. If you dont see any value in it, thatās a pity. If you dont get it, dont use it.
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omg i am loving this so much, thank you Richard, never thought i will come across this. THANK YOU JUSTIN for THIS, i jst discovered this in 2025!
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@fadeintoyou Hello Chew and welcome to the JustinGuitar Community.
Thank you for your positive comment to my posts. 
10 / 10 on the major ones. Iām not sure I was entirely honest though. I listened to the Ionian / Lydian / Ionian / Mixolydian a few times (as suggested). Then I did the test. But on the 1st run through I had a fair idea I wasnāt quite getting it (indeed on look back I only got 4 of them right). So I then went back and listened to Ionian / Lydian / Ionian / Mixolydian again; then the test again (without taking it); then Ionian / Lydian / Ionian / Mixolydian again. Then I took the test. Then I revealed the answers.
But I think I can recognise them better now:
Ionian doesnāt sound like there is anything unusual about it (which there shouldnāt be!), other than maybe when you go back to the root from a much higher degree of the scale (Iām not sure why and it also applies to the other 2 modes).
Lydian: the sharp 4th when you go lower than the starting root sounds flat to me - so I guess I hear a flat 5th. But when you go high it sounds sharp (so a sharp 4th). This feels like a distinctive characteristic that I may be able to grab hold of
Mixolydian sounds flatter than the other 2, (which it is 
). Whether I would pick it out without hearing Ionian as well, Iām not sure.
Iām happy with the result though, and that I picked up (for me) a defining characteristic for the Lydian mode.
For info: Iām currently following a Modes Mastery course for bass. There is slightly different teaching from @Richard_close2u and James Eager (the bass teacher at eBassGuitar / Bass Lab Plus). But the 2 combined are working well for me.
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By flattening one note at a time as we move through the modes in parallel from Lydian to Locrian, the scales sound ādarkerā.
But hereās a thingā¦ā¦
By moving through the modes weāve flattened 6 of the 7 notes. If we flatten the remaining note (the root) will it become even darker?
Well, if we flatten the root we move into a different ākeyā and A Locrian moves to Ab Lydian - the brightest mode.
Soā¦ā¦does Ab Lydian sound brighter or darker than A Locrianā¦?
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@BurnsRhythm
David. You made me smile.
Have you stumbled upon the mobius strip of modes?
