Why Use Modes?

Music Theory Major Scale Modes
1

View the full lesson at Why Use Modes? | JustinGuitar

1 Like
2

Thank you for this lesson. It’s very useful thinking about soloing in terms of listening for the home and comfortable notes.
With the example of the G7 and the use of the mixolydian mode, why is this this modal playing and not chord tone soloing? I understand modes and I understand chord tone soloing, but in the example given in this video I don’t understand how the two differ?

Thanks
Fiona

3

Hi @Fiona888
Chord tone soling makes use of blended aspects of say, using a scale, using arpeggios, using double-stops … plus targeting chord tones on one or more of the chords as they appear in the progression.
The exercise here is to only use a scale, and to explore all seven notes of the scale, and to listen for the quality of the sound and vibe that each note gives. Justin describes how the four chord tones always sound ‘good’ but also gives a nod to two other notes that sound ‘interesting’.
The idea is to play over a single chord backing track. If all you did was play the four notes of the chord it would sound limited okay for a while then become dull and predictable.
The exercise of a single chord vamp is more an exercise.
Does that help?
Cheers :blush:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Moderator

1 Like
4

When you are playing in G Mixolydian mode in a song, is the chord progression of the song a G chord progression or does it stay with the parent chord progression of C?

5

Maybe you got this answered elsewhere, but my understanding is this…

The diatonic chord set for G Mixolydian are the same chords as in C major (or C Ionian), but you would think about them in a different order. So for G Mixolydian the chords are:
G, Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F

Note how the order of the chords have all just shifted. In C major, the order would have been C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim

6

Hi @JillLeeJones and welcome to the community.
Playing G mixolydian means the chord G major is home, emphasised, the place that all resolution comes to.
The C chord is ideally not included or given minimal play time as it will give the impression of shifting the tonal centre to itself and away from G.

7

Thanks for the explanation! That really helps!

Jill

1 Like