Between the Licks

A short method on choosing an appropriate mode for improvisation.

Pop-up instructional video to the left.

For this lesson we'll learn how pick the mode that will, in most cases, sound best over a certain chord. There are definitely exceptions to this rule but for now we'll just keep it simple.

If you haven't read my lessons Three Vital Musical Concepts and Understanding Modes, you should do that first.  They are quite simple and this lesson builds on those lessons.

Simple selection

Chords are built from major scales and modes are derived from major scales.  The usefulness of modes is their patterning which allows them to overlap over chord intervals.  First, let's look at some chord structures we'll apply later:

• Major 7th (maj7): 1, 3, 5, 7
• Diminished (dim or o): 1, b3, b5
• Dominant 7th (7): 1, 3, 5, b7
• Dominant 7th with 9th (9): 1, 3, 5, b7, 9 or 2
• Minor 7th (m7): 1, b3, 5, b7
• Minor 7th with flat ninth(m7b9): 1, b3, 5, b7, b9 or b2
• Dominant 9th (9): 1, 3, (5), b7, 9 or 2
• Diminished (^o or dim): 1, b3, b5
• Major 7th with sharp eleventh (maj7#11): 1, 3, (5), 7, #11 or #4

Now lets look which intervals make up each mode.

1. Ionian (major): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
2. Dorian: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7
3. Phrygian: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
4. Lydian: 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7
5. Mixolydian: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7
6. Aeolian: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7
7. Locrian: 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7

Now you should be able to put together some of the pieces of the puzzle by just looking at those two lists.

Some mode-chord examples

I'll list each chord and recommend a mode you might consider using. For this example, all you have to do is line up the chord intervals and the mode intervals. We'll continue to only use the notes from a C major scale.

Over each of these chords, you only need to play C, D, E, F, G, A, B.  Magical isn't it?

• Cmaj7 - C ionian
• Dm7 or m9 - D Dorian
• Em7 or m7b9 - E phrygian
• Fmaj7 or maj7#11 or maj9 - F lydian (avoid the 5th!)
• G7 or 9 - G mixolydian
• Am7+5 - A aeolian (avoid the 5th!)
• B^o or dim - B locrian

Note: to construct each of the chords, you'll need to use that chord's major scale to find the notes involved. For example, if I want to construct the Am7+5, then I must use the A major scale to find the 1, b3, #5, and b7. I just conviently chose 7 chords that fit perfectly into the C major scale.

This is not an exhaustive and the seven modes will only get you so far. This should simply give you an understanding of how people go about attaching modes to chords. I will post another lesson about using modes in improvisation.

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