Diatonic chunks, 3 notes per string edition.

i read somewhere that the average man can only remember 6 numbers in a row before getting all hazy. yes, ladies, that's why he wants to give you his number, instead of take yours. now i wonder - does it work the same way for us guys on guitar

well, even if you're not a male, you might benefit from this idea.

i have found over the years that learning new systems of notes (scales/riffs/solos/etc) has been getting increasingly harder. my ears have developed so that i can regurgitate through my fingers what i hear, but if there is something my ears don't quite know how to translate to the fretboard i find the process of remembering said lick to be quite long and painstaking. in other words, i think the better my ears get, the more i learn to rely on them. this is great, but not so wonderful for when my ears can't remember a melody - they can't tell my hands what to do if they don't know what they're hearing!

a very common way to alleviate this is to break licks into small bits for processing, and then moving on to the next bit, until you're done learning what you need to learn. we're going to revisit this approach today, with a focus on the modes for an example of how to do this.

here are all the standard modes, laid out for you to see, 3 notes per string, in the delightful key of G...

Ionian (Major)

|-------------------------------5-7-8-|

|-------------------------5-7-8-------|

|-------------------4-5-7-------------|

|-------------4-5-7-------------------|

|-------3-5-7-------------------------|

|-3-5-7-------------------------------|

Dorian

|--------------------------------7-8-10-|

|-------------------------7-8-10--------|

|-------------------5-7-9---------------|

|-------------5-7-9---------------------|

|-------5-7-9---------------------------|

|-5-7-8---------------------------------|

Phrygian

|-------------------------------------8-10-12-|

|-----------------------------8-10-12---------|

|----------------------7-9-11-----------------|

|---------------7-9-10------------------------|

|--------7-9-10-------------------------------|

|-7-8-10--------------------------------------|

Lydian

|------------------------------------------10-12-14-|

|---------------------------------10-12-13----------|

|-------------------------9-11-12-------------------|

|-----------------9-10-12---------------------------|

|---------9-10-12-----------------------------------|

|-8-10-12-------------------------------------------|

Mixolydian

|----------------------------------------------12-14-15-|

|-------------------------------------12-13-15----------|

|----------------------------11-12-14-------------------|

|-------------------10-12-14----------------------------|

|----------10-12-14-------------------------------------|

|-10-12-14----------------------------------------------|

Aeolian (Minor)

|----------------------------------------------14-15-17-|

|-------------------------------------13-15-17----------|

|----------------------------12-14-16-------------------|

|-------------------12-14-16----------------------------|

|----------12-14-15-------------------------------------|

|-12-14-15----------------------------------------------|

Locrian

|-------------------------------3-5-7---|

|-------------------------3-5-7---------|

|-------------------2-4-5---------------|

|-------------2-4-5---------------------|

|-------2-3-5---------------------------|

|-2-3-5---------------------------------|

if you are familiar with the modes, this information will seem very normal to you. however, if this is your first time diving into them, you're probably thinking a chillling thought: "that's a lot of stuff to remember."

maybe at first glance, it is. the sheer amount of screen that whole mess takes up can be quite scary the first time you lay eyes on it. the focus of this lesson is to get you not to fear the modes, but instead to look at this large chunk of information differently, and learn to pick out patterns that will help you to remember them better.

let's start back at the beginning, at the very vanilla ice cream-sounding ionian mode...

Ionian (Major)

|-------------------------------5-7-8-|

|-------------------------5-7-8-------|

|-------------------4-5-7-------------|

|-------------4-5-7-------------------|

|-------3-5-7-------------------------|

|-3-5-7-------------------------------|

forget about how many notes we've got flying around here. take a look at just the notes on each string, and you might notice something interesting. each stringset of notes falls into one of three patterns...

A)
|-1-3-5-|

B)
|-1-2-4-|

C)
|-1-3-4-|

in terms of how the notes get spaced out, those are the only 3 variations we have - not just in our ionian scale - but throughout all seven modes! if we could remember these patterns, and label them in our heads for easy recalling later, this might help to get these into our memories faster and easier.  

as you can see from above, i have labeled these 3 variations A, B, and C (what originality!). let's take a look at that mode again, this time labeled appropriately for the note spacing variations for each string...

Ionian (Major)

|------------------------------------5-7-8-| C

|-----------------------------5-7-8--------| C

|----------------------4-5-7---------------| B

|---------------4-5-7----------------------| B

|--------3-5-7-----------------------------| A

|-3-5-7------------------------------------| A

if you were trying to remember this scale, you could simply memorize your variations, and then say to yourself: "ionian - AABBCC." how much easier is that?

now let's apply this method to all the modes...

Ionian (Major)

|-------------------------------5-7-8-| C

|-------------------------5-7-8-------| C

|-------------------4-5-7-------------| B

|-------------4-5-7-------------------| B

|-------3-5-7-------------------------| A

|-3-5-7-------------------------------| A

Dorian

|----------------------------------7-8-10-| B

|---------------------------7-8-10--------| B

|---------------------5-7-9---------------| A

|--------------5-7-9----------------------| A

|-------5-7-9-----------------------------| A

|-5-7-8-----------------------------------| C

Phrygian

|----------=--------------------------8-10-12-| A

|-----------------------------8-10-12---------| A

|----------------------7-9-11-----------------| A

|---------------7-9-10------------------------| C

|--------7-9-10-------------------------------| C

|-7-8-10--------------------------------------| B

Lydian

|------------------------------------------10-12-14-| A

|---------------------------------10-12-13----------| C

|-------------------------9-11-12-------------------| C

|-----------------9-10-12---------------------------| B

|---------9-10-12-----------------------------------| B

|-8-10-12-------------------------------------------| A

Mixolydian

|----------------------------------------------12-14-15-| C

|-------------------------------------12-13-15----------| B

|----------------------------11-12-14-------------------| B

|-------------------10-12-14----------------------------| A

|----------10-12-14-------------------------------------| A

|-10-12-14----------------------------------------------| A

Aeolian (Minor)

|----------------------------------------------14-15-17-| B

|-------------------------------------13-15-17----------| A

|----------------------------12-14-16-------------------| A

|-------------------12-14-16----------------------------| A

|----------12-14-15-------------------------------------| C

|-12-14-15----------------------------------------------| C

Locrian

|-------------------------------3-5-7---| A

|-------------------------3-5-7---------| A

|-------------------2-4-5---------------| C

|-------------2-4-5---------------------| C

|-------2-3-5---------------------------| B

|-2-3-5---------------------------------| B

something you're probably also noticing is that these patterns progress in the same order everytime - there is no skipping patterns! this helps to alleviate even a bit more stress when it comes to memorizing.

the only thing we have left to categorize (if we want to) is when we have to change positions from string to string. let's use the lydian scale this time for fun...

Lydian

|------------------------------------------10-12-14-| A

|---------------------------------10-12-13----------| +C

|-------------------------9-11-12-------------------| C

|-----------------9-10-12---------------------------| B

|---------9-10-12-----------------------------------| +B

|-8-10-12-------------------------------------------| A

now i'm adding the use of +'s and -'s to denote where to move (just like we do when we make fingering changes with the roman numeral system, discussed in a different article). while this does make things a bit more complicated, A +B B C +C A is quite easier than memorizing every single fret position in an 18 note grid. if i was descending, the +'s would change to -'s, and vice versa.


is that now too complicated? maybe it is - it's up to you. keep in mind you also don't have to analyze every single scale you come across in this way - you can pick and choose what works best for you. for me, i find that remembering the position changes aren't as necessary for some reason, so i focus more on remembering the fingering patterns for each mode. on the contrary, if you find that your ear tends to steer you towards the right notes on each string, but you end up losing yourself when changing to the next stringset, it might be good to develop a system to help you remember your positions.

the moral of the story is to approach all new material you learn from as many angles as you can to help you remember and understand them better. this particular method works very well for me in my quest to dominate the modes, and i think with a bit of customization may help you solidify these 7 horrifying scales of torture into your head.

and now, using both methods invented in this blog, i give you all 7 modes one last time...

Ionian (Major)
A A +B B +C C

Dorian
C A A A +B B

Phrygian
B C C A +A A

Lydian
A +B B C +C A

Mixolydian
A A A +B +B C

Aeolian (Minor)
C C A A +A +B

Locrian
B B C C +A A

look at how much less screen that takes up! i should write that on the back of my strat.