Stop 2 of 6
Dorian and Mixolydian
The modes of rock, funk and blues.
Loading…
Stop 2 of 6
The modes of rock, funk and blues.
The first two islands you visit are the most crowded. and are everywhere in rock, funk, blues, modal jazz and Celtic music, often without anybody naming them. Each one differs from a scale you already know by a single note, and that note is what you are going to learn to hear, find on the neck and sing with the guitar.
Start the first backing and let it loop for a while before you play anything. It is just two alternating chords, a . Notice the second chord: does it sound “odd” for a minor song?
Now the second. Home is A again, but the A major chord does not go to E (its dominant); it goes to G, a whole step below:
The first is minor but bright: the D7 chord brings an F♯ that a “normal” A minor key would not have. The second is major but earthy, without the pull of a leading tone: the G chord brings a natural G where A major would have G♯. Those two notes, F♯ and G, are the stars of this stop.
Compare Aeolian and Dorian on the same tonic:
| Mode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Aeolian | A | B | C | D | E | F (♭6) | G (♭7) |
| A Dorian | A | B | C | D | E | F♯ (6) | G (♭7) |
Dorian formula: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7. Its is the major 6: a minor scale with a “major-key” sixth. That 6 removes the dramatic weight of ♭6 and leaves a lighter minor, with a touch of hope or groove.
Hear the difference over the A drone: first Aeolian, then Dorian, leaning on the sixth.
Why does the i–IV vamp sound Dorian? Because the mode's 6 is the third of the IV chord: in A Dorian, IV is D (D–F♯–A), a major chord that does not exist in A natural minor (there, iv is Dm). Every time the D7 sounds, the ear is served the F♯.
Since A Dorian has the notes of G major (its parent scale), you can recycle fingerings you already know. But read the diagram with degrees from A: what matters is where the 6 lives.
String 6, Fret 5: A2 · 1 · Root
This original phrase lives in that position. Over Am7 it climbs the scale; over D7 it sits for two beats on F♯, the characteristic note, which is also the chord's third:
Now compare Ionian and Mixolydian:
| Mode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Ionian | A | B | C♯ | D | E | F♯ | G♯ (7) |
| A Mixolydian | A | B | C♯ | D | E | F♯ | G (♭7) |
Mixolydian formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7. Its characteristic note is the ♭7. With the leading tone gone, the tonic no longer “needs” to resolve: the mode sounds major, but relaxed, open, with road dust on it.
Look at degrees 1, 3, 5 and ♭7: they spell A7. Mixolydian is the scale that “contains” a dominant seventh chord, which is why it fits blues and funk so well, where the tonic chord is often an A7 that never resolves.
The chord that gives it away is ♭VII: in A Mixolydian, G (G–B–D) has the ♭7 as its root. The minor v (Em) also carries the natural G.
String 6, Fret 5: A2 · 1 · Root
These are the accompaniments you will meet most often. Listen and spot, in each one, which chord contains the characteristic note.
| Mode | Vamp | In A | Chord that carries it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorian | i7–IV7 | Am7 – D7 | IV (third = 6) |
| Dorian | i7–ii7 | Am7 – Bm7 | ii (fifth = 6) |
| Mixolydian | I–♭VII | A – G | ♭VII (root = ♭7) |
| Mixolydian | I–♭VII–IV | A – G – D | ♭VII |
| Mixolydian | I–v | A – Em7 | v (third = ♭7) |
Dorian and Mixolydian are closer than they seem: both have a major 6 and a ♭7. Only the third separates them (♭3 in Dorian, 3 in Mixolydian). That is why a blues improviser slides from one to the other so naturally, and why the mix of minor and major pentatonics you already know sounds so good over an A7.
A Dorian
A Mixolydian
A Dorian is the second mode of G major; A Mixolydian, the fifth mode of D major. Knowing this gives you fingerings for free: any CAGED or three-notes-per-string position of G major works for A Dorian. But the shortcut has a price: if, while playing the G major fingering, you end your phrases on G, over the Am7 vamp it will sound as if you picked the wrong chord. Use the parent scale only to find the frets, and think degrees from A.
When you hear a vamp and hesitate between these two modes, ask two questions in this order. First: is the tonic major or minor? Sing the tonic and then the third; if the third is major, you are in Mixolydian's family; if it is minor, in Dorian's. Second: what sits a whole step below the tonic? If you find the ♭7 in the backing (a major chord a whole step down, or a minor seventh in the melody), rule out Ionian. If a minor vamp brings in a major chord a fourth above the tonic, the 6 is natural and you rule out Aeolian. With these two questions you will identify most rock and funk vamps in a few seconds.
Goal: Improvise 16 bars over Am7–D7, playing F sharp on beat 1 of every D7 bar and never ending a phrase on G.
Goal: Improvise 16 bars over A–G, leaning on G in every G bar and ending phrases on A or C sharp.
Practice blocks ticked: 0 · Self-assessments taken: 0