Don't know if this topic is even still alive or not but...
2 chord refers to chord progression and modes are about note choice.
If you have only an Ami7 chord, you can play a Gmajor scale, a Cmajor scale or a Fmajor scale. Which would give you A Dorian, A Aeolian(natural minor), or A Phrygian respectively.
The \"normal\" thing to do over an Aminor chord would be to play an A minor scale. But if you play dorian it has a raised 6th, and if you play phrygian it would have a flatted 2 or 9. Each of those are different and would have different notes in them.
I mean sure the notes of a G major scale and an A dorian scale are the same, but the notes of an A dorian scale are NOT the same as an A minor scale. There's were your notes are different.
All of that is just about single notes, if you start talking about harmony, the chord progressions are different in modal types of things too. A chord progression in A minor is not going to be the same as a chord progression in A dorian.
I'm guessing that what you're thinking about is trying to think of each chord in a progression as it's corresponding mode. If so, I agree that that is a complicated way of thinking of things. If I'm playing lines over this progression...
| Ami7 | D7 | Gma7 | Gma7 |
I'm not thinking ok... I'll play A dorian for 1 bar, then D mixolydian 1 bar, and then G major for 2 bars. That approach IS overly complicated IMO. I just treat the whole thing like it's G major and \"address\" the chords like you're saying(or targeting the chord tones as I would say it)
I could give more examples but this is long winded enough as it is. Modes are VERY valid. And, they can get you some interesting ideas and sounds that are outside of the \"normal\" major scale stuff.
I consider modes as \"pallettes\" or \"spices\" to flavour your playing whilst improvising
e.g. if you want to give a spanishy flavour throw in some Phrygian licks - I sometimes play a nice intro to LaBamba using a phrygian modal scale to give a flamenco feel before launching into the famous intro riff
Other modes can give a middle eastern, arabic flavour etc., which can really stand out when thrown in the middle of a rock guitar solo :shock:
If you are composing and want to explore ideas then you may want to start thinking about what modes to play and when (some modes can sound awesome played over the \"wrong\" chords)
As TAL has already said, it is about the music so it doesn't matter at all if you don't understand any of this
The moral of the story is that if you want to spice up your playing, experiment outside of your \"comfort zone\" from time time (whether that be the Majr scale, Pentatonitc Minor, Blues Scale etc.) and throw in some extra notes from time to time
I play a lot of rock and blues so I tend to view modes as variations of the pentatonic/minor scales to either achieve a specific tonal affect/flavour, or to \"address\" chords in the sequence
Comments
2 chord refers to chord progression and modes are about note choice.
If you have only an Ami7 chord, you can play a Gmajor scale, a Cmajor scale or a Fmajor scale. Which would give you A Dorian, A Aeolian(natural minor), or A Phrygian respectively.
The \"normal\" thing to do over an Aminor chord would be to play an A minor scale. But if you play dorian it has a raised 6th, and if you play phrygian it would have a flatted 2 or 9. Each of those are different and would have different notes in them.
I mean sure the notes of a G major scale and an A dorian scale are the same, but the notes of an A dorian scale are NOT the same as an A minor scale. There's were your notes are different.
All of that is just about single notes, if you start talking about harmony, the chord progressions are different in modal types of things too. A chord progression in A minor is not going to be the same as a chord progression in A dorian.
I'm guessing that what you're thinking about is trying to think of each chord in a progression as it's corresponding mode. If so, I agree that that is a complicated way of thinking of things. If I'm playing lines over this progression...
| Ami7 | D7 | Gma7 | Gma7 |
I'm not thinking ok... I'll play A dorian for 1 bar, then D mixolydian 1 bar, and then G major for 2 bars. That approach IS overly complicated IMO. I just treat the whole thing like it's G major and \"address\" the chords like you're saying(or targeting the chord tones as I would say it)
I could give more examples but this is long winded enough as it is. Modes are VERY valid. And, they can get you some interesting ideas and sounds that are outside of the \"normal\" major scale stuff.
I consider modes as \"pallettes\" or \"spices\" to flavour your playing whilst improvising
e.g. if you want to give a spanishy flavour throw in some Phrygian licks - I sometimes play a nice intro to LaBamba using a phrygian modal scale to give a flamenco feel before launching into the famous intro riff
Other modes can give a middle eastern, arabic flavour etc., which can really stand out when thrown in the middle of a rock guitar solo :shock:
If you are composing and want to explore ideas then you may want to start thinking about what modes to play and when (some modes can sound awesome played over the \"wrong\" chords)
As TAL has already said, it is about the music so it doesn't matter at all if you don't understand any of this
The moral of the story is that if you want to spice up your playing, experiment outside of your \"comfort zone\" from time time (whether that be the Majr scale, Pentatonitc Minor, Blues Scale etc.) and throw in some extra notes from time to time
I play a lot of rock and blues so I tend to view modes as variations of the pentatonic/minor scales to either achieve a specific tonal affect/flavour, or to \"address\" chords in the sequence
So to sum up...
If it sounds good - do it!
You guys got my head turning... :? I feel like I'm in calculus all over again...