TheAnimal wrote:This is just the thread I needed.
Now, how do I know which chords fit with each mode?
Take a scale, write out the notes, any chords you make with those notes fit, same for modes.
The modes and their related chords are:
mode#, mode name, 3 note chord, 4 note chord
1 - Ionian - major, major 7
2 - Dorian - minor, minor 7
3 - Phrygian - minor, minor 7
4 - Lydian - major, major 7
5 - mixolydian - major, dom 7
6 - aeolian - minor, minor 7
7 - Locrian - diminished, min7b5 (thanks digitalkettle!)
The song 'Boys Dont Cry' by the Cure follows that pattern, A, Bm, Cm, D, then back down again.
Modes are made overly complicated. If I tell you I'm going to solo in D Dorian (Dorian is the 2nd mode), that tells you a few things.
- The related major scale is C major, C D E F G A B
- my solo will revolve around the note D
- Dorian is a minor mode so my solo will sound 'sad'.
- I'll need the rest of the band to play something other than D so the song doesn't turn into D minor.
Modes are all about the interplay of notes, how one note/chord/scale sounds in context of another note/chord/scale.
To harmonise a scale, start on a note and add every other note. There are tons of sites out there. I learned from
www.wholenote.com at the theory board and another site that's since died.
