Musical Epiphany
Tonight, I was farting around with my guitar (my baby, the Yamaha) and started playing with modes. I'd known about them for a long time, but never really had a lot of use for them (well, except the Mixolydian mode, which I use all the time). Anyway, as I started trying different modes in a single key (in this case A), it suddenly dawned on me: Many of these modes were the major scale in the key I was in (again, it happened to be A) with ONE NOTE CHANGED! You might not think one note could make a difference, but let me explain.
Let's start in key of C. The notes of the major scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. No sharps, no flats. Now, let's say I change ONE NOTE. I'm going to change the F to F#. Now the scale becomes the G major scale (I forget which mode this is in C). Now let say I change ONE OTHER NOTE INSTEAD. I'm going to change the B to Bb. I now have an F major scale. What's the significance of all of this? Well, listen to your basic 12 bar blues in key of C (think of AC/DC's The Jack - go find it on YouTube if you have'nt heard it). To play the blues, you pick a root chord, play for 4 bars, go to the IV chord for 4 bars, then go to the V chord for 4 bars. In key of C these chords are, C, F, and G. And guess which modal scales fit right in if I change only ONE NOTE?
Brilliant! I can't wait to try this stuff out with the band. I have to mess around with it more to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. Being a musician is so fucking cool!
Let's start in key of C. The notes of the major scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. No sharps, no flats. Now, let's say I change ONE NOTE. I'm going to change the F to F#. Now the scale becomes the G major scale (I forget which mode this is in C). Now let say I change ONE OTHER NOTE INSTEAD. I'm going to change the B to Bb. I now have an F major scale. What's the significance of all of this? Well, listen to your basic 12 bar blues in key of C (think of AC/DC's The Jack - go find it on YouTube if you have'nt heard it). To play the blues, you pick a root chord, play for 4 bars, go to the IV chord for 4 bars, then go to the V chord for 4 bars. In key of C these chords are, C, F, and G. And guess which modal scales fit right in if I change only ONE NOTE?
Brilliant! I can't wait to try this stuff out with the band. I have to mess around with it more to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. Being a musician is so fucking cool!
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