Note:
Prior knowledge of the five Minor Pentatonic box patterns
and the 7 modal shapes is helpful for understanding this lesson,
but not absolutely necessary.
Objective: To help guitarists already familiar with
the pentatonic scale to learn and utilize the modes in their
lead guitar playing.
As a guitarist, I am primarily self-taught and didn't have
any formal music theory training in the early stages of my
playing. The first scales that I learned were the five positions
or box patterns of the minor pentatonic scale. I wrote the
diagrams out by hand, and would play (and draw) them constantly.
When I was first exposed to the seven modes of the major scale,
I did the same thing; sketched the fretboard diagrams, studied
how the shapes fit together, etc. Even after I had the modal
shapes memorized, I was still having a difficult time actually
applying them to my lead playing. Seven shapes just seemed
like too many after becoming so accustomed to the five box
patterns of the pentatonic scale.
Then I came up with an idea: What if I divided the modes of
the major scale up into 5 scale chunks, based on the five
Minor Pentatonic box patterns that I was already comfortable
with? This way I would only have to add a couple of new notes
to each of the 5 pentatonic boxes! For lack of a better name,
I've decided to call this the Pentamodal Idea.
To demonstrate, let's work out an example for a scale which
is commonly used in rock guitar lead playing - the 6th mode
of the Major Scale, Aeolian mode (a.k.a. the Natural Minor
scale). The following examples are in the key of A minor.
Here is our 1st Pentamodal shape, Aeolian Mode:
Aeolian Mode w/ A Minor
Pentatonic box 1 notes circled
We will skip Locrian, the mode that would
normally follow Aeolian, since its first note (B at the 7th
fret of the low E string) does not align with our A Minor Pentatonic
scale box patterns.
This brings us to Pentamodal Pattern #2, Ionian Mode:
Ionian Mode w/ A Minor Pentatonic
box 2 notes circled
Note: Keep in
mind that even though we may have skipped over the Locrian Mode,
its notes are still available for us to use in our soloing via
patterns 1 and 2, we just aren't thinking of it as its own individual
shape or box pattern.
Continuing in order, Pattern #3 consists of the Dorian
shape:
Dorian Mode w/ A
Minor Pentatonic box 3 notes circled
Next is Pattern #4, which
includes the Phrygian mode:
Phrygian Mode w/
A Minor Pentatonic box 4 notes circled
We will skip the mode that would
normally follow Phrygian, (Lydian) because its first note does
not align with the Minor Pentatonic scale box pattern in our
A Aeolian-based example.
This brings us to our 5th and final pattern, using the
Mixolydian mode:
Mixolydian Mode w/
A Minor Pentatonic box 5 notes circled
Key Points: 1. Remember, we're
still playing all of the notes of the seven modes, we've just
chosen to break them up into 5 box patterns - like our minor
pentatonic scales.
2. The above patterns will also work for a C Ionian (Major)
root, since it is the relative major of A Aeolian Mode.
3. Depending on which mode we choose to be our #1 (root) or
parent scale, different modes may be skipped over. For example,
if A Dorian minor was our #1 scale, we would skip Phrygian (at
B, the 7th fret of the low E string) and Lydian would be our
#2 shape, at the 8th fret (the C note).
4. This is a "quick-and-dirty" method for assimilating the modes
into your playing. Once you become familiar with using these
shapes, I highly recommend also working out and memorizing the
three note-per-string patterns for the modes. Box patterns are
great for breaking ideas into small, easily digestible pieces,
but you don't want to be limited by them either.
I hope this lesson helps you to begin to
implement modal sounds into your playing. 