Practicing Mode Scales

Learning Modal Scale-Patterns

This supplement is for experienced Lead-Guitarists who have not yet memorized all seven of the Fundamental Mode Scales, but who wish to do so in a practical way. 

You should already be proficient with the Ionian Major Scale in one and two octaves, and the Dorian Minor Scale in one and two octaves, and may have learned one or more of the three-octave patterns for either type of scale. Additionally, you are likely great at ad-libbing Blues, and at using Pentatonic Scales in Rock, Country, Jazz and other genres.  [See Lessons 3 on Scales for a refresher.] But if you have yet to get all the Modal Scale-Patterns under your belt and wish to push your skills to the next level in that respect, here’s the method I recommend. 

Many guitar teachers first present the seven Modal Scales all in the same cage, then show you how they are interconnected in the same Key.  But I believe that memorizing the Modal Scales in a given Key from the start is the best way to learn them, so that you readily see how they are connected while you are at the beginning of your quest to get good at them.  I do this because we rarely encounter different Modal Scales in one cage while playing a song, not without having to change the Key within the song, which can happen; in which case, the most common change is from a major to a minor Key.  But for the most part, you will not use different Modal Scales in the same cage within a given song.  And if you want to enhance your impressiveness when ad-libbing, or when coming up with complicated fixed solos, then knowing how the seven fundamental Mode Scales all fit in the same Key will be helpful. 

To begin, I recommend practicing the one-octave patterns in-key, first with sixth-string roots, and then with fifth-string roots.  These are indicated using templates for the entire fretboard, so you can see exactly where each scale is located on the fretboard, and where each exists with respect to the others in the same Key.  The one-octave scales are standard in pattern, and each should be practiced ascending and descending until you get fast picking each note, after which you will want to do the glissando method of using hammer-ons ascending and pull-offs descending, picking each string only once. 

The two-octave scales are not in standard form.  Rather, they are presented as patterns that I consider faster and easier to play, exhibiting much greater symmetry than merely extending the given one-octave patterns to two octaves (such patterns are given in Lessons 3).  Again, start by getting good picking each note ascending and descending in each scale, then go on to practice the glissando technique, rather than the other way around.

Modal Scale-Patterns in G-Major

The first example Key is the Ionian G-Major, also called the “Tonic G-Major”, chosen because each pattern has a 6th-string root.  With these patterns you can go lower only to the F, while attempting to go to the E forces a change in the pattern.  But to go higher in Key, these same patterns can simply be moved up the fretboard.

Notice that the Ionian Oct. pattern is the same as the G Ionian played an octave higher.

The two-octave patterns are shown below.  There are no one-to-one correspondences between one-octave and two-octave patterns; i.e., the two-octave pattern does not contain the related one-octave pattern, and is not an extension of it. The two-octave patterns stand on their own.

Here too, the Ionian Oct. pattern is identical to the G Ionian played an octave higher.

Modal Scale-Patterns in C-Major

The second example Key is the Ionian C-Major, also called the “Tonic C-Major”, chosen because each pattern has a 5th-string root.  And you can only move lower to the B-flat without changing the pattern, while for higher Keys move them all up as needed. 

Notice that the Ionian Oct. pattern is the same as the C Ionian played an octave higher.

The related two-octave patterns are shown below.  There are no one-to-one correspondences between the one-octave and two-octave patterns. Two-octave patterns stand on their own.

Notice that the Ionian Oct. pattern is the same as the C Ionian played an octave higher.

Additional Comments

The G and C Keys were selected because the G patterns involve 6th-string roots, and the C patterns involve 5th-string roots.  That is enough to get you started.  For other Keys, move the roots up or down the fretboard as needed and/or use one of the other Modal Scales as the Key, instead of the Ionian (more on this later).  Also, you can always play inside one of the two-octave patterns without necessarily starting with the lowest or highest note in the pattern, as long as you have the pattern memorized, and remember how it fits with the other patterns. 

Memorizing all the connections between Modal Scales in a given Key also helps with keeping track of what happens when a song changes Key within the song.  This is especially useful in Jazz, Orchestral, and other songs that change Keys several times within the same song.

Observe that starting with the first octave of the root in a two-octave scale having a 6th-string root amounts to using a standard scale having a 4th-string root, while starting with the first octave of the root in a two-octave scale having a 5th-string root amounts to using a standard scale having a 3rd-string root.  Thus, a two-octave pattern will include a standard pattern as the second octave of the lower part.  In other words, two-octave patterns having 6th and 5th string roots include one-octave patterns having 4th-string and 3rd-string roots, respectively.

I recommend using the middle finger of the fret hand on the root of each one-octave pattern, but the pointer finger for the lowest note of each two-octave pattern.  And it is clear that each one-octave pattern exists in a 4-fret cage, while each two-octave pattern is in a 6-fret cage. 

Each pattern above can also be found in Lessons 3 (regarding Scales), but the connections between different Modal Scales was not explained in such detail as has been done here; in particular, using sketches to give visual understanding of the relationships between different Modal Scales in a given Major Key.  I could, for instance, have given only a cage with each pattern, and indicated numerical fret locations.  But such a teaching technique would not have been as explicit as I desired, since my primary intent was to illustrate the physical connections between Modal Scales in the same Major Key, and therefore how they are arranged on the fretboard. For a Standard Key other than one based on the Ionian Mode, choose any of the other Standard Modes, but the same patterns will apply. Otherwise, go with a Blues Scale as the Key, or another altered scale, or consider Lessons 13 regarding "Other Modes", and then build your own set of Modal Scales that fit in such a Key.