ok, so im going to make it my goal to understand this before christmas lol.. I bought this scale book, and 90% of it is described in modes. I get the general idea... i just dont understand WHY theyre important, another thing i dont understand is why some chords 'work' with say G mixo, but not Cmaj, since they have the exact same notes the scale at least partly would be harmonized the same. My main thing here is G mixo = cmaj notes. but then they dont use the same chords at all. Wow this shit is confusing :/ the harmonizing differnt modes of same scale confuses the shit out of me lol.. Can anyone recommend good resource for this?

well i found a site that sort of 1/2 explains its.. I guess its important because of the lowest/root note, and because it does change up the scales a bit. I just find it a bit confusing because when they say somethign like A aoleian, i have to know the amaj scale like the back of my hand so i know what notes to sharp and flat, then figure out what scale it actually is... and just play it with a different root. i still dont understand why its important really if it ALWAYS ends up as a scale... i mean to say every mode in A, turns out to be a regular scale i already memorized the #/b's for why bother doing the extra steps to figure it out.

Modes are essentially different feelings/emotions sounded through the scales/chords.

Some modes are "happy"

some modes are "sad"

Some modes are "jazzy"

catch the drift? If you wanted to create a scary atmosphere with what you are playing, there is a mode for it.

If you wanted to create a happy atmosphere, there's a mode for that.

Thats what modes are really.

I understand that part, but why not then just say that, A->G->F->E->D->C-Bb scales get scarier as you go, rather than mode 1234567 of A. it just makes it very confusing...

i took those right out of the book i think theyre right

its like when someone says "mixo blues" they mean mixolydian, which has 7 differnet scales(not 12 ofc), so really what they mean is theyre playing blues scales in 7 differnt keys

/e

i had thought about what you were saying... and i understand the point, i thought it might be something like the root note is very important too, so if your playing in Cmaj with G as the root note, then calling it g mixo is more accurate because the root note has some kind of significance. Im not certain about this yet, but it seems like the scales should be harmonized identically tho... but when i look in this book under "mixo" in major scales, it has 7, 9, 13, and something else, but theyre not listed anywhere else, and i cant really figure out why... I think alot of has to do with chords, like in G mixo, the 13 note is different form the 13 note in C, but a G13 is always the same chord.

This post was edited by blunderwonder2 on Aug 25 2011 06:41am

i think im just gonna get a ton of sheet music, and play it all over the neck to learn the notes better, i k now what they are now, but its not very quick like where i could read music and play fine like at the top of the neck

I play with a lot of modes that have a sort of middle eastern vibe. Modes just place a different general tone on the sound. I don't know the specifics as far as which mode I play in, but I know how it sounds.