Phase II Sample Lesson: Establishing the right harmonic/chordal environment for modes

One common question guitarists ask, infact soloists generally, is how one can establish the true harmonic environment for a mode when looking to use it within a track or when writing a song. The main confusion (not to mention frustration) arises when one, for example, plays a minor Chord, expecting the Dorian Mode or Phrygian Mode to sound good over it only to find that the Natural Minor (Aeolian Mode) or the Harmonic Minor Scale sound more suitable.

One way in which you can establish a Mode's Harmonic Environment is to play a chord that contains all the distinctive notes of the Mode you want to play and then 'jam' around this. This does indeed work, but boy do some of those chords sound weird and others are almost impossible to play! Another problem here is that the more extensions your chords contain, the less a soloist will be able to play that is an extension or addition to the sound…sometimes harmonic space is preferable and allows for a greater variety of tonal possibilities. Of course a chord such as a C9 will establish, for example, the Mixolydian Mode very nicely, but even here one finds that this one chord can get to sound a little boring after a few hundred bars!

Another, and much more acceptable method in establishing modal chord progressions, is to use the root note of the Mode you want to play as a kind of tonal centre and then use two or more relevant chords underneath this to establish those distinctive notes that you really want to add to your solo etc.. For example, if one wanted to play the Ionian Mode (Major Scale), one could use the root note (say 'C') and play two or three chords from that Scale underneath, beginning of course with the root chord of 'C' Major. Then one would play for example the chord 'G' with a 'C' bass and then an 'F' with a 'C' bass and finally giving the ‘F’ a ‘G’ bass (making it a G11 chord which leads nicely back to the root chord) to take us back to 'C' Major (example1):

For the Dorian Mode in 'C' one would play a 'C' Minor (perhaps with a 7) and then an 'F'7 with a 'C' bass. It is most effective with the more abstract sounding Modes such as the Lydian and the Phrygian. With the Phrygian Mode for example play a 'C' Minor7 and then a Db Major with a 'C' bass (example 2):

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