Jazz Guitar Scales Made Easy: How to Derive 28 Modes from One Fingering

Learning scales is something that all jazz guitarists have to do at one point in their careers, at least in this modern age. Though they are not going to make you sound like your favorite jazz guitarist right away, learning scales and modes is a great way to deepen your understanding of the guitar, jazz theory and the fundamental building blocks of many of the great tunes and solos that make up the jazz idiom.

Over the years I’ve learned many different ways to play scales and modes on the guitar. CAGED, seven mode fingerings, the five-fingering approach, three-note per string, four-note per string, one string at a time, Segovia fingerings etc. And after spending thousands of hours banging my head against the wall I discovered that I was able to internalize scales and modes much more easily if I simplified things instead of making them more complicated.

So, I left all my big bulky scales behind and I went back to learning one-octave scale and mode fingerings, and the results were immediate. I could now run changes and apply all of my patterns and licks with ease, since I now had a smaller, easier way of playing and visualizing any scale or mode. And, when I wanted to play a longer run I just connected two one-octave scales to produce a two-octave fingering, without learning anything new in the process.

After working through the major modes in this fashion I decided to expand it to the other scale systems that we use in jazz, melodic minor, harmonic minor and harmonic major. When I did this, I looked for the easiest way to learn these new sounds, without learning anything new if possible.

So I started by trying to relate all of the major modes I already knew to any new mode I wanted to learn, and by simply altering one note from any major mode I was able to learn all of the modes in the harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major scales in no time, and I never forget them since I had a formula for each fingering that related it back to something I already knew, the modes of the major scale.

Since I get asked about scales and modes a lot in workshops and lessons, I started showing this approach to my students and they were able to internalize all of these scales and modes just as quickly as I did, so it wasn’t a fluke.

For example, this past week I taught a series of workshops in Sao Joao Del Rei, Brazil. At one point the students asked about my system for learning and playing scales and modes. Though most of the students in the class weren’t playing more than the pentatonic and blues scales, within an hour every student in the class could play all the modes of the major, harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major scales from memory. Pretty darn cool.

Because I’ve had such a strong response to this approach, both in my own playing and from my students, I decided to put together all of this info in one place and write the article you’re reading now.

The concept is simple and easy to apply. Start on the Lydian mode, lower one note and you’ve got Ionian. Continue this until you get to Locrian. Then, you can take these seven modes of the major scale, alter one note in each mode and you can now play all of the modes for harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major. It’s that easy.

Before we dive into this formula for learning and memorizing scales and modes, here are a few short notes on the fingerings that I use and why I use them.

 

Notes on Fingering

 

Regardless of what shapes you use to play any scale or mode, you can apply the above system to alter one note of one mode, or entire scale system, to produce a different mode or scale system. But, in my experience as a player and teacher, using simple one-octave fingerings, then combining them to form two-octave fingerings works best.

Also, keeping things unified by having a formula for how you finger each scale in relation to other similar scales and modes goes a long way in simplifying the learning process. And keeping groups of modes, major or minor/diminished, related by using similar fingerings will also make it easier for you to learn, retain and apply these modes to a real-life performance situation.

Here are my two guidelines when it comes to playing scales and modes:

 

  • Major based modes, such as Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian and their derivatives start on the middle finger (first finger on the 3rd string root due to the B-string tuning of a 3rd interval) and use two notes on the lowest string
  • Minor and Diminished based modes, such as Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian and Locrian and their derivatives start on the index finger and use three fingers on the lowest string

 

That’s it. By keeping things simple, thinking about major based modes as starting off the second finger (first on the 3rd string root) and minor/diminished based modes starting off the first finger, you can eliminate a lot of the thought processes that go into learning big, bulky 2 and 3 octave scales that don’t have a similar system to their fingerings. As well, transposing scale patterns or melody lines is easy with these fingerings since each of the 4 one-octave shapes, 6th-5th-4th-3rd strings roots, is essentially the same.

So let’s take a look at how you can alter one note in the each mode of the Major Scale to produce all 7 modes, as well as alter one note in each of these modes to produce all of the modes in the Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor and Harmonic Major scales.

 

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Modes of the Major Scale

 

We’re going to start by applying this concept to the old favorite, the major scale. With the major scale, we start with the mode that has the most sharps in the key of C, which would by Lydian because it has one sharp in the key of C, F#.

Then, all you do is lower one note, the 4th, and you get Ionian. Then you lower the 7th and we get Mixolodian and so on until you hit the mode with the most flats, Locrian, altering one note along the way to produce the next mode in the chain.

Here is how that formula looks and the order of the modes when using the “add a flat” technique.

 

Major Mode Formula

 

  • Lydian
  • Ionian (flatten the 4th note)
  • Mixolydian (flatten the 7th note)
  • Dorian (flatten the 3rd note)
  • Aeolian (flatten the 6th note)
  • Phrygian (flatten the 2nd note)
  • Locrian (flatten the 5th note)

 

Here is the same list but with the notes for each written out starting on C for each one.

 

  • Lydian: C D E F# G A B C
  • Ionian: C D E F G A B C
  • Mixolydian: C D E F G A Bb C
  • Dorian: C D Eb F G A Bb C
  • Aeolian: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
  • Phrygian: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C
  • Locrian: C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C

 

Here is how you can apply this knowledge to learning major scale modes on the guitar. You can start by learning a Lydian fingering, one octave, and then simply move one note to make Ionian, one more for Mixolydian etc. until you reach Locrian, as in the fingerings below.

You can learn more about the major modes and their applications in my article “Modes of the Major Scale and Their Application.”

Major Scale Mode Fingerings Video Lesson

 

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Major Modes One Octave

Modes of the Major Scale One Octave_0001 jpeg

 

Page 2

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If you want to extend these scales you can connect two one-octave fingerings together to make a longer, two-octave shape for any of these modes. Remember to visualize the shape of each scale as well as the notes to ensure that you are internalizing both the theory and geometry of these modes on the guitar.

 

Major Scale Modes Two Octave

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Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale

 

Now, you can use this same approach, changing one note at a time, to produce all the modes of the melodic major scale without learning any new fingerings. Pretty cool huh?

All you are going to do is take the same fingerings you just learned for the seven major scale modes, change one note in each, lowering it by a semi-tone (one fret), and you can now play all seven modes of the melodic minor scale.

Here is how the formula works, which notes need to be lowered, and which mode they produce in the melodic minor scale.

 

Melodic Minor Modes Formula

 

  • Ionian with flattened 3rd = Melodic Minor Mode 1
  • Dorian with flattened 2nd = Melodic Minor Mode 2
  • Phrygian with flattened 1st = Melodic Minor Mode 3
  • Lydian with flattened 7th = Melodic Minor Mode 4
  • Mixolydian with flattened 6th = Melodic Minor Mode 5
  • Aeolian with flattened 5th = Melodic Minor Mode 6
  • Locrian with flattened 4th = Melodic Minor Mode 7

 

Here is how these formulas look with notes, starting on the note C for each one.

 

  • C D E F G A B C (Ionian) = C D Eb F G A B C (MM 1)
  • C D Eb F G A Bb C (Dorian) = C Db Eb F G A Bb C (MM 2)
  • C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C (Phrygian) = B Db Eb F G Ab Bb B (MM 3)
  • C D E F# G A B C (Lydian) = C D E F# G A Bb C (MM 4)
  • C D E F G A Bb C (Mixolydian) = C D E F G Ab Bb C (MM 5)
  • C D Eb F G Ab Bb C (Aeolian) = C D Eb F Gb Ab Bb C (MM 6)
  • C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C (Locrian) = C Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb C (MM 7)

 

Since you already know our major modes, in one and two octaves, you don’t have to learn anything new in order to play the melodic minor modes, all you have to do is alter one note for each major mode and you can play all seven MM modes on the guitar.

Here is how you do this using the fingerings you learned for our major modes. For the sake of space I have only written out these modes, two-octaves, starting on the 6th string root. But, in your practice routine make sure to go over these seven modes starting on the 5th string as well.

You can learn more about the melodic minor modes and their application in my article “Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale and Their Application.”

 

Melodic Minor Modes Fingering Video Lesson

 

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Major Modes to Melodic Minor Modes Conversion

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Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale

 

You can use the same approach to produce all seven modes of the harmonic minor scale. Though this time you start with Aeolian and work your way around the seven major modes from there.

As well, instead of making one note lower each time around, with harmonic minor you take one note of each of the major modes, raise it by one semi-tone (one fret) and you get the seven modes of the harmonic minor scale.

You can learn more about these modes and how to use them as a jazz guitarist in my article “Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale and Their Application.”

Here’s how this formula looks with each mode of major being turned into a mode of harmonic minor simply by raising one note in each mode.

 

Harmonic Minor Modes Formula

 

  • Aeolian with raised 7th = Harmonic Minor Mode 1
  • Locrian with raised 6th = Harmonic Minor Mode 2
  • Ionian with raised 5th = Harmonic Minor Mode 3
  • Dorian with raised 4th = Harmonic Minor Mode 4
  • Phrygian with raised 3rd = Harmonic Minor Mode 5
  • Lydian with raised 2nd = Harmonic Minor Mode 6
  • Mixolydian with raised 1st = Harmonic Minor Mode 7

 

Here is how these formulas look with notes, starting on the note C for each one.

 

  • C D Eb F G Ab Bb C (Aeolian) = C D Eb F G Ab B C (HM 1)
  • C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C (Locrian) = C Db Eb F Gb A Bb C (HM 2)
  • C D E F G A B C (Ionian) = C D E F G# A B C (HM 3)
  • C D Eb F G A Bb C (Dorian) = C D Eb F# G A Bb C (HM 4)
  • C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C (Phrygian) = C Db E F G Ab Bb C (HM 5)
  • C D E F# G A B C (Lydian) = C D# E F# G A B C (HM 6)
  • C D E F G A Bb C (Mixolydian) = C# D E F G A Bb C (HM 7)

 

Since you already know your major modes, in one and two octaves, you don’t have to learn anything new in order to play the harmonic minor modes, all you have to do is alter one note for each major mode and you can play all seven HM modes on the guitar.

Here is how we do this using the fingerings you learned for our Major Modes.

 

Harmonic Minor Modes Fingering Video Lesson

 

 

Major Scale to Harmonic Minor Scale Conversion

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Modes of the Harmonic Major Scale

 

The seven modes of the harmonic major scale can also be derived using this method. Just go back to your major modes, starting on Ionian, lower one note per mode, starting with the 6th note of Ionian, and you can now play all seven modes of the harmonic minor scale.

Here is that formula in action.

 

Harmonic Major Modes Formula

 

  • Ionian with flattened 6th = Harmonic Major Mode 1
  • Dorian with flattened 5th = Harmonic Major Mode 2
  • Phrygian with flattened 4th = Harmonic Major Mode 3
  • Lydian with flattened 3rd = Harmonic Major Mode 4
  • Mixolydian with flattened 2nd = Harmonic Major Mode 5
  • Aeolian with flattened 1st = Harmonic Major Mode 6
  • Locrian with flattened 7th = Harmonic Major Mode 7

 

Here is how these formulas look with notes, starting on the note C for each one.

 

  • C D E F G A B C (Ionian) = C D E F G Ab B C (HMaj 1)
  • C D Eb F G A Bb C (Dorian) = C D Eb F Gb A Bb C (HMaj 2)
  • C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C (Phrygian) = C Db Eb Fb G Ab Bb B (HMaj 3)
  • C D E F# G A B C (Lydian) = C D Eb F# G A B C (HMaj 4)
  • C D E F G A Bb C (Mixolydian) = C Db E F G A Bb C (HMaj 5)
  • C D Eb F G Ab Bb C (Aeolian) = B D Eb F G Ab Bb C (HMaj 6)
  • C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C (Locrian) = C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bbb C (HMaj 7)

 

Since you already know our major modes, in one and two octaves, you don’t have to learn anything new in order to play the harmonic major modes, all you have to do is alter one note for each Major Mode and you can play all seven HMaj modes on the guitar.

You can learn more about these modes and their use in my article “Modes of the Harmonic Major Scale and Their Application.”

Here is how you do this using the fingerings we learned for our Major Modes.

 

Modes of the Harmonic Major Scale Video Lesson

 

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Major Modes to Harmonic Major Modes Conversion

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Learning scales and modes is an essential process in the development of any jazz guitarist, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours a day, years on end struggling with them in the practice room in order to master them and apply them to your solos.

By using the simple formula outlined in the above examples, taking one mode and altering one note to produce a new mode or scale system, you can eliminate a lot of the grunt work that many players suffer through when learning all of these modes across the range of the guitar.

There is an old adage that says “work smarter not harder,” and by using the above concepts you can cut a lot of technical work out of your practice routine, learn all of the scales and modes needed to play jazz guitar, and develop a system for internalizing and retaining these modes for years to come.

Click to return to the Essential Jazz Guitar Scales Page

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Do you have a favorite way to think of or learn scales and modes? Share it in the comment section.

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Check Out Related Jazz Guitar Lessons

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    Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale and Their Application

    Modes of the Major Scale and Their Application

    Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale and Their Application

36 Responses to "Jazz Guitar Scales Made Easy: How to Derive 28 Modes from One Fingering"

  1. rick bourne says:

    received the material thanks .

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      great!

      1. Matt Warnock says:

        Hi Richard,
        Try doing this:

        Take the G Lydian Scale

        G A B C# D E F# G

        Then, just lower the 4th note, C#-C, and you get G Ionian

        G A B C D E F# G

        Then, try moving the 7th note down a fret and you get G Mixolydian

        G A B C D E F G

        Then do the same for the 3rd note to get Dorian, then the 6th note to get Aeolian, the 2nd note to get Phrygian and finally the 5th note to get Locrian.

        Hope that helps!

  2. richardv says:

    matt me again, i have transposed all the c major,minor,harmonic scales in the key of c into modes to practice with as well as the fingerings and i dont for the life of me know where to go to do the same with the other keys. i am not to bright so i need a very definative plan on how to go about this. do ,i take any scale then break it down to modal scales by the “flatten system”.i tried this with a g” scale but when i got to the ionian mode i was surposed to flatten the 4th tone “c” but that would take me to another natural b ‘what do i do. im not sure if i am on the right track. can you give me some suggestions??? the g scal i used was g a b c d e f# g ionian says flatten 4th ???

  3. richardv says:

    d majj scale d e f# g a b c#—lyd=def#gabc# –ionian = def-gflat a b cflat –mixo=d e f g a b c–dor=d e g#gabc flat–aeo=d e g#g a bflat cflat. phy d eflat g# g aflat b flat c flat. loc=d e flat g flat g aflat b flat c flat. looks really screwy to me but that is how i interpret the instructions.

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      Hi Richard,
      I think you’re getting caught up in the first part of the instructions, let’s look at the D Major Scale as a starting point.

      D E F# G A B C#

      Now, to make a D Lydian scale you raise the fourth note, so we get

      D E F# G# A B C#

      D Lydian, which is D Ionian with a raised 4th note

      Now, to get back to D Ionian from D Lydian just lower the 4th note and we’re back to:

      D E F# G A B C#

      D Ionian

      To make D Mixolydian you lower the 7th note of D Ionian

      D E F# G A B C

      Then, you can lower the 3rd note of D Mixolydian to get D Dorian:

      D E F G A B C

      Then, you can lower the 6th note of D Dorian to get D Aeolian

      D E F G A Bb C

      Then lower the 2nd note of D Aeolian to get D Phrygian

      D Eb F G A Bb C

      Then lower the 5th note of D Phrygian to get D Locrian

      D Eb F G Ab Bb C

      Hope that clears things up!

      1. richardv says:

        matt- thanks for the help- as usual you are right on- now i have all the modes finished and am working on the fingering. once you get the first one the rest are pretty easy. again thanks a million richard

        1. Matt Warnock says:

          Very cool, I knew you’d get it if we just stuck with it, once you get going on this system the dominoes fall into place, awesome!

  4. charlie says:

    Well this was my first ‘lesson’ for the improve in 30 days programme.
    I reckon this is a great system. I can now play any of the major modes in any key. This was something I could not do this morning. I knew the ionian in a few scale fingerings (mainly Bruno types) and a couple of one octave mixolydians, but that was it. For any other mode I would have to try and calculate what it would be – eg Bb lydian comes from the F major scale and so on. Which was a slow and cumbersome way of doing things.
    I found drawing the scales on grids very helpful in visualising what was going on; ie the basic ‘shape’ of each of the modes, and which note it was that got changed to produce a different mode.
    I guess that you could use the same idea to change to closely related keys by flattening or sharpening one particular note.
    Anyway I’m going to have a go at the melodic minor tomorrow.
    thanks again, I really feel that I’ve learnt something here today.
    cheers

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      For sure, writing out shapes is a great way to internalize each scale and what notes move between each mode. If you javen’t already, sign up for my free weekly mewsletter, the new one goes out tomorrow, in the upper right part of the sidebar, next to the title of any article. I think you will really like the lessons each week in the newsletter as well

  5. Charlie says:

    Hi Matt
    I’ve just noticed something while practising the mel.minor scale.
    If you take the 7th note in the C melodic minor scale (ie the B) and flatten it (to Bb) the resulting scale contains all the notes of Eb major.
    So conversely if you sharpen the 5th in Eb maj (Bb to B) you get the 3rd mode of the C melodic minor scale.
    I’m not sure if this of any real use, but it intrigues me how its possible to change from one scale to another by changing just one note.
    cheers

    1. Charlie says:

      Yes I’ve got it wrong haven’t I? What I should have said was that if you sharpen the tonic in Bb maj you get the notes in C mel.min. (I think!). And flatten the 7th in C mel min to get the notes of Bb major. I think (hope) I’ve got it right this time.
      Sorry about all the confusion!
      cheers

      1. Matt Warnock says:

        You almost got it.

        To make C melodic minor, you need to just lower the third note of C major, so

        C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

        Becomes

        C-D-Eb-F-G-A-B-C

        That’s it, I think you are trying to over think this stuff a bit. Take a step back and grab your guitar, try playing C major, then lower the third to make C MM, you’ll start to see the relationship right away, and hearing it will make much more sense than trying to think through it at this point. For me, I always prefer to play it first, get it under my fingers and ears, then go back and think through it, works better that way for me. Try it out!

  6. Matt Warnock says:

    Hey Charlie
    You almost got it, if you raise the 5th notes of Eb Major,

    So Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D

    Becomes Eb-F-G-Ab-B-C-D

    Which is the 3rd mode of C Harmonic Minor, check out the section on Harmonic Minor in this article, you’re right on track with how to apply this concept to HM, just need to tweak your thinking a bit to apply it to MM, that’s all!

    1. Charlie says:

      Thanks Matt
      I can see that Im getting a little tangled up. I still think its possible to take Bb major – Bb C D Eb F G A Bb and raise the Bb to a B to get B C D Eb F G A B which I think is the 7th mode of C mel min.
      But I dont think that this line of thinking is all that useful to me at the moment . It was just something I noticed (or at least thought I did) last night.
      Anyway I’ll do as you suggest and just focus on flattening the the 3rd in a major scale to make a melodic minor. And of course read the rest of the article!
      cheers

      1. Matt Warnock says:

        yeah, the key is not to over think this stuff, grab the easiest way to get your head around it and go with it. It’s easy to get bogged down in theory so simplifying things is usually the best way to go

  7. Mike Ranfft says:

    Hi Mstt,
    Great study here…I note that you suggest fingering for all minor scales as using 3 notes on the bottom string-hence starting with first finger. However, on the fist mode of the melodic minor-which is the melodic minor- you use 2 notes on the bottom string, not 3. I kind of feel that the basic melodic minor is still a minor scale and fingering is less confusing using 3 notes on the bottom string. Ay reason that you use 2?
    Thanks for any feedback,

    Mike

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      Hey Mike,
      I use 2 fingers there because I relate that fingerging to Ionian, like a major scale with the 3rd note lowered a fret. That way I can use the same Ionian shapes I already know and just adjust one finger, rather than learn a new scale shape. Since MM is only one note different from Ionian I like that fingering better.

      you could also think of it as Dorian with a raised 7th and start with 134 on the lowest string, whatever works better for your hands is cool.

      1. Mike Ranfft says:

        Thanks, somehow thinking of the mm as Dorian with raised 7th and starting with 134 on the lowest string is easier on my brain right now…today anyway!

        Thanks again,

        Mike

  8. Tobbe says:

    Hi!

    I have a question about the fingering… Wich fingers on the left hand do you recomend when combining two one-octave fingerings, i.e. ionian mode? Do you use the exact same fingering twice? Do you shift from third finger to the second when going from b to the c? or play the b whith second and slide to the next c? Does this concept work if you want to use hammer ons an pull offs?

    Really good website!!

    /Tobbe

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      Hey Tobbe, you got it right i shift from my ring finger to middle finger on the B to the C. So the fingering is the same for both octaves, 124-124-13 with an added 4 on the top of the second octave.

      1. Tobbe says:

        Thanks!

        Is it the same with all your exercises with scales and arpeggios?
        The same fingering when playing one, two or three ovtaves?
        Wich left hand fingering do you you use when playing c maj arp 2 octaves from 5th and 6th string?

        thanks for your feedback!

        /Tobbe

        1. Tobbe says:

          … and is it also the same fingering when descending a scale or arp?

          1. Matt Warnock says:

            When descending i usually shift with my first finger, so on the fourth string of a two octave major scal i would play 4-2-1-1. For arpeggios i would stick to the same fingering going down as going up, but you can use whatever feels natural if you have another fingering that you like.

        2. Matt Warnock says:

          Hey, i use the same fingering, for arps i would shift from mt third to second finger on the 6th string root, and from my third to first finger on the 5th string root. Hope that helps!

  9. Johnny London says:

    Hey Matt

    LOVE the article/study and your site in general – it’s extremely useful – thank you :)

    Johnny London

    1. Matt Warnock says:

      Thanks Johnny! yeah it’s a cool concept, easy way to take the major scale and just adjust a few things to get all your 28 main modes. Thanks for checking out the site!

  10. Taura says:

    Thanks for your comprehensive article Matt.

    Taking the lydian as the starting point for your mode flattening process–rather than the ionian–is interesting. And sensible and efficient.

    The flattening order with the melodic minor modes–from flat 3 to flat 4–makes that system easier to learn.

    And the flattening order with the harmonic minor modes–from raised 7 to raised 1–makes that system easier to learn too.

    And the pattern of flattening the 6th through to the 7th makes the harmonic major systems easier to learn too.

    That is, easier for players with a good teacher, coach or self motivator. Or experience.

    From a conceptual point of view, these modal systems are no more difficult than learning bus timetables or dance steps or cooking recipes.

    From a physical, technical and aural programming viewpoint, there is a lot of hours, spread over weeks and months—and years for some people—to bring this stuff up to mistake free learning speed.

    And three to five (to ten) times as much time to bring them up to wood shedding speed.

    Then a gig or two a week over a year to edit this stuff down to user friendly chunks usable in your live improvisational repertoire.

    Then another couple of years of weekly gigs to make all this vocabulary a–not easy to remember but–impossible to forget–part of your ear, mind, physiology and creativity.

    The student’s particular circumstances will determine how much this time will shrink or expand. And their age and priorities will determine whether they even consider taking on this project or not.

    This information is bread and butter for an arranger and composer because they only have to write the notes and leave the playing to someone else.

    For a guitarist though, learning this stuff is in the order of completing a half marathon and playing the stuff is a project in the order of running a few full marathons. Looks like a long way now. But when you look back you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

    Cheers
    Taura

    .

    1. Matthew Warnock says:

      Hi Taura,
      Thanks for your comment, but I have to disagree with you. The reason I teach this system is because I’ve found that students can learn this material without putting in all of the time that you suggest. I have taught this material in workshops in the US, Canada and Brazil, and without fail, every time I’ve taught it to a group of students, that didn’t know their modes before the class, within one hour all the students could play these modes, at least work them out using the formula above, and they knew how to take them home and practice.
      No, they couldn’t play every mode from memory, that takes a little time. But, they could, after one class, take any mode and alter it to form the other modes as they had memorized the formula, saving a lot of time and effort in the practice room.
      So, i don’t think that anyone could master these modes in a day,but from what I’ve seen in workshop and in private lessons, students can use the above way of thinking and be able to play through all these modes for the first time, without music in front of them, in less then an hour. As well as at least begin to improvise with these modes right away.

  11. Lance says:

    Hi Matthew, I just discovered your site thanks for all the great info. I’m lifelong jazz sax player gone guitar over the last year and a half. I have the jazz vocabulary and theory but am finding it a challenge to navigate the fretboard with the same ease I do on sax. I’ve been using the Jimmie Bruno approach to learning scales but your system helps me put it all together in the same way I’ve learned sax over the years with basically a “fixed” set of fingering. In my head though I think of chords in relationship to a certain key or modally. So I’m not sure what’s the best approach for me. Do you use the scales starting with your pinky much or do you pretty much use these patterns you’ve given us most of the time. It would help me I think to know what your thought process is the moment your on the spot soloing.

    1. Matthew Warnock says:

      Hey Lance,
      Thanks for checking out my site! I use three main shapes, you can see them on my scale pages here:

      http://www.mattwarnockguitar.com/guitar-resources/scales

      I like to see scales related to chords and arpeggios, so if a chord I’m playing goes back, towards the nut of the guitar, then I would start a scale on my pinky or sometimes 3rd finger.

      If the chord goes straight down, then I would start on my middle finger or my index finger depending if I wanted to stay in position, middle finger, or move up the neck, index finger.

      Hope that helps!

  12. peter says:

    Matt! Taking this on hols=no guitar just swotting-to try and lay this to rest once and for all! Peter

  13. guido says:

    In Harmonic Minor Mode 2 where you spell out the notes, I think you raised the Bb to a B by mistake.

    1. Matthew Warnock says:

      thanks, missed that, got it all fixed up now.

  14. adam says:

    hi is the phrigian melodic mode correct b flat c at the end????

    1. Matthew Warnock says:

      yep, that’s a C phrygian mode, which is the 3rd mode of Ab Major, which has Bb, Eb, Ab and Db, so the Bb and C are the last two notes of that mode. Cheers


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