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Discover A Rock Solid Foundation for Playing Killer Guitar Solos If you find yourself stuck in a rut with your guitar playing especially when it comes to playing

killer sounding guitar solos, you may be lacking the basic knowledge of scales and modes. I found myself in this EXACT position a few years ago and it can really bum you out! You

hear your favorite players playing totally cool sounding guitar solos and it seems like they

just magically choose the right notes every time. Maybe you think they just work out all the solos really carefully and weed out all the bad

notes until they get a killer sounding solo. This may be the case for some of the players out

there but if you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching some of the greats do what’s called

“improvising” which is where they don’t have any plan to what they’re going to be playing,

you’ll see there must be more to it than just picking and choosing the right notes. So, what is it that’s allowing these players to play all over the neck while staying in key

and playing great sounding, melodic guitar solos? There are at least two things they know that allows them to play like that:

1) Knowledge of the notes on the fretboard.

2) Knowledge of and comfort in using scales and modes in their playing. In the next few pages, I’ll go over the notes on the neck and how you can get them memorized

and in your head so you look down at the fretboard and always know what note you’re playing

(or more importantly, what notes you’re about to play) and then we’ll move onto a few of what I

feel are the most important scales and modes to learn, memorize and put into use in YOUR

guitar playing.



The Notes on the Guitar Fretboard First, let’s cover how we can translate what you see when looking at the guitar to a simple way to describe it on paper (or the screen in this case). We’ll be using a fretboard diagram.

Each fretboard diagram is a schematic picture of the guitar’s fretboard, as it appears when you look down at it while playing.

The 6th or heaviest string is at the bottom of the diagram and the 1st or lightest string is on top.

Crucial fret number s such as 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 are indicated below the 6th string.

Dots on the fretboard indicate where you fret the strings (as in chord grid s).

Numbers on the fretboard indicate which finger to use (1=index finger, 2=middle finger etc.)

Letters on the fretboard are “notes “(A. Bb, C#, etc.).

Roman Numerals (I, IV, etc. on the fretboard are roots of chords.

Ok, now that we can see HOW the fretboard diagram is laid out, we can take a look at what is

actually ON the guitar as far as layout of the notes go.

I’ll just go ahead and assume that everyone who reads this book will have a firm grasp of the

alphabet…or at least as far as the letter G. Not that musicians are lazy or anything, but

we’re only going to be using A, B,C,D,E,F,AND G as well as the sharps and/or flats that go



along with those notes.

Do I actually NEED to know the notes on the neck?

Well I certainly believe you should know the notes on the neck COLD (that means have them memorized). Knowing where the notes on the neck are (especially on the 6th and 5th strings) will keep you from fumbling all over the place looking for notes and trying to stay in key when soloing. It will also allow you to play more chords as well as help you to understand chords and create or play some new chords.

You’ll finally start to understand what people are talking about when they ask if you can “flat the seventh in this chord?” or “why is this chord minor instead of major?”

So how are the notes laid out on the fretboard?

We know that the notes get higher in pitch as you go up the alphabet and up the fretboard. Some interesting points to consider:

Whole steps and half steps: A whole step is two frets: a half step is one fret.

Sharps are one fret higher: 6th string/3rd fret = G, so 6th string/4th fret = G#

6th

string/8th

fret = C, so 6th

string/9th

fret = C#.

Flats are one fret lower: 6th

string/5th

fret =A. so 6th

string/4th

fret =Ab; 6th

string/

10th

fret = D, so 6th string/9th fret = Db.

How do I know where I am on the fretboard?

Fretboard markings help. Most guitars have fretboard inlays or marks somewhere on the neck (on the face of the fretboard and/or on the side of the neck where your

thumb wraps around) indicating the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th and

24th frets. Memorize where these dots are!

Ok, what do I do with the info I’ve learned so far?

Start by memorizing the notes on the 6th and 5th strings. This will be the ground work for mastering the neck of the guitar and becoming a better soloist and a better guitar player overall. A great way to memorize the notes is to play them along to a metronome or a drum loop. You should SAY the note as you play it.

Have a metronome play at a comfortable tempo that allows you to pick one note per beat as

you say the note without making any mistakes. Let’s say the metronome is clicking away

1‐2‐3‐4, click‐click‐click‐click.



You’d start on the low “E” or 6th string and staying on the 6th string you’d play open, then 1st

fret, then 3rd fret, then 5th fret, then 7th , then 8th etc and you’d say aloud E, F, G, A, B, C

etc. until you reach “E” again. AT that point you can start with the open string again and keep

doing that pattern or you can continue on up the fret board (since the whole neck above the

12th fret is a repeat of the first half of the neck). Once you’re comfortable with that, you could

always get to the “E” at the 12th fret and go back down. In this case you’d be saying “E, D, C,

B, A, G, F, E”.

In time, it won’t matter what pattern you play or where you start it. You’ll just know the notes so well that you could start anywhere and go up or down and not feel the least bit afraid of not knowing where you were on the neck! Here’s another diagram of the neck to save you flipping pages back to find it…



Scales

Major Scale

The first scale any guitarist should know and work with is the major scale. The major scale is the mother of all scales and every other scale out there is derived from this particular scale.

The major scale sounds like the “do‐re‐mi”scale that you may recall from as far back as

grade school. The diagram below shows what it looks like and where its intervals lie.

If you recall your half and whole steps from earlier and take a look at this diagram, you’ll

see that the major scale follows the pattern whole‐whole‐half‐whole‐whole‐whole‐half as

there is only a half step between “A” and “Bb” and a half step between “E” and “F”. These steps or distances between the notes can also be referred to as “intervals”. Looking at

the C major scale above, you can see that “E” is the third note of this scale. This distance is

referred to a third. Similarly, A is a third above F and C is a third above A. Did you notice anything else about the distance of thirds? On the guitar, there are always

4 frets between notes that are a third apart. What do I do with this information now?

Now you want to start by playing the two scales above with a metronome again and saying the

note names aloud. After playing through each of them a couple times, you should also play

them while saying the intervals between the notes (whole‐whole‐half‐whole‐whole‐whole‐half). After that, you’ll want to play the major scale starting on a different note or even a different

string. Just keep in mind that the interval pattern ALWAYS holds true no matter where you

play the scale. If you were to start on the 1st fret on the “A” string, the notes would be Bb,

C,D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb.



Making the Major Scale more “useable” You may be thinking “great, I can play the notes of the major scale up the neck on a single

string, but how will I EVER use that in a solo or song?” Learning the major scale on a single

string keeps things simple. When you are confident that you’ve got the pattern etched in your

memory and the sound of the major scale is recognizable to your ears, you’ll want to move on

to learning the major scale across the neck in addition to being able to play it up the neck.

Let’s look at the different positions of the major scale in some diagrams below.



“I suppose you’re going to tell me to play all of those patterns along with a metronome and say the notes aloud and all that AGAIN right?”

You got it! It may seem tedious and boring up to this point, but please believe…this is where

it starts to get interesting. I used to play these things for HOURS wondering what the point

was and if I would ever have any use for the info I was memorizing. Once the light bulb went on and I realized that the 5 patterns above kind of sound familiar, I

was hugely relieved. If you think the major scale is useless and you’re a rock guitarist, you

better forget about half the songs out there or more. If you took the major scale away from

Angus Young of AC/DC and said he couldn’t play ANYTHING that resembled the major

scale in anyway, things would get awfully quiet. See he’d likely resort to something like the major blues scale or the pentatonic major scale

but since we said he couldn’t play ANYTHING that even resembled the major scale, he’d be

out of luck since both of these relate directly to the major scale. Oh yes my friend, the major

scale is your friend and is the basis that you should be building your fretboard knowledge

around.



One thing one of my guitar teachers had me do with this scale which came in handy down the

road for memorizing the 7 modes, was to take the patterns above and do the following to

them:

1) Play each pattern normally starting on the 6th string and playing up to the 1st string.

Play position 1, then 2, 3, 4, then 5.

2) Play each position up from the 6th string to the 1st and then come back down. So for

position 3 you’d start on the 3rd fret on the 6th string and play up to the 5th fret on

the first string (this is called ascending) and then you play it backward and start on the

5th fret, first string and play down to the 3rd fret on the 6th string (this is called

descending). This is where you start to feel the scales connect. There should be no

pause between ascending and descending.

3) Connect all of the patterns together. So play the 1st position pattern up and then

down and then slide up to position 2 and play it up and down. Slide up to position

3…etc. 4) This part REALLY hurt my head at first…start at position 1 and play up to the first

string but rather than descending position 1, slide up to position 2 on the first string and

descend THAT pattern. Then slide up to position 3 and play that position ascending, then

slide up to position 4 on the first string…etc.

Basically in the 4th exercise, you’d still be playing all of the patterns, you’d just be playing position 2 and 4 BACKWARD only. It’s a bit tough to get your head around first but if you’ve really put the work in to get each position memorized, you’ll have no trouble with it at all.

The Major Blues Scale (or major pentatonic) Since I mentioned the major blues scale, let’s take a look at it as well so you can see the

difference and similarities between it and the major scale. The major blues scale is a modified

major pentatonic scale. Pentatonic broken down into English is “penta” which means 5 and

“tonic” or Tones. So a pentatonic scale is a scale that contains five notes. The Major

Pentatonic Scale is therefore a five note Major Scale. To create this Major Blues Scale, we

take the Major Pentatonic Scale and add a "blue" note (a flatted third0.

To explain how the blues scale works, let’s introduce one more term referred to as a “scale formula”. A scale formula shows how the notes relate to a major scale with the same root. Since I said that the major scale was the “mother of all scales”, let’s look at its formula. The formula for a major scale is just 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. There are only 7 different notes in a major



scale. The numbers in a scale formula are sometimes referred to as the scale functions. That just means that each note in a scale has a certain sound or role in relationship to the root of the scale. So a D note functions as the 2 in a C major scale.

C D E F G A B C ‐ C major scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 ‐ scale functions

Therefore if any note in a particular scale is different than the major scale with the same root,

you will show how it is altered by a (sharp) or a (flat) symbol. Recall from section 1 that a sharp raises the pitch of a note by a half step (1 fret), and flat lowers the pitch by a half step.

So the scale formula for a blues scale is 1 3 4 5 5 7. In a C blues scale there is an E ,

and in a C major scale there is an E. So you call the E a 3 since it is a half step lower than the 3rd note in a C major scale.

C E F G G B C ‐ C blues scale

1 3 4 5 5 7 1 ‐ scale functions

If you’d like to look at the major blues scale in relation to steps as we did with the major

scale, its pattern would be whole‐half‐half‐One and a half‐ Whole‐One and a half.

Now don’t let the “One and a half” bit freak you out…it’s not a big deal. You already know that a note that is a half step is one fret on the guitar right? You also know that a note that is a whole step up is 2 frets higher on the guitar. So a note one and a half steps higher is simply 3 frets higher on the neck. Easy right?

Here is a diagram of the major blues scale with suggested fingerings

Can you hear the “blue” notes when you play this scale? So this guide book covers a LOT of material that if you study it and put into practice TODAY, you’ll be well on your way to become a better guitar player and a better soloist. I realize that not everyone wants to rip up the fretboard and play guitar solos, but most people want to play more than just chords and the info in these pages will help you to “see” little patterns on the



neck that you can create guitar licks or riffs from. Becoming a better soloist is very rewarding and allows you to more fully explore your

creative abilities. It’s very cool to find out that other people like your songs especially if

they are instrumental.

Next we’ll dig right into the 7 Modes to really build out your guitar soloing skills!



The 7 Modes

Ionian Mode

The Ionian mode is the first mode of the major scale and is exactly the same as the major scale.

When you start to play around with the Ionian mode, you’ll notice that it sounds “happy”. The happy sound of the Ionian mode/major scale makes it very well suited for playing over major chords.

Recall that we talked about intervals when we first covered the major scale?

As we covered earlier, the intervals of the Ionian mode are whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half

If we identify, for example, the 3rd note of Ionian, we should know its position in relation to the previous note (2nd) and the next (4th), and also its relationship with the root note of the scale (1st). We should also know that the final note of Ionian, the 7th, is a half step lower than the 1st.

No matter what key you're playing in, scales and modes will always have the same intervals, they'll just sound higher in a higher key, and lower in a lower key.

Let’s have a look at the Ionian Mode:



In the diagram above we have the Ionian scale notes 1 to 7 boxed into a pattern that starts on the low E string and ascends to the high E string. IT actually covers two octaves in this example.

The boxed pattern can be moved up and down the neck and all notes will still be in the key of the root note provided you maintain the intervals between the notes. If the root notes lied on note “A”, the scale would be A Ionian or just A major. The diagram below shows the G Ionian mode in tablature format. If you aren’t familiar with guitar tablature, the bottom line represents your Low E string as shown in the previous image of the Ionian mode.

Run up and down the Ionian mode as shown in the diagram above but then try moving it up and down the neck. You’ll find it can be transposed to any key you want.

Playing the Ionian Mode Over chords

The Ionian Mode is based on the major triad – the root note (1st), 3rd and the 5th. Looking at the mode diagram again, the white note on E string would be the root or 1st note, the first black note on the A string would be the 3rd and the red note on the A string would be the 5th. To find the next root, 3rd and 5th notes, you simply count the dots left to right and from the low E up to the high e string going from 1 to 7 and then starting over.



You can experiment with just those notes to get a feel for the structure of the major chord very easily. Play along with the included B Major backing track to put this mode to use.

You’ll play B Ionian or B major starting at the 7th fret on the low E string.

The 2nd and 6th notes extend the basic major triad which just so happens to create a major pentatonic (5 tone) scale. Try playing over the same backing track but include the 2nd and 6th notes as well.

If you want to add some depth to playing over major scales, you can add in the 4th note. This note can sound a little off if held for a long time but when you sneak it in on a solo run, it can sound quite interesting and will act as a bridge between two more harmonious notes.

More Ionian Backing Track Fun

Try playing the Ionian mode, and variations of it, over the included C Major Backing tracks. Try landing on different notes where the chord progression changes back to C.

Remember that the modes are moveable so long as you start the mode in the proper key of the backing track. You’ve got backing tracks in both B and C so move the Ionian mode around and play according to the backing track you’ve loaded up.



Dorian Mode

The dorian mode is based on the second note of the major scale. If you are playing in the key of G , the second note of the scale would be A so you’d be playing A Dorian scale. If you wanted to play in the key of G, you’d simply play the first note of the scale on the sixth string at the 5th fret. This note is “A”.

Here’s what the Dorian Mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Dorian mode in the key of A…

Playing the Dorian Mode over chords



The Dorian Mode is based on the minor triad – the root (1st), flat 3rd and 5th. In the diagram below, I’ve stripped all the notes away other than the ones that make up the minor chord. Have a look…

If you play around with just those notes, you’ll begin to uinderstand the make-up of the minor chord and they can also be used to create a minor arpeggio which can be used to learn sweep picking when you get to that stage.

All of the other notes are simply extension of the basic minor triad. These notes would be the 4th, 6thy, flat 7th, and 9th and adding the flat 7th gives the feel of a minor 7th chord.

With the Dorian mode, the 6th creates a feeling of tension and can be noticed very well when held over a minor chord.

Dorian Backing Track Fun

Try playing the Dorian mode (and variations of it) over the included D Dorian backing tracks. Try landing on different notes in the scale when the chord change comes back around to D.

Start the Dorian mode with the root note at D which will be at the 10th fret on the low E string.



Phrygian Mode

The Phrygian mode is based around the 3rd note of the major scale. If you were playing in the key of G, the third note of the major scale would be B so you’d be playing B Phrygian Mode. You’d play this mode by starting on the 6th string at the 7th fret. The Phrygian mode sounds heavy and exotic and is used a lot by heavy metal bands like Metallica.

Here’s what the Phrygian mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Phrygian mode in the key of B…

Playing the Phrygian Mode over chords

We know from earlier that Phrygian is a minor mode. With this in mind there are several ways

we can squeeze the most use out of Phrygian over a minor or Phrygian based chord



progression.

We can flat the 2nd

One thing to keep in mind about the flat 2nd is that is often works best as a passing tone. These

are the notes that that bridge or go between two stable or harmonious tones. For example, we

might play 1 b2 5 where b2 (flat 2) is the bridge note between the 1st and the 5th. If you hold the

flat 2 over a minor chord, it may sound a little nasty. Some players like Yngwie Malmsteen use

this to great effect to make their music sound a little more exotic and interesting.

Using the flat 2nd between a 4th and a 7th will sound a lot more natural and pleasing to your ears

but you’ll have to experiment to see which you prefer.

We can flat the 6th

Flatting the 6th should be treated just like flatting the 2nd. It’s very rarely held for long periods

and is usually a note that needs resolving (returning to a more stable tone) quickly.

We can remove the minor 3rd

It’s is very common to remove the minor 3rd from the Phrygian mode as it draws attention to the flat 2nd

and highlights the darker mood that it creates. The minor 3rd also sounds a little out of place.

Sometimes going to a major 3rd at this point works best but well save that for another mode.

Removing the minor 3rd allows the Phrygian mode to be played over major chords without sounding odd

and out of place.

We could use the Pentatonic option

If we strip the Phrygian mode down to its minor parts as we did with Dorian, we’d have the 1 (root) b3 5

b7. Doing this but also keeping the 4th creates the minor pentatonic as mentioned earlier.

Notice how if you strip Phrygian down to just the minor essentials we looked at earlier - 1 b3 5 b7, but

also keep the 4th intact, we get that familiar minor pentatonic scale:



This variation of the Phrygian mode actually works well over any minor progression and allows you to

use regular 7 note scales as well as 5 note or pentatonic scales to add more variety to your playing.

Phrygian Backing Track Fun

Have a go at the variations of the Phrygian mode over the included E minor backing tracks. Try to notice how each note in the scale adds to the progression.

Have fun jamming to the tracks and don’t be afraid to experiment a little. If you hit a wrong note, don’t feel bad, just hit a couple more times and call it jazz!

We’ll start the Phrygian jam in the Key of E so you can start with the open E string.



Lydian Mode

The Lydian Mode is based on the fourth note of the major scale.

If you’re playing in the key of G, the 4th note of the major scale would be C. Lydian is an interesting mode in that it shares the same pattern as another mode. Flip back and have a look at Phrygian mode. They look quite similar don’t they? When playing in the key of G, the pattern is the same except for the fact that in the Lydian mode, you begin playing on the C note.

You start the Lydian mode in the key of G by playing the 6th string at the 8th fret.

Here’s what the Lydian mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Lydian mode…



Playing the Lydian mode over chords

We know from the Ionian lesson that a scale/mode that includes the root (1), 3rd (3) and 5th (5) creates

a major triad. This means that the scale in question will be a major scale and therefore will be useable

with major chords and certain major key progressions.

This sounds very simple because it is! However, the position of the 7th defines which type of major

chords will be compatible – dominant 7th or major 7th?

The 7th in Lydian is in the major 7th position therefore Lydian, just like Ionian, will work over major 7th

chords.

The #4 (sharp 4th) doesn't require any special treatment and can be held over the major chord without

sounding too harsh. The #4 can be resolved to the 3rd to make things sound more stable. The #4 also

acts as a natural leading tone which can be resolved to the tone just about it which would be the 5th but if

you want to stay Lydian, keep that #4 you rebel you!

Lydian Backing Track Fun

Now that we’ve become experts in all the nerdy makeup of the sound of the Lydian mode, let’s put it to use with the included backing tracks.

The backing track is in the key of F major so naturally you’ll be playing F Lydian over it. You can start the Lydian jam in two spots: on the 6th or low E string at the 1st fret or on the same string at the 13th fret.

Have at it!



Mixolydian Mode

The Mixolydian Mode is based on the fifth note of the major scale.

If you’re playing in the key of G, the 5th note of the major scale would be D. D is a perfect 5th of G, so it sounds very good. This is a very popular mode for many rock players such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

You start the Mixolydian mode in the key of G by playing the 6th String at the 10th fret.

Here’s what the Mixolydian mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Mixolydian mode…



Playing the Mixolydian Mode over chords

You may recall earlier I mentioned that Mixolydian uses the same tones as Ionian except for the

7th. I won’t repeat all of the same info again and instead I’ll focus on what’s going on with the

dominant or flat 7th.

Using the dominant 7th over major chords

Do you know the difference between a major 7th (as used in Ionian and Lydian) and a dominant

7th?

Basically we create a flat 7th simply by finding the 7th note of the progression or scale and

flatting it one semi-tone or one fret. This sounds very simple but it can create a very cool feel if

used in the right manner for the song.

The dominant 7th can also be held over a major chord without sounding odd.

Mixolydian Backing Track Fun

It’s time to experiment and try out a bunch of different things over the Mixolydian backing track

which is in the key of G. Try out the flat 7th in different spots to see what it does to the sound

and how it meshes with other notes in the scale.

When you play these modes along with the backing tracks, you don’t need to stick to the full

pattern of the mode and get stuck playing notes 1 to 7 in order. This is where you get to break

free and learn how solos are really constructed. Play ANY of the 7 notes of the Mixolydian

scale in any order. Jump strings and play parts backward.

You’ll be surprised at how many “new” runs or bits you can come up with.



Aeolian Mode

The Aeolian mode is based on the sixth note of the major scale.

If you were playing in the key of G, the 6th note in the major scale would be E. The 6th note of the major scale is the relative minor which means that the Aeolian Mode is the Natural Minor Scale. The E Aeolian Mode could be played in the key of G major (as the 6th position of the scale) or in the key of E minor.

You start the E Aeolian Mode in the key of G by playing the 6th string on the 12th fret which is the E note.

Here’s what the Aeolian Mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Aeolian Mode…



Playing the Aeolian Mode over chords

Aeolian, as we’ve learned, is a minor scale thanks to the minor 3rd interval. This means it can be played

over minor chords.

When playing the Aeolian mode, we’ve got to watch out for that flat 6th. Holding this flat 6 over a minor

chord sounds quite nasty and unharmonious. If you’re wild and crazy you might just be tempted to use it

anyway to create a dark, ominous sound as if you were playing the theme to a scary

movie….oooooohhhh.

I don’t’ get to jam on many horror movie soundtracks so let’s make this sucker a little more musical shall

we?

We are now experts in passing tones or bridge notes so you can hammer onto and off of the flat 6th real

quickly. You could do this by including it in a sequence or progression like this:

5 1 b7 b6 5 4 5

This includes the flat 6th into a larger phrase and removes the unharmonious tension especially if we

hammer on and off quickly.

Aeolian Backing Track Fun

Aren’t backing tracks a refreshing break to all this music “geek-speak”? I remember learning all of this

theory and just hating it because I was impatient and wanted to play. Here’s your chance…



Just like the other modes, Aeolian can work over more than one chord, with the right chord progression.

The Aeolian backing track in the key of A minor, which is compatible with A Aeolian.

Try out your freshly learned Aeolian mode over these chords changes, but be sure to focus the

resolution of these phrases on the tonic A minor chord. The tonic chord will draw attention to the unique

Aeolian sound.

As I said earlier, don't just play the Aeolian notes up or down in sequence from 1 to 7. Experiment with

skipping strings, chopping up the patterns of notes and so on but watch out for that flat 6th!



Locrian Mode

The Locrian Mode is based on the seventh note of the major scale.

If you were playing in the key of G, the 7th note of the major scale is F#. This mode also shares the same pattern as another mode. If you look at the image below and then compare it with the Ionian Mode, you’ll notice that they have the same pattern except for the fact that the Ionian mode has an extra note right at the beginning right before the root note.

This is the last note of the major scale so it goes right before the root note repeats on the next octave. In the key of G this first note is F# and right after the root note G follows.

You start the Locrian Mode in the key of G by playing the 6th string on the 12th fret. If you continue on and play the first note (G) on the 15th fret, then you are playing the Ionian mode (major scale) again. You’ll have gone from one octave of G to the next octave.

Here’s what the Locrian Mode looks like:

…and here is the tablature for the Locrian Mode…



Playing the Locrian Mode over chords

The Locrian mode is most commonly used to compliment diminished chords as a bridge between two

more stable chords in a chord progression. See the sequence below for example:

Chord: A minor B Diminished C major

Mode: A Aeolian B Locrian C Ionian

The diminished sound serves as a natural, passing link to the major tonic of the chord progression

(which is C major in this case). It also acts as a natural, passing link to Aeolian (minor) of the same key.

Locrian can compliment that movement over the diminished chord.

You'll need to think about the landing note you select from Locrian when the diminished chord resolves

to the major or minor chord in the progression. Think of Locrian as the lead up to the resolving

mode/chord, so the note on that resolving chord (whether major Ionian or minor Aeolian) must help put it

all into context.

Here's another example of how Locrian is used to compliment a diminished chord bridge:

Chord: G Major B Diminished A minor

Mode: G Mixolydian B Locrian A Aeolian

The idea is, you should eventually train your ear to recognize the diminished sound, the tension and

instability it creates between the more stable chords in a progression. Once you get that, you'll be able to



apply Locrian in the appropriate place, and compliment that diminished sound.

Locrian Backing Track Fun The backing track will follow the sequence of B Diminished, A Minor, C Major. To play along, you’ll use

the Locrian mode on the B diminished starting chord which can be found at the 7th fret of the low E or 6th

string.

B Locrian can still be played over A minor and C major chords since the notes in all of these chords are

related as part of the same modal scale.

That’s a Wrap! – Closing Thoughts

The fastest way to switch your lead playing from boring, repetitive and maybe even frustrating to fun,

exciting, melodic and musical is to master the modes.

We’ve covered a lot of material in this book but don’t get overwhelmed. Use the included cheat sheets

to memorize the patterns one by one and then dig into the jam tracks and put the modes to good use. If

you have a band or a drummer or even just a way to record yourself, jam along to some chord

progressions and try out the mode that best suits the chord progression. Record yourself and play it

back to hear what parts you liked and what parts need a little more work.

Above all, have fun and keep picking!

Accelerate your progress with video based training and audio … · 2015-03-29 · Accelerate your...

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