"Modes of the Major Scale"

People refer to the "modes of the major scale." I don't really get that -- it seems to me they're all modes of each other, not necessarily just of the major scale. That is, you can say that A-Aolian is a mode of C-Ionian, but isn't isn't it equally true that C-Ionian is a mode of A-Aolian?

My computer-science head wants to call C-Ionian, D-Dorian, E-Phrygian, F-Lydian, G-Mixolydian, A-Aolian, and B-Locrian something like a "mode class," which could be uniquely identified by any of those names (the "C-Ionian mode class", the "D-Dorian mode class," etc.) and would all be equivalent ways of referring to those same 7 scales.

OK, so each mode has a corresponding fret pattern (the pattern of frets that you play to produce that particular scale). We know that on the guitar you can change keys just by moving up or down the neck and playing the same fret pattern (G-major one fret up becomes G#-major) But that only works if the root you want is on the low-E string in the appropriate octave. What if it isn't? Knowing the above, can start with any of the notes in your scale, just playing the fret pattern that corresponds with the mode from that same mode class to get a "harmonic equivalent" (I just made that up).

That is, if you want to harmonize with C-major (or play a melody that's in the key of C-major) you could start on D and play the Dorian fret pattern, start on E and play the Phrygian, etc., whatever's convenient. So the point is you only actually need to learn those 7 fret patterns, and the system for determining which fret pattern to use from within the mode class (which is pretty easy, actually)

Not sure this is correct - I don't think I've seen anyone flat-out say it this way on a Web site. They talk about "the five patterns" that you need to play, but I think they're looking at it a different way -- as the major scales that can be played from a given position, I think, and you'd choose one of those five depending on where the root is relative to you hand. Maybe it works out the same way, dunno.

What do those scales have in common?

So we've got 84 different 8-note scales. For any given scale, though, what does it have in common with the rest of the pack?

• common roots: It shares its root with 6 other scales. That is, there are 12 sets of 7 scales that have the same root, but different interval patterns and different notes
  
• common intervals: It shares its "mode" with 11 other scales. That is, there are 7 sets of 12 scales that each have the same interval pattern, but different roots and different notes
  
• common notes: This is a fun one. For each scale, there are 6 others that each use a different interval pattern and start with a different root, but they share the same 8 notes

So what does that mean? It's all about convenience and character. Each mode / interval pattern provides its own unique character to a song. Interval patterns are also what you actually play on your instrument - start at the 6th string first fret, then up 2 frets, then over 1 string and up 2 frets, etc. Often certain interval patterns are more convenient to play than others in a particular situation. Finally, the choice of root can impact how easy a song is to sing, or dictate a certain interval pattern that's easier or harder than others for a given song. For example, a guitar player might be able to clip on a capo to automatically change keys, while a piano player may have to learn entirely new fingerings.

Knowing the above relationships lets you switch scales easily when it's more convenient to do so, or to obtain a different character from the same song. That last category though, scales with common notes, is particularly interesting because it can let you change interval patterns, if that's convenient, without changing either the key or the character of the song.

Are there really only 84 scales?

A chromatic scale has all 12 pitches, but if we want to make a "standard"(?) 8-note scale, we need to choose. So how many ways are there to choose 8 notes from the 12 pitches, or to say it another way, how many different "interval patterns" are there?

Turns out there are exactly 7 ways. If we start with the "major" interval pattern, W-W-H-W-W-W-H, we can rotate it 6 times: W-H-W-W-W-H-W; H-W-W-W-H-W-W, etc. Each of those interval patterns is called a "mode," and they have crazy Greek names. But more on that later.

So for any given mode, or interval pattern, we can start with any of the 12 pitches (or "roots,") so we have 12 * 7 = 84 possible 8-note scales.

Talking about tones, or pitches, or notes

In our so-called "Western" musical system we've got 12 tones, notes, or pitches (each term seems to mean something slightly different in an extraordinarily complex way). The way we name those notes, C, C#, D, etc., is complicated and it makes working with them difficult. Wikipedia describes some systems of musical notation, including one called integer notation which is particularly interesting to me, as a onetime computer science major.

In the integer notation system, you number the pitches from 0 - 11, with C being 0. This means you can do simple arithmetic to figure out the relationships between notes, rather than having to count or convert -- quick, how many tones are between A and C? How about between 9 and 0? (note that 0 acts like an Ace, it's either 0 or 12)

That sharps and flats notation is helpful when you're playing piano, because you've got that white key, black key thing going. But on the guitar, there's no inherent difference between an F barre chord on the first fret, say, and then sliding it up one fret to F#. It's keyboard bias!

When talking about the Major Scale interval pattern, people usually write W-W-H-W-W-W-H, that is, two whole tones, one half (or semi-) tone, three whole tones, then a semitone. Confusing! In integer notation you could just write 2-2-1-2-2-2-1, or you could write the C Major Scale interval pattern as 0-2-4-5-7-9-11.

Let's say we want to know the I-IV-V notes on that scale, what are they? Easy - 0, 7, 9 aka C,F,G. Just like the metric system, it's only confusing if you convert back and forth, but really there's no need to especially on a guitar.

Godin Seagull S6

Here's my acoustic, my first guitar, a Seagull S6. Love it, it's a really great guitar.

Great sound, nice finish, holding up well and it stays in tune forever. It has a slightly wider neck than normal, which I thought might be a bit of an advantage when I first bought it since I was an absolute beginner. Now I'm not sure, it seems a bit clunky when compared with my Strat.

Fat Strat

This is my Strat. I rather like it. It's the Mexican version, with the humbucker in the bridge position. Got it from my local Guitar Center, and I think it sounds pretty nice. Overall the fit and finish is good -- one of the frets is a bit high, so I get some buzz, and the nut's a little off on the first (high-E) string, it's a bit close to the edge. But the finish is beautiful.

Mongoloid - DEVO

I was thinking about one of my favorite Devo songs, Mongoloid - lyrics are a bit silly but the song is really great. Here's a version They actually have done it a number of different ways on different albums, but same basic chord progression.

So in my head I broke it down (without listening, just remembering) and guessed that the lowest chord might be open-E, so I put together a mental progression of A - D - E - G - A
Tried it on the guitar, and realized immediately that wasn't quite it, that A - C - F - G - A sounded more like it. Then I actually listened to the song, by the time I started trying to play they were on the second chord, I realized right away it wasn't C, it was D. So I transposed what I had to B, which gave me B - D - G - A - B and bingo! That was it! At this point I was playing with open chords, but that seemed a little unlikely, so I converted to barre chords and it seems to work really well. So, I'm pretty thrilled. There's actually a different part to the song I haven't totally nailed, I'm pretty close (it starts with the D, then eventually ends up on A until the main progression starts over)...