GuitarSam eZine Volume 30 April 2001   Subscribe Email us Back to Index

Edly: Music Theory

What is music theory, anyway? You hear so much about it, but does anybody really know what it is? Edly does! Scales? Chords? Keys? Ear-training? Modes? Toads? If you need help connecting the musical dots or playing musical works, send us your best (or dumbest) questions, and we'll have Edly, one of Earth's leading music theory experts field the response. To get your head keyed in the right direction, visit Edly's website "Musical EdVentures" at www.edly.com Beam your music theory questions to us at askedly@guitarsam.com Edly's Music Theory for Practical People Edly Paints the Ivories Blue Hello Edly, I compose a lot, and always relied on my ears. Theory wise, I know major and minor pentatonics and always try to expand on them with tons of passing tones, etc. I've learned the major scale inside and out, all the modes, the harmonic sequence of chords, etc. I use the modes now in my lead playing, and am very happy with all the new "colors" I can add to my music. When trying to invent new chord progressions, I stay in a specific mode (using that mode as the parent key--A mixolydian would extend to B Aoelian, C Locrian, etc.) all the chords and riffs all sound like they are coming from the same seven notes (which they are) despite any voicings I come up with. This leads me to what Joe Satriani calls "Pitch Axis," where instead of revolving everything around a parent mode, you modulate a certain mode, i.e. A Mix, B Mix, G Mix, A Mix. I find that this allows for a lot more tonal control. Also, it opens up a lot of harmonic possiblities, in the case of the above progression--A7, B9, G13, A13, etc. (instead of only the V chord being dominant 7, 9, etc.). I guess there are a million questions that could be asked in regard to this subject. Do you know of a list of rules that govern modal modulation? Do you cover this subject in any of your books? Examples: Are there any ways to choose the root notes of a progression other then using the notes of the mode that I'm modulating, i.e.--A Mix: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G? If building chords from Dorian, is there a set list of modes that will sound good over those chords, i.e.--F Dorian chords: Fm7-B7sus-G11 . . . will F Phyrigian work? I know that I can just find out by using my ear, but a chart of harmonically compatable modes would save a lot of time. _______________________________ Edly replies: Whew! What questions! Let's take 'em one at a time: 1) Do you know of a list of rules that govern modal modulation? No, I don't. When you start using modes in ways that you stated (A Mix, B Mix, G Mix, A Mix), you've opened the door to the kitchen sink, so to speak. No reason to stop with the above. Even if you used other notes of the A mixolydian mode as tonics of other mixolydian modes, such as A mixo, C# mixolydian, D mixolydian, etc., these modes are going to be foreign enough one from the other that the ear won't hear them as being particularly related. My approach to theory is "tools not rules," as my friend Tom Randall once put it: Theory gives you a set of tools to use according to your musical aesthetic. If you understand modes, I would encourage you to use your ears first and brain second, rather than looking for MORE rules on how to put them together. In other words, if you are looking for a string of mixolydian modes to use, find some that sound good in succession, and use them, according to what you're trying to do in that given piece! And don't stop there. Try mixing up the modes , such as A mixolydian, A phrygian, A lydian. Or A dorian, E lydian. I personally find this more interesting, and to my personal taste. But, of course, mine is not necessarily yours. 2) Are there any way to chose the root notes of a progression other then using the notes of the mode that I'm modulating, i.e.--A Mix : A,B, C#,D, E, F#, G? Certainly. My personal favorites are ears and whimsy, as outlined above. But if you prefer to work from a more intellectual starting point, then you could come up with a formula you like. [A friend and teacher of mine, Tom Ross (with a few exceptions, I like to limit my friends to people named Tom], took the bass notes from the chord progression of "Hey Joe," nuked the chords, applied a rhythmic pattern of his own choosing to the bass notes, and then composed an entirely new piece over them. The result was a wonderful piece that sounded nothing at all like "Hey Joe.") But, coming back to formulas: One example would be to start with Lydian, and skip two modes darker each time: Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian, and choose tonics according to a different formula, such as: Note X, P5th higher, m2nd lower. Since there are 4 modes and three tonics, it would take a while to come out at the top again. This is pretty heady stuff, though, and not for everybody (myself included, at least these days). 3) If building chords from Dorian, is there a set list of modes that will sound good over those chords, i.e.--F Dorian chords: Fm7-B7sus-G11 . . . will F Phy work, etc. I know that I can just find out by using my ear, but a chart of harmonically compatable modes would save a lot of time. I could say more, but I think you get my drift. My sense is that you already have plenty of tools (except that you're a guy, and it's said that we guys NEVER have enough tools). Use the tools according to what you want to accomplish (including imposing your OWN rules upon the tools), rather than looking for externally imposed rules to govern the tools. Hey, maybe you'll be the Arnold Shönberg of modal fusion, and I can say I knew you when! 4) Lastly: Do you cover this subject in any of your books? I teach the natural modes (as we've been discussing), and "artificial" (lousy name!) or altered modes, such as Lydian b7, and then organize them in different ways. I readily admit that, other than some typical jazz and folk uses, I leave the creative part of how to use them up to the reader, as I am doing you. Good luck! Hope this was of some help. Edly P.S.: Did ANYONE else follow this? Did anyone else even READ the whole thing? Heck, I can recall only ONE person I've asked who actually claims to have read John Galt's ENTIRE speech in (Ayn Rand's) Atlas Shrugged, and I'm not even sure I really believe him! Edly www.edly.com

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