One of the things I love about playing for the last 36 years is we never ever stop learning. I've been venturing into lead after playing mostly rhythm for years. Your videos help me get to the next level.
The brilliance of your compositions combined with your ability to break them down into useable pieces for us all to understand and improve our own experience with the guitar is extraordinary !!! You're like that ONE magician who will take you behind the curtain and show you how the tricks are done. NEVER change!!! ❤️🎸🔥
Brian. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Your methods and your playing are brilliant, The way you break it down and talk it through. Thank you
This was a confidence boost as it's the same way I've thought about modes - but wasn't sure if I was doing it right. On the, 'how do you know what mode/scale to play' question - Brian suggest 'use your ear', but you can also apply a bit of light theory - if you know how chords relate to a major or relative minor key. For example, the 2 chord vamp between A major and G major: neither the A or G major keys contain both those chords. Which major key does contain those chords? D major - hence play the D major scale over the vamp. The same theory/knowledge applies to more complex chord progressions. If someone hands you a set of chords to improvise over but doesn't tell you, 'this piece is in A mixolydian'. The chords are for example - A major to B minor to D to F# minor to G major then back to A - you can tell 'by ear' that the home chord is the A major, but the other chords don't all come from the A major key. If you know your major key chords well enough you'll recognise all those chords fit perfectly with the key of D major (even though, technically the piece is in A Mixolydian as A major is the 'home' chord). Most guitarists will already understand this principle with the Aeolian and Ionian modes - i.e. relative minor/major keys. A Aeolian is C major, for example - exactly the same notes, exactly the same chords just change the home chord/root note. To summarise, as Brian suggests, 'learn your major key'. All the modes can be understood from the major key perspective - just change the root note. For A Mixolydian play D major with A as the root note. For A Aeolian play C major with A as the root note. For A Dorian play G major but with A as the root note (remembering that the home chord will be A minor not major).....and so on.
Very cool Brian. You wouldn’t be you if you skipped the “boring stuff” anyone can follow along with notes but it takes a true professional to be able to teach this stuff the way you do. Please don’t change.
Hi Brian I was trying to learn scales for so long and modes.. I kept on forgetting them I couldn't get my head around modes I was going crazy and thought perhaps I'll never be able to improvise. After becoming a member and downloading caged shapes over scales and your simple explanation for modes. And all your other great lessons I have become a good intermediate guitar player Your right!! your teaching is different but hits the right chord..
Looks to me like whatever key you’re in, find that root on the 6th string and the note just below on the 5th string, same fret, is the root of the major scale to play over it. Thus below A is D, below G is C, below B is E, and so on.
The trick I learned was to just play the pentatonic scale a minor third down from the key, For example: Song in C....play the A pentatonic against that and land on the C more than the A. At least that works in bluesy song.
I try to think about the mixolydian as a major scale that starts on the 5th interval. So a g mixolydian are the same notes as the C major scale, starting on the 5th interval, G.
Hi Brian ,thanks for the great lessons. Please can you tell me ,when you say the Mixolydian scale "out of the E position" [@16" 25 secs] are you referring to Caged shapes ?
There is another way-you can make a mixolydian or Lidian using the major pentatonic as a basis, and Dorian and Frigian can be made from the first box of the minor pentatonic by adding 2 more notes there according to a simple pattern.
Great lesson. So if I’m in a jam, and the song leader says this song is in the key of G, can I play a mixolydian scale regardless of what the other chords are in the song? and what scale would that be-D MAJOR scale?
👍🙏 my only problem is to know at the start of the song which mode shall I use to Is my understanding right that I have to know context - other chords? And e.g. when the chords path is A to G = 5th to 4th than I have to use D major = 1th which is paralel with G myxolydian Is it possible to use such template or is it nonsense? Thnx for reaction🙏and greetings from🇨🇿🥃
Just let your ear tell you what to do. Don’t think about what mode or scale to use… feel your way through the notes and then analyze after the fact what it was you were doing.
Could we think of it as being the 4 of A = mixolydian so e.g. G mixolydian play 4 of G = C scale ?? That seems simpler than what is A the 5th of. Sorry if that is a dumb question
About 35 years ago I was looking for a teacher to help me learn single note jazz soloing. I asked one of these instructors how a guy like Joe Pass can go up and down a neck like that. His answer: "Well, Joe Pass is GOOD" as he handed me a bunch of Mel Bay books.
Please don’t just buzz up and down between two D notes as you might when really soloing with the actual D major scale, for example over the chords D and A. You will get the closet similar effect whilst soloing over A and G by using the other part of the D dance that buzzes between its two A notes. Try this with a jam track or a colleague. Despite your fingers following the D dance it is very important that your ear is led by the chords to focus on their home, resting place which is A, not D.
i think you're missing the point. your ear is the ultimate guide - as i state in this video several times... (see 5:31) - the point is that even with a great ear, to be able to get through the scale quickly, your fingers / muscle memory has to kick in to guide the process... which comes from the major scale.
@@activemelody Apologies - didn't think you would take any notice of this. I was failing badly to point out that I use (in the UK) "flatten the seventh" and not "flat the seven" . The rubbish about the perfect continuous tense I have removed so no one else has to read it. I do watch your channel all the time though.
Yes, but… to play through the scale quickly all over the fretboard without having to think about it, requires the finger dance of the major scale. You don’t have time to remember flatting the 7 when you’re playing it fast
@activemelody I was taught by a decent gigging musician and he insisted I could play C Major anywhere, and at a decent speed. Then he worked me through the scales 1#, 2# etc. Then triads on the top three strings. We never mentioned scales or modes. But, really I think he was teaching me keys,modes,ear training and intervals. I just never realised it.
![Jack Harlow - Hello Miss Johnson [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q86_nlRoIGw/mqdefault.jpg)
You are definitely one of the best teachers on the internet!
One of the things I love about playing for the last 36 years is we never ever stop learning. I've been venturing into lead after playing mostly rhythm for years. Your videos help me get to the next level.
The brilliance of your compositions combined with your ability to break them down into useable pieces for us all to understand and improve our own experience with the guitar is extraordinary !!! You're like that ONE magician who will take you behind the curtain and show you how the tricks are done. NEVER change!!! ❤️🎸🔥
Love your insights, Brian. They’re the true value of your teachings! 🎸💕
Thanks Brian. Re the talking, I could listen all day. 👍🏻
Brian. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Your methods and your playing are brilliant, The way you break it down and talk it through. Thank you
This was a confidence boost as it's the same way I've thought about modes - but wasn't sure if I was doing it right. On the, 'how do you know what mode/scale to play' question - Brian suggest 'use your ear', but you can also apply a bit of light theory - if you know how chords relate to a major or relative minor key. For example, the 2 chord vamp between A major and G major: neither the A or G major keys contain both those chords. Which major key does contain those chords? D major - hence play the D major scale over the vamp.
The same theory/knowledge applies to more complex chord progressions. If someone hands you a set of chords to improvise over but doesn't tell you, 'this piece is in A mixolydian'. The chords are for example - A major to B minor to D to F# minor to G major then back to A - you can tell 'by ear' that the home chord is the A major, but the other chords don't all come from the A major key.
If you know your major key chords well enough you'll recognise all those chords fit perfectly with the key of D major (even though, technically the piece is in A Mixolydian as A major is the 'home' chord).
Most guitarists will already understand this principle with the Aeolian and Ionian modes - i.e. relative minor/major keys. A Aeolian is C major, for example - exactly the same notes, exactly the same chords just change the home chord/root note.
To summarise, as Brian suggests, 'learn your major key'. All the modes can be understood from the major key perspective - just change the root note. For A Mixolydian play D major with A as the root note. For A Aeolian play C major with A as the root note. For A Dorian play G major but with A as the root note (remembering that the home chord will be A minor not major).....and so on.
Lesson about my favorite mode. love mixolydiam and dorian. Well explained Brian. Thx
A valuable lesson as usual. Thanks
Thank You Brian!
I understand your thinking and teaching
Thank You
Kk
I like that Steve. It gives me a map that I get and can practice my dance steps. Shift to C when playing G. And so on. Really cool. Thanks!
Very cool Brian. You wouldn’t be you if you skipped the “boring stuff” anyone can follow along with notes but it takes a true professional to be able to teach this stuff the way you do. Please don’t change.
I’d go further and say ‘a true musician’.
I hear Jerry Garcia! Fire on the Mountain, Dark Star, Birdsong.
I always always always learn something new on this channel!!!! I love it!
Thank you Brian for another nice lesson ( light bulb moment on the a7 chord and the chromatic scale)😀
Sweet playing man,just keep listening to it
The first 14 minutes really spoke to me. thank youi.
I only wish your lessons were around in the 1990's when I first started playing Brian. I would have been so much of a better player today.
You explained how to find the appropriate mixolydian scale really well, for my brain anyway. 😊👍
Hi Brian I was trying to learn scales for so long and modes.. I kept on forgetting them I couldn't get my head around modes I was going crazy and thought perhaps I'll never be able to improvise. After becoming a member and downloading caged shapes over scales and your simple explanation for modes. And all your other great lessons I have become a good intermediate guitar player
Your right!! your teaching is different but hits the right chord..
Guy is a beast
Beautiful 👏
Absolutely beautiful 💓
Brian your awesome bro. Thanks
Sweet guitar too 👍👍
I think you're right! Thank you. 😄
Beautiful guitar!
Looks to me like whatever key you’re in, find that root on the 6th string and the note just below on the 5th string, same fret, is the root of the major scale to play over it. Thus below A is D, below G is C, below B is E, and so on.
That’s one way to approach it for sure!
Great. Thank you a lot for this great advice.
Hey cool,thank you
Are you saying to play a mixolydian scale in the key of G you play a C major scale?
@@mikez4759 that’s my understanding 🙂
Sweet, brother. Sweet.
The only thing that would be better is one on one in person with you. Thank you Brian
The trick I learned was to just play the pentatonic scale a minor third down from the key, For example: Song in C....play the A pentatonic against that and land on the C more than the A. At least that works in bluesy song.
Nice timing as I just bought my first guitar that has a bigsby !
Do a lesson on arpeggiating diminished chord scalular runs
I try to think about the mixolydian as a major scale that starts on the 5th interval. So a g mixolydian are the same notes as the C major scale, starting on the 5th interval, G.
Yes! ‘On Broadway’ George Benson of course!
Sounds Miles Davis. Human Nature classics here. Concert in Germany1988.
Hi Brian ,thanks for the great lessons. Please can you tell me ,when you say the Mixolydian scale "out of the E position" [@16" 25 secs] are you referring to Caged shapes ?
Thanks much!
Thankyou Sir.
There is another way-you can make a mixolydian or Lidian using the major pentatonic as a basis, and Dorian and Frigian can be made from the first box of the minor pentatonic by adding 2 more notes there according to a simple pattern.
I did the same thing Brian and the book is still sitting under my guitar table, boring. Once and awhile I look up something. Good lesson.
Nice, kind of a surfy groove
Great lesson. So if I am playing along and start to improvise how do I know if a song is Mixolydian, or Lydian, or Dorian, etc?
Use your ear - start with the major scale and see what needs to be adjusted. See 8:27
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway!
Great lesson. So if I’m in a jam, and the song leader says this song is in the key of G, can I play a mixolydian scale regardless of what the other chords are in the song? and what scale would that be-D MAJOR scale?
Difficult but I like it 🎸👌
So to play using mixolydian you use the major scale shape of the root's fifth and use that shape with the target the root in that shape?
Another great lesson. Do you have any lessons on typical modal chord progressions. Like Mixolydian or Dorian chord progressions?
Not that I can remember
Kind of a dark star meets on broadway thing.
Sweet
The song sounds like Golden Years by David Bowie
I thought it was the song "On Broadway".
@@Edman116 On Broadway works as well.
👍🙏 my only problem is to know at the start of the song which mode shall I use to
Is my understanding right that I have to know context - other chords?
And e.g. when the chords path is A to G = 5th to 4th than I have to use D major = 1th which is paralel with G myxolydian
Is it possible to use such template or is it nonsense?
Thnx for reaction🙏and greetings from🇨🇿🥃
Just let your ear tell you what to do. Don’t think about what mode or scale to use… feel your way through the notes and then analyze after the fact what it was you were doing.
Nice lesson, I think I’m missing something. The A9 you’re calling out, isn’t that a B minor ? 987.
No, that would be an E minor. See 19:07 in the video where I reference another lesson that explains why.
If I’m in a jam how do I know if it’s a mixolydian progression?
Could we think of it as being the 4 of A = mixolydian so e.g. G mixolydian play 4 of G = C scale ?? That seems simpler than what is A the 5th of. Sorry if that is a dumb question
i think that would be confusing... Mixolydian is the 5th mode (they go in order).. and so you really should think of it representing your 5 chord.
About 35 years ago I was looking for a teacher to help me learn single note jazz soloing. I asked one of these instructors how a guy like Joe Pass can go up and down a neck like that. His answer: "Well, Joe Pass is GOOD" as he handed me a bunch of Mel Bay books.
😂 oh no! Not Mel Bay!
So mixolydian is the major scale of the 4 chord?
No. Watch at 11:30
Please don’t just buzz up and down between two D notes as you might when really soloing with the actual D major scale, for example over the chords D and A. You will get the closet similar effect whilst soloing over A and G by using the other part of the D dance that buzzes between its two A notes. Try this with a jam track or a colleague. Despite your fingers following the D dance it is very important that your ear is led by the chords to focus on their home, resting place which is A, not D.
i think you're missing the point. your ear is the ultimate guide - as i state in this video several times... (see 5:31) - the point is that even with a great ear, to be able to get through the scale quickly, your fingers / muscle memory has to kick in to guide the process... which comes from the major scale.
don't "flat the seven", "flatten the seventh" .... it makes the lick sound so much better.
I have no idea what that means
@@activemelody Apologies - didn't think you would take any notice of this. I was failing badly to point out that I use (in the UK) "flatten the seventh" and not "flat the seven" . The rubbish about the perfect continuous tense I have removed so no one else has to read it. I do watch your channel all the time though.
Sounds like Dire Straits
It’s simpler just to flatten the 7th, learn the intervals, you’ll never go wrong!
Yes, but… to play through the scale quickly all over the fretboard without having to think about it, requires the finger dance of the major scale. You don’t have time to remember flatting the 7 when you’re playing it fast
@activemelody I was taught by a decent gigging musician and he insisted I could play C Major anywhere, and at a decent speed.
Then he worked me through the scales 1#, 2# etc.
Then triads on the top three strings.
We never mentioned scales or modes. But, really I think he was teaching me keys,modes,ear training and intervals. I just never realised it.
To paraphrase Joe Bonamassa, if you’re thinking about the next thing, in real time, you’re already too late.
Hmmmmmm