http://www.cafepress.com/arotae

However, I now have a Zazzle site that gives some more options on what you can get:

http://www.zazzle.com/arotae

I have heard it said that music is made from chords (not scales). Even though this is true, chords are made from scales. This is why we looked at the scales first.

A great and practical tool is called the ‘circle of 5ths’. Circle of 5ths

This tool is much more simple than it appears at first glance.

Let’s look at the chromatic again:

Ab – A – Bb – B – C – C# – D – Eb – E – F – F#

Now, let’s compare these 2 lines that are lined up:

Ab – Eb – Bb – F – C  – G – D – E     – A –   B –   F# – C#
F   -  C   – G  -  D  – A – E – B – F# – C# – Ab – Eb – Bb

(When I first learned this pattern, I called it the ‘BEAD’ pattern. See the repeating beadgcf.)

OK, so it might look more confusing than magical. But, it is very magical, believe me. The notes are all lined up in a very sweet pattern.

Take the key of C again: C d e F G a b
Now, let’s start with C and skip every other note:
1. C e G – C Major
2. d F a – d minor
3. e G b – e minor
4. F a C – F Major
5. G b d – G Major
6. a C e – a minor
7. b d F – b dim

(You may have noticed the FACE and EGBDF [Every Good Boy Does Fine] patterns in there from those elementary music classes.)(Also, notice that when you read the notes of the chords from top to bottom in the list that they read like CdeFGab.)

Let’s look at the two lines again without all the extra:
F – C – G – D – E
G – D – A – E – B

Do you see the pattern yet? Let me put some numbers in there:
4 – 1 – 5
2 – 6 – 3

Let’s take another look at the chords. However, this time we will just look at the numbers and drop the letters.
1. 1-3-5
2. 2-4-6
3. 3-5-7
4. 4-6-1 (Remember that 8 is 1 on the next octave up)
5. 5-7-2 (9 is 2 on the next octave up)
6. 6-1-3 (… and so forth… this is important later…)
7. 7-2-4

The pattern is for making the chords. When you are on the bottom row, you go up for the next note of the chord. When you are on the top row you go down to the right for the next note of the chord.

Phew, it’s OK to read this one a few times… really.

This stuff needs to sink in.  Let me know if i need to clarify any particular part.

A scale is made up of 7 notes that selects from the chromatic scale (meaning all notes available) in a pattern. From these 7 notes, you can change which one is used as the main note to change modes. All the notes stay the same, but the mode changes the personality of the scale to get a different ‘mood’.

Here is a quick summary reference for the modes:
I. Ionian has a happy, bright, Major and normal sound used in pop
ii. Dorian has a minor sound with a touch soul or maybe sadness
iii. Phrygian has a dark minor sound great for rock and metal
IV. Lydian has a Major sound by not the happy bright like Ionian
V. MixoLydian is Major sounding with a strong blusey flavor
vi. Aeolian is the natural minor and it sound like the Ionian as a minor
vii. Locrian is a little awkward sounding and goes well with jazz or any music that is a little on the edge.

Just to illustrate this clearly, let’s use the key of C:
C d e F G a b

Now, the key of C just happens to be the Ionian mode. Tada, you got that one down.

Now, the Dorian mode with these same notes is called D Dorian:
d e F G a b C

Also, the Phrygian mode with these notes is E Phyrgian:
e F G a b C d

As you may have noticed, I have specific letters capitalized and lower case. This is because of the kind of chord that note forms in this particular scale/mode. We will talk more about that later. For now, just notice it.

You can guess F Lydian, right?
F G a b C d e

Let’s continue with G Mixo:
G a b C d e f

Now, notice how close A Aeolian is to the C Ionian:
a b C d e F G

I will talk more about that one when we are talking about chords.

B Locrian:
b C d e F G a b

If you are on a Mac, then sure, use ProTools.  I actually got an MBox Mini 2 for the microphone.  It came with ProTools.  However, I had so many problems with it being picky about the setup (and not doing what I wanted it to do) that I just threw that aside.  FLStudio was so much easier to work with and make it do what I want.

(Will put link to the mic that I have later.)

If you want to check it out, use this like for a 10% discount on FLStudio:
Get me a discount

Sound:
The Locrian Mode has a very unique sound. It is mainly used in jazz because of the diminished chord. Though, please to do not think that this is the only mode that jazz uses. They are just the main ones who make use of this sound.

Artists:Jazz

Example:
Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G

Locrian:
b C d e F G a

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locrian_mode

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