Modes are often confused with the scale patterns. Modes are actually ‘styles’ or ‘moods’. The patterns of the scales themselves are just patterns. For example you might call the 5th scale in a major scale ‘Mixolydian’ because it IS the 5th scale/pattern in a major key however you could theoretically be playing a G Mixolydian ’scale’ or ‘pattern’ while the song could actually be in the A Dorian mode.
The style/mood is still Dorian even though you are playing a 5th position scale, a pentatonic scale, or even just one note.
Mode = Style/Mood. Pattern = Scale.
When I first realized this… it all made sense to me. I hope it helps you as well. 😎👍
As of this writing I have been playing guitar for 34 years … or at least I’ve owned a guitar for that long as I can’t necessarily say that the first year was officially a ‘playing’ year. That said, I was definitely learning music since the very beginning therefore that must definitely count as I do believe that learning theory is a big part of playing regardless of whether you’re physically playing an instrument or not. I guess that would also mean that I’ve been a musician for a much longer period since I did previously ‘fiddle’ with a piano/keyboard, played the recorder, and sang my favourite songs with my sister. 🙂
While ‘turning 34’ does not necessarily confirm that I’m actually any good at playing guitar, it does speak to the fact that I’ve enjoyed playing guitar without fail… at whatever level, and since interest and discipline are important to ‘sticking to it’ and for ‘just putting in the time’, 34 years will surely have some effect on your knowledge and ability to play.
Thirty four years is a long time for anything and I must say that when it comes to playing guitar (and learning music) there has never been a year or month where I’ve felt like I had learned everything there was to learn. If I’d get tired of playing, there was always some more theory to learn. If I’d get tired of theory, there was always more equipment to learn about. And if I was tired of that, there was always some maintenance to take care of (ie. changing strings, cleaning guitars, moving things around, or even learning about the various types of guitars and their differences). There has always been something to do and never a dull moment. Even when all of these roads have been exhausted, there is still place to learn about musicianship, the relationship between guitar and other instruments (ie. in a band or in a song), playing covers vs. originals, ear training etc. There is plenty to keep you busy and keeping me busy, and interested, it has!
I must state that it isn’t necessarily crucial to learn everything there is to learn to consider yourself a musician as it actually doesn’t take very much knowledge to start writing or recording music or to playing some of your favourite cover songs therefore, I definitely don’t mean to make it sound like learning to play guitar requires so much effort or years and years of practice to make any progress. That is an individual thing and for some people progress come faster than others. What I am saying however is that there are plenty of paths to follow and so many ways to enjoy the art (or science) of playing guitar that it can keep you interested for many years, if not a lifetime!
In my experience, this year alone (2022), I’ve learned and added new components to my playing (and equipment 🙄) in the last seven months alone and I imagine I’ll continue to add more in the months and years to come.
Playing guitar has been an amazing journey and learning new things always makes me feel the same excitement I felt when my guitar journey began at 14 years old.
I don’t know everything there is to know yet, and in many ways, I hope I never do even though I will keep trying.
They say : “There’s a time and place for everything” and when it comes to creativity, or at least to ‘getting things done’ it couldn’t be more true with relation to ‘Mindedness’.
Popular sayings such as : “When one door closes, another opens” encourage us to feel hope at a time when we have just experienced disappointment as it suggests that an opportunity for something new and hopefully ’better’ may be around the corner.
I do believe this of course as I don’t ever dwell too much on anything for too long since life, like a sound wave form, is a series of ups and downs. Bad weather follows good weather, followed by bad weather, and so on.
In that same logic, I don’t believe one can be open minded all the time or that we can inhale alone without ever exhaling. Closing the door, is just as important as opening doors just as outros are to intros!
We can all agree that to be inspired we must be open and willing to be influenced. We understand that open mindedness is crucial to get out of a rut, to think outside the box, and to simply have a meaningful exchange with others but what happens when you do have a revelation, a moment of clarity, creativity, or inspiration? What then?
Closing in, taking the shot, and making a choice requires commitment and without making a commitment to the new experience it will either keep changing all the time or disappear before we get the opportunity to capture it. This means that there is a time and place to be stubborn, to be closed minded, or to close the door, snap the picture, or capture a moment.
The difference between simply experiencing a moment and creating a product is the ability to commit to an idea and to accept and appreciate the result.
My video section has a few good examples of times where I composed music to video. In these examples I let the visual events dictate where I was going to place audio events so it was easy enough since there was an existing framework to build against however the challenge was in selecting or creating AND committing to sounds that fit the visuals.
Here’s a scene from the video game called Hitman:
For more examples using a Rambo trailer, the Daredevil intro, the Sopranos, and X-Files please check out my video section here.
That said, the commitment is needed even in situations where there is only music of course. How do you decide if the music will include drums or percussion or wether you will have piano or synth? It can go any direction but you make a decision based on what you feel sounds best at that moment and you move ahead to the next decision.
I can’t guarantee that you’ll enjoy what you hear however in my experience I’ve often looked back on (or listened to) what I’ve created and I usually feel pretty satisfied and even surprised at the result.
So, keep an open mind to all the options available to you but definitely take advantage of the option to close the door as well so that you can complete what you’ve started. Happy writing!
When I studied music in college we had to choose between ’classical’ or ‘jazz’ guitar. I didn’t understand why a person is forced to choose between one style or another however having studied a little of both I can now see that there is a big enough difference in how the individual styles are studied.
The styles themselves are definitely completely different and although basic music theory applies to both in the same way the approach to learning/teaching/and analysis are a big part of each individual style.
Jazz is more about chords with a focus on ‘improvisation’ vs. Classical being more about harmonic and melodic analysis for the purpose of ‘faithfully reproducing’ a piece using the rules of the specific time period of a given piece.
In today’s terms that might be comparable to those who prefer to learn a song note for note versus those who prefer to interpret a song in their own way.
A black belt in karate signifies that one has attained a very advanced skill level while a white belt indicates that you are a novice.
While the belt colour is a way to distinguish one person’s skill level from another, karate teaches that there’s is no white or black belt but rather simply a white belt that gets darker through time.
It is basically the same white belt that has simply darkened over time through the practice or routine of putting it on and taking it off.
Each level of darkness represents ‘experience’ and therefore signifying that one has gained more and more knowledge through practice, application, routine, repetition, study etc
A black belt therefore is not truly black but rather a much darker shade of the original white and although it appears to be black, it continues to darken further and further despite our inability to distinguish one level of darkness from another.
While two black belts appear equal to one another however, the precise level of experience is difficult to identify as one person might be stronger in some areas while another is stronger on other areas.
The goal is therefore not to have a black belt but rather to continuously keep darkening it with experience and knowledge even after it appears to have reached what we believe to be it’s darkest shade.
