Major Scale Modes Designed for the Guitar

By Graham Tippett

You know what Lydian is. Now play Bb Lydian, anywhere on the neck.

That's where most guitarists who've studied modes come unstuck. The theory is solid - you know where Lydian comes from, you can explain how Dorian differs from Aeolian. But asked to actually use it, you find one pattern, stay in it, and the line comes out sounding forced.

That's not a theory problem. It's a fretboard problem, and more theory won't fix it.

A visual method, no working out

This maps all seven major scale modes across the whole neck so that any mode, from any root, in any position, is available without calculating anything first. Not another explanation of what modes are - a way of getting them under your fingers until they're instinctive rather than worked out.

Two sections that feed each other

The more you practise the first, the more effective the second becomes. That's the whole structure, and it has a useful property: if you ever get lost, there's only one thing to do, which is go back to section one and put in more repetitions. No branching, no diagnosis, nothing to decide. It's as close to failsafe as I've managed to make a method.

Who it's for

Players who understand modal theory and can't use it in real time. Guitarists who know one or two patterns per mode and can feel themselves stuck in those positions. Anyone who wants modes to be second nature instead of a calculation.

This is not a modal theory book - there are plenty of those, including one of mine. It's the other half: getting what you already understand onto the fretboard where it's worth something. If you're studying the theory elsewhere, the two go together well.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0896Q37X4
• ISBN13: 9798648764989
• Release Date: May 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.0" x 10.0"