In our last post we covered how to add the Aeolian scale to your pentatonic to make for very easy learning and instant application of the new scales. The Aeolian scale is the natural minor scale. Minor scales and chords have a darker, sadder feel.

Now let’s just into the Dorian scale, which has a happier tone. Something you can use in a lot of funk, jazz, major based chord progressions. I love using this over a good jump blues jam, as well as adding some spice to some funk licks.

Remember you don’t have to abandon what you already know, use the licks and tricks you already know.

Stick to a pentatonic foundation, just use these new modes to add some flexibility and zing to your playing.

You can find the Dorian in use by listening to greats likes Santana – Black Magic Women, or one of the best examples of how to use this scale in rock is Tony Iommi’s – Planet Caravan.

So let’s go back to the to the key of A.

Here’s the A Minor pentatonic scale –

For the sake of keeping this post short, I’m just going to cover the D, G,B, and high E strings. The rest of the strings just work of the octaves of these notes.

E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|————-5-7———————————————–|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|

Now let’s add in the Dorian scale.

All you’re going to do is add 3 additional notes to the pentatonic scale above.

E|———————————–5-(7)-8———————|
B|————————-5-(7)-8——————————-|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|———(4)-5-7———————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
The notes in the brackets mark the added notes.

So if you add all the notes together you will get this scale:

E|——————————– -5-7-8———————–|
B|————————-5-7-8——————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————-|
D|———–4-5-7———————————————|
A|—————————————————————|
E|—————————————————————|

So solo the way you normally would, just add these new notes as passing tones, and now you are jamming with modes that again only took a minute to learn.

When it comes down to contemporary music, there are two “modes” of the major scale that are used the most often. If “modes” have scared you in the past, or you just really didn’t understand them, then you’ve found the right blog post!

Once you know how to incorporate them into your playing effortlessly, then you’ll really start to have fun with your playing.

Everyone know that the pentatonic is the basis for all soloing. (and for your extreme classical and jazz nuts who beg to differ, get over it. It’s true!)

But once you hit the intermediate level guitar you start to look at other options outside the pentatonic scale to get some licks. This is the wrong attitude.

All music is interconnected, so don’t think that you have to abandon the pentatonic scale to “learn something new”. That’s just not the case.

I’m going to show you how to use the two most commonly used modes, the Aeolian in this post, and the Dorian in pt. 2, WITH the pentatonic that will allow you to quickly and easily learn these new scales, but also start using them today in your playing.

If you keep the pentatonic as your core foundation, then moving out into some more progressive fusion based music will be a breeze.

So let’s go to the key of A.

Here’s the A Minor pentatonic scale –

E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|————-5-7———————————————–|
A|——-5-7—————————————————–|
E|-5-8———————————————————–|

For the sake of the this training post, I’m just going to cover the G,B, and high E strings. The rest of the strings just work of the octaves of these notes.

E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|

Now let’s start adding modes, the first mode we’re going to work with is the Aeolian. Most people now this as the natural minor scale, but lets use the pentatonic to make this a real simple learning process.

All you’re going to do is add 3 additional notes to the pentatonic scale above.

E|——————————-5-(7)-8————————|
B|————————-5-(6)-8——————————|
G|——————(4)-5-7————————————-|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|

The notes in the brackets mark the added notes.

So if you add all the notes together you will get this scale:

E|———————————–5-7-8———————–|
B|—————————5-6-8——————————-|
G|——————4-5-7—————————————-|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|

So solo the way you normally would, just add these new notes as passing tones, and now you are jamming with modes and it only took a minute to learn.

David Gilmour is the master at using this scale, and it fits perfectly over any minor based rock.