In my last blog about modes, I explained their names and what they are. Now is where the fun begins. We will take a look at each mode in our C scale, and figure out why just playing the notes in a different order makes so much of a difference. Trust me, it does. We will start at the first mode of course. That is right, C major, or C Ionian. This one is easy.

C     D      E      F      G      A      B      C

/       /       /      /       /      /      /

W       W     H     W     W     W     H

Remember, the W stands for whole step, or the distance between two frets, like the third fret and fifth fret. The H stands for half step, which is the distance between one fret and the next, like the seventh fret and eighth fret. This is a happy-sounding mode, used a lot in country and pop music. Not so much in rock, but I seem to use it a lot in my rock band. Harmonizing the C major scale, we can get some pretty cool chords:
C  Dm Em F G Am Bdim
These are simple chords every guitarist should know, and with these simple triads (three-note chords) it allows us to hear the sounds of the modes clearer. You can always ‘jazz up’ the chords later.
Now, we can build a common chord progression, using C as our first chord. This allows us to hear the happy sound of the major scale.
Let’s try   C / / /   Am / / /   F / / /   G / / /
Note: I use a looping device to practice playing over chord progressions, as it isn’t always handy to have another musician around. The only way to get the sound of the modes is to hear them along with some harmony (chords) so you can hear the distinctive sound of each one.
Here’s a backing track:

Yes, this was used in millions of songs, but it is great to practice our Ionian soloing with.
Here’s a solo using the Ionian mode:
Now let’s go to D Dorian.
Now our chart changes:
D      E      F      G      A      B      C     D
/       /      /       /      /      /     /
 W     H     W     W     W     H       H
The cool thing about using different modes when soloing is that even though we are using the same notes as in our C scale in a different order, it sounds completely different!
Why? Well, looking at the chart above, the arrangement of whole and half steps are different. Not only that, the tonic (or first chord, or the chord our progression resolves to) is different. Lets get this straight: If you find a fingerboard chart of the modes in C, and play D Dorian over a simple C major chord, you are not using the modes… you are simply playing in C major. What makes the Dorian mode different is the sound. The sound comes from the new order of whole and half steps combined with the new tonic chord in our progression.
D Dorian is a minor sounding mode (that is, it sounds like a minor scale, but isn’t). Any time the first two spaces (in this case, W & H) add up to 1 ½ steps, we are dealing with a mode that will be used over a tonic chord that is minor. Sure enough, we will look back at our ‘group of chords’ in the key of C:
C    Dm   Em   F   G   Am   Bdim
Only this time, we will put them in a different order. Since this mode starts with D, we will start our chords with D:
Dm   Em   F   G   Am   Bdim   C
Same chords, right? Yes! A different order, however. We will start our sample chord progression on Dm. Notice the chords above come from the key of C. But now we are playing from D to D, all in the key of C!
Dm / / /     F / / /    G / / /    Am / / /
If you have a bass player handy, have him just play a low D note every single chord. This reinforces the idea that the notes you are using come from the C scale, but using D as the tonic note. Since all of the chords only exist in the key of C, yet you are hearing D as the ‘tonic’ chord, it sounds quite different than our example in C major.
Here is a backing track:
Now here is a solo using D Dorian:
Note: This is not the same as playing in what is commonly called D minor. Remember, the minor scale, or Aeolian mode is built upon the sixth note of the scale. Therefore, to figure out what major scale D minor belongs to, you have to do a small math problem:
D is the sixth note of which major scale? The answer is F. D minor (or Aolian) and D Dorian sound similar, although the chords used behind them are different. They are from two different keys, each with their own chords. Some chords overlap, but not all of them. I’ll focus on some more modes in upcoming posts.
Using modes in our soloing will make our music sound fresh, and help us ‘nail’ chord tones with the notes within our solo. These two common modes make it easy to hear their distinctive sounds, and soon you will be able to identify what modes are being used just by listening to a piece of music.

All examples were recorded with a combination of neck & bridge Alnico II Pros.