"Learn The Modes!" is Horrible Advice - This is A Better Skill 

This is a topic that I run into often and that I feel is holding a lot of people back. What do you think? Content: 0:00 Intro 0:25 Modes - Are they solving the problem you want to solve? 0:49 What Skills to Develop 1:26 #1 How Modes Are Taught 2:12 The Pentatonic Modal approach 2:42 #2 How Does It Fit With The Music 3:36 Characteristic notes of a mode and the chords you use it on. 4:39 Understanding Chord Progressions? 5:10 #3 What Is Missing - Where do they fail 5:34 What to do instead. 6:28 That is actually playing modes 6:42 #4 A Better Solution 7:40 Rows of notes don't make you a better improviser 7:55 Like the video? Check out my Patreon Page.

Also if you do decide to learn modes down the line. Don't learn them like this: C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phyrgian, F Lydian, etc Learn them like you should learn any other scale. Pick a mode and learn it in 12 keys. (Dorian as an example) C Dorian, F Dorian, Bb Dorian, etc etc around the circle That way you really internalize the sound of the scale, which is more important than the scale itself.

When I started learning jazz I focused a lot on scales and I had a hard time using them in improv. For the last months I've been focusing on learning triads and connecting them and I can't tell you how much it improved my soloing. It also turns out a lot of famous themes are built around triads, with a few embelishments ; once you see it it's way easier to paraphrase the themes!

I never understood guitarists infatuation with modes. I remember Joe Pass saying he thinks either Major,Minor or Dominant. Period. That has always made sense to me. I do like your regular focus on learning chord arpeggios. I have incorporated arpeggiating the major scale into my practice regimen. It is definitely helping me to better see the notes on the fretboard and the notes in a chord. I am already incorporating this new knowledge into my melody construction and improvising. Its definitely working.

Jens, this video is packed with so much great and practical advice. It's so easy to become confused with all these different scales and modes, especially if they're not helping your playing to be more musical. Making music is the whole point!

This is a great lesson, Jens! Thanks 🙏

Learning modes is not horrible advice, by a long shot. Modes provide an essential analytical framework for certain jazz concepts, and certain forms of jazz are entirely modal. Even in non-modal jazz, it’s helpful to think in terms of modal functions when analyzing the relationships between melody and harmony. It is true, however, that knowing modes is not the secret to good improvisation. Learning standard jazz vocabulary, transcribing, ear training and much more should accompany jazz theory studies.

I agree that for jazz improvisation thinking modes and scales isn’t practical to simply play them for improvising. It’s good info to know as a “back drop” of note choices to choose from. Nailing chord-tones in strategic places and decorating them in the language of jazz is much better. Mostly it’s how it’s taught in many colleges and conservatories is what’s the problem. There can be a practical application, but it’s harder to conceptualize. So they usually teach it in a simple way that’s not very practical. The chord-tones are the pillars. It’s the notes between the chord-tones from different choices of scales and modes that give us different flavors (or colors), so one has different options of different sounds to choose from. That’s how any scale should be looked at.

I recently found this out by accident while i was improvising over a rather simple chord progression. I tried turning off the backing track and continue improvising while only imagining the chords in my head as they progressed. It taught me how important it is to play the notes in the chords compared to the whole scale, in order to hear what chords the improvisation follows. This video emphasized on that as well.

I agree with much of what you’re saying. Some people glorify theory over music. Like a child learning a language, first they learn to communicate, much later they learn how to spell and the theory behind language.

I am just taking a first step into this realm, learning chord tones, and trying to move them with the chord progression. This advice gives me confidence that this is a good place to put my energy, without being distracted by bells and whistles that I can add later. I can't overstate how helpful this is. Thank you, Jens!!

I absolutely love how thorough yet concise you are. Also thank you for the time stamps.

I suscribe every word. Took me years to realize this so I'm happy to see that I'm not crazy. Thanks for your video, you have a new follower

What's helped me was my teacher Jackie King taught me arpeggio playing... For each chord there 3 arpeggios, Am chord you can play an Am or D7,or Cmaj7 arpeggio...So there's a major, minor or dominant arpeggio for each chord... Listening to a lot of the early jazz guitarist they play this way... I spent years learning scales and modes. Arprggio playing helped me apply the scales to the chord. Now I have a better mix of arpeggios and scales over the chords...

I think you’re exactly right about learning modes. I’ve always had a tough time memorizing modes and giving them a lot of attention because the endeavor seems aimless. What you’re suggesting in this vid make a lot more sense to me.

Every lesson you post has my full interest, so so refreshing to hear your lessons from the melody angle rather than "OK you want to play A lydian, well here's the scale of E major, off you go,," a little bit like putting arm bands on a child putting him/her in the pool and saying just move your arms and legs about, there you are you're swimming,,, I think you've got a unique way of teaching and I for one have realised ive been wearing armbands in the pool of music for over 40 years of playing 👍thank you for your insights, valuable lessons

Outstanding content. Spot on advise. I use this approach for all styles and it works great. I only use modes for vamps and funk jams. That’s fun too. Great video.

I'm almost 100% focused on chord changes when I'm improvising. I'm not well versed with modes although I know the patterns on the fretboard. My lifelong fascination is hearing unaccompanied single note lines clearly indicating chord movement. I love that!! So I always strive for that when I play but I still need to work on it more!!

This way of thinking makes Jazz so much more approachable and of course easier to understand. Thanks a lot, great video. Loved it!

I finally started working with the CAGED method a couple of weeks ago... with this little gem I just leveled up big time as a guitarist... just arpeggiate! Mind blown. Too simple. Thanks for sharing!

I knew this in university, i knew it made no sense to just think in terms of modes. As soon as i saw the title... i liked! Youre the BEST Jens

A great explanation of shortcomings of the 'mode per chord' approach. I once asked the great English jazz guitarist Adrian Ingram about this, and he said that if you know the major scale your already know the modes and that learning them again separately was redundant knowledge. The other great piece of flawed jazz teaching is the chord/scale approach, suggesting that each scale should be used over its associated chord (see for example Jamey Aebersold). There's a reason why people talk about playing OVER the changes or THROUGH the changes. That reason is what you are talking about here, outlining the harmonic movement through creating lines which reflect that. 'Mode per chord' and chord/scale approaches don't help with doing that, and also present an incredibly cumbersome memory burdon. Let's hear a good solo using these approaches over Cherokee.

Thanks so much for this. It's consistent with what my instructor has been saying, as are most of your videos. I'm so grateful.

Hi Jens. I have just found your Chanel and what a revelation. Thank you. I have been trying to follow the modal application on other sites but this makes so much sense. Like all things in life, it's the way you look at it. Thank you.

Jens I wanted to say how grateful I am for your channel. I hope you realize how important your contribution to the world of music is! Jazz guitarists all over the world will be referring to your videos for years to come!

Yep. I’m teaching a jazz improv class for music majors right now and after six weeks have yet to discuss scales or modes. Thanks for speaking the truth Jens!

This makes so much sense now! This is what I've been needing to hear and see for some time now! Thank you for giving me a better perspective! I subbed!

Instant follow. You’re so knowledgable it’s refreshing to hear someone who is “beyond the modes” as now I know them and love them, I’ve found the limits within, so I wanna go further

I love it and totally agree, chord tones is where it's at, and further the pivot points wherever there's a 1/2 step is where the good stuff is :)

What I've come to realize recently is all I need to learn is the major scale in every key all across the fretboard. Then just play the correct major scale over any chord to give the sound of the mode you need. For example If I want to play A Phrygian I will just play on a F Major scale. A Mixyolydian = D major scale. Just target the chord tones.

Great advice man! I am just on the verge to dive a bit deeper into jazz and till now was always struggling how to play, using the chords as a framework for melodys or playin any scales over chords wich sounds always the same... But how u display the approach its just logical and makes it clear to me. Muchas gracias!

Hey Jens. Thanks! This is such a wise and practical video. You do a great job of boiling it down to the real deal. I wish I had your lessons back when I was a student. I can’t tell you how much time I spent practicing and memorizing fingerings of modes in all positions. It never felt or sounded like jazz unless I got lucky, which was rare. I feel spent years flailing in the wilderness trying to make my playing sound like traditional jazz. First I went to a well-known guitar school in Los Angeles in the early 90’s. Jazz was a minor focus of the curriculum, despite having one or two master level jazz faculty members who were legendary players. But the core curriculum was that dumb 80’s way of looking at all harmony as modal rather than functional. Eventually I figured out what you are saying in this video all by myself. It took over a decade. And it came from playing in sink or swim situations where I had no choice but to revert to linking together arpeggios in sheer self-preservation mode! (Not Phrygian mode). I very gradually discovered on my own that being able to arpeggiate through a song without changing position, while keeping my time consistent and mostly 8th notes, was the only way I could make my playing sound remotely like jazz. After that I began to learn vocabulary based on changes. Then finally SOME modes, in certain situations, became useful. But in terms of utility, I’d put them at the end of the list not the beginning. Dorian and Ionian are the only modes I ever really touch anymore. I never use locrian. The second degree of that scale makes it sound wrong to me over a minor ii-v, which is where they say it is useful. I never use Phrygian. Why? We don’t play sketches of Spain at too many jam sessions. I never use mixolydian over a dominant chord in jazz. Forget it. So boring. It just disappears in all the other music on stage. I MIGHT use Dorian from the fifth of a V chord (another way to spell mixolydian which makes my lines come out a little more minor sounding or bluesy) but I rarely do. I have too much other cool stuff I can’t WAIT to play on my precious V chords! You can try to use Lydian instead of Ionian on major chords and you might think it will give you a nice ambiguity on the tonic chord where the obvious choice would be Ionian, but it probably won’t sound great. You are generally better off with a major be-bop scale that has 8 notes not 7, or using substitute arpeggios from the 3 chord or the 6 chord. I have two ideas to add to this discussion from my experience: 1) teachers never really enforce the idea that just a major scale from the I chord will automatically become a Dorian scale when the harmony moves to a ii chord, and it will become a mixolydian scale when the harmony moves to the V chord, etc, and that chasing different modes because they correspond to a chord’s quality rather than its function takes you out of the key and causes you to start superimposing a key center on a progression. That’s valid, but your ear needs to be equipped to do that, and it probably isn’t when you are at the level where they teach modes. 2) modes of the melodic minor and the harmonic minor offer some extremely useful go-to scales that will be handy in many common jazz situations, but I think it’s much easier to learn to use these sounds as their own unique scales fingered from the root of the chord that correspond to, rather than thinking of them as modes of the harmonic or melodic minor that start on a certain degree of the parent scale. Thanks Jens for having the insight to explain how and why modes are less useful in jazz than they are made out to be. This video should help many people. If you are a beginner, watch it twice!!

Thank you! I have long expected that there is a lot of overthinking in reference to “playing modes”. In essence, when are playing intentionally over the changes (emphasizing chord tones) within the appropriate major/minor scale/arpeggios, that is effectively modal playing without all the mental gymnastics.

What Jens is explaining is the reason I dreaded having to learn modes. I have learned more from this guy in the last 2 months than the previous 15 years, and I've just started!

Love this video!!!! As a jazz educator I now have something to show when I argue about scale based jazz curriculum!!!

I totally agree with you. And I might add that you are such a fine teacher and musician. Keep the lessons coming. :)

Some of the best advice that I have ever been given for improvising was to play the notes of the chord on the beat, and then use the notes of the chords higher and lower than that chord as passing notes. e.g. Playing over the ii chord in the key of C, play notes from the arpeggio of D Minor (D-F-A) on the beat, and use notes from the arpeggios of C Maj (C-E-G) and E Minor (E-G-B) for passing notes. Remember some of the licks that you play, write them down, and then try to analyse your playing. That's when the head work really starts.

Nice video! I find it very useful to think of it in terms of what every of the twelve notes sounds in relation to the chord you are playing on. For exemple: over a V7 I might want to emphasis any note as long as I land on a chord tone on the strong beats. That way I can create a sort of hierarchy of which notes are important, which ones feel rested, which ones add color etc. It is nice to practice this stuff over a vamp at first I think to really be able to listen.

Thank you Jens, salient advice, I’ll keep focusing on the chord tones and changes 👍

I love what you’re saying and the clarity with which you say it. Thank you.

Mick Goodrick proposes the modes as a set of notes one can use to learn all the „white keys“ on the guitar. From my own experience this kind of fretboard orientation is essential to understand where the notes are that one wants to use to play over a given chord. I fully agree that arpeggios or target notes are more important to solo over a chord progression. But as a prerequisite one needs to know where to spot the notes he wants to use on the fretboard - believe me I was fretboard blind for the longest time now so: know the chords, know what are the key notes of each of them and know where to find these very notes on the fretboard - only then it’s possible to link notes of changing chords together by a good sounding melody

Ha, I was anticipating this subject for a video, because you have mentioned in a couple of videos that modes are not that useful for jazz. I fully agree with your point, hearing and spelling out the changes is the most useful way of looking at this kind of music. It's especially irritating in guitar community to hear about modes in the way you described in the video as if learning them opens up the world of music. They have their place sometimes though, I especially like the way that Frank Gambale showed modes in his VHS special. Almost like a tonality, if all the chord tones come from certain mode, the progression can be interpreted as of this mode. And it brings the flavor of the mode forward so one can get away with exploring the sound of that mode not venturing outside. PS Great shirt, Jens!

Best learning I've had ever, nice one gave me a great understanding of how to use modes, to improve my improvisation skills, not just know what, and where they. Thanks for that.

This is great! Exactly where I am in my playing and ready to learn more. Thank you for sharing:)

This is the information I wish someone had pulled me aside and told me when I was 18.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video. This was exactly what literally screw my mind in the beginning of my jazz studies. All the teachers saying you play scale x over chord y and I wondered even what that means because actually you don't play a mode or scale over one chord (of course in modal jazz you could say that). I would say it just offers you, let's say, a pool to pick out notes. "You play dorian about that II chord, than mixolydian oder V chord ... ". I still can hear that and it's just nonsense...

Great video, this really helped unlock some of my understanding of the link between playing over chords and modes, thanks!

I totally agree, you put words of theorie over my practice and intuition led me naturally. I've never understood the necessity of using modes for improvisation since one scale contains all of them.

IO totally agree with you Jens. Modes are basically good on static harmiony on ly.

This video actually proofs modes are important. The opening solo is not just about chords Gmaj7 Gm7. The whole feel of it is captured by the specific choice of scale-modes G-2 F-1. Play D-4 Eb-3 along with it and you get a true clash. At 4:00, the Em7 A7 Dm7 G7 chord progression is labeled as C-3625, and the resulting solo sounds horrible. Of course. Try D-2 D-5 C-2 C-5. Conclusion: wrong mode -> horrible solo, right mode -> all set for a good solo.

Spot on as always! I love the idea of expanding on the pentatonic. I usually add the blue note then the major sixth and then the 9th with my students. There are so many examples to share with them. Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore loved adding the sixth and Clapton uses both the sixth and 9th. You can hear him use the 9th on the solo for "After Midnight". I enjoyed your breakdown of the 3 6 2 5 in C. All too often I hear players treat the 3 6 like a 2 5 (I did this myself until my ears rebelled!). It's actually simpler to think of it as all being in the key of C with the VI chord being a secondary dominant (V of II).

Great lesson with great clarity. Just found your video - very impressed with your style of communicating. Excited to hear more. Like and subscribed. Thank you Jens!

Absolutely agree! Too often, modes are considered the crowning touches for playing solos...yet, the patterns are frequently taught without emphasis on the qualities of the chords at each degree of the scale. (It's not unlike teaching the musical staff, but not teaching where the notes fall on the guitar strings!) Playing any mode over an (Ionian) G tonic or chord will still sound like a G major scale. There needs to be more of an emphasis on the chords that are constructed on the degrees of the scales. It's not just a matter of remembering patterns and playing them straight through. Moving away from a particular degree demands reevaluation of one's approach (unless that particular degree is played for the duration, which would likely be dull). Music is mercurial. I'm a rock player. David Gilmour is my favorite guitarist. His focuses are melody and emotion. I feel that it's best to adopt such an approach.

I’m glad you specified “jazz”. I’ve taught hundreds of students and I find they are very receptive to learning the major and minor chords, then introducing how simply changing one or two notes makes learning modes easy. It’s just a building block for learning

Jens, i watch most of your videos and have gone back and watched your earlier lessons. One thing that comes out strongly from almost all your lessons is what you have so wonderfully reiterated in this lessons..i.e. ARPEGGIOS are the key to improvization. I like the way you have approached this concept from various directions... Notes of the chord, a scale minus a few notes, a pentatonic scale plus or minus notes. Thank you so much. I was struggling with modes but that was the wrong struggle .. i am now struggling with arpeggios :-) at least it seems to bethe right struggle. Any tips on how to master them will be duly lapped up :-). THanks for this awesome lesson.

So glad to hear you say this Jens! I attended Berklee for a summer session many years ago and they put an emphasis on learning all the modes. The only really practical application that makes sense to me is understanding modality -that some folk songs, like Cotton Eye Joe, use a mode that’s different from a major scale (mixo-lydian). There are many examples, but learning the modes without context is not helpful. Thanks again.

A courageous lesson flying in the face of convention. "Learn all your modes in every key" Another great video!! Go Jen's Go!! 1.000.000.000 subs coming soon:-)

I’m new to jazz but I’ve been playing classical music most of my life, and modes are important. I can’t imagine being a creative musician without knowing Lydian, Myxolydian, and Dorian modes. These are very common in rock even if the players don’t know they’re playing modes. These are all useful resources.

I actually really liked your solo on the intro to this video. You always sound great but that one was really nice.

This video is FANTASTIC! THANK YOU. It was so hard finding videos explaining HOW to use modes in real music - most merely explain the theory and scales without applying them to real life.

I have always thought the importance of the modes is far too overstated by many teachers

Great advice. Also, nice shirt.

Very thought provoking video, Jens. I work in rock but I have the same outlook. I never really write solo's, I just improvise them during the recording. When I do this I always try to stay away from sounding like I'm just using scales, preferring instead to deliver something that sounds expressive and conversational.

Love the stuff Jens!

Great lesson. Big takeaways are that there are better ways to learn the fretboard than learning modes, and modes alone don't make melodies. Focus on playing through changes and arpeggios removes a thinking step when connecting modes over chords.

I wholeheartedly agree that learning the modes of the major scale is a waste of time! Almost the only time I actually use a "mode" is using a single note from it. Like Chet Baker for instance, on his solo over bye bye black bird on the (I chord) Fmaj7, he drops a B natural in there just momentarily to give it the lydian flavor: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3BSDVRIMeqc.html and again here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3BSDVRIMeqc.html and here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3BSDVRIMeqc.html . I think using modes like this gives flavor, but I don't really think of the lydian scale per se'... more like I think of the chord with a #4 for color - and I'm sure that's also how Chet used it from the transcriptions I've done of his playing. For me that's the importance of the modes and I think studying different modes of a major scale is kind of a waste of time that could be better applied to learning harmony and using "modes" by recognizing the one note that gives the chord in question that 'sound' you are looking for.

This is an awesome tutorial Jens! It's very refreshing to hear you say this because so many people push the modes all the time. I really wonder if guys like Wes Montgomery or Grant Green knew all the modes or if they just played great lines based on the chords?

That's refreshing. Thanks. I play flute, and it's helpful to know where I need to better focus my practice. It's hard enough having to outline the chords in a linear way. Thanks, Jens!

I had to endure verbal abuse from some former teachers because that is exactly the gripe I've been having with modes for as long as I can think back: They didn't give me ANYTHING that felt or sounded useful, much less give me a curiosity to explore them deeper. This just to say I couldn't agree more in saying that knowing the modes is almost a complete waste of time and focuses on all the wrong things as you aptly state. (instead some of the concepts that you keeping stressing here are much more valuable, like eg. chord tones on strong beats, passing notes and enclosures, trills and chromaticism to connect them and using chord arpeggios as building blocks along with phrasing, a swing feel and dynamic expression, that's what gets us much quicker to sounding closer to those who set the bar for traditional and modern jazz, correct!)

I was told this once kind of late in my learning, but it helped a lot to free me up, "It's all the same song, and you are only a half step away from the 'right' note." Think about that for a bit, it saved me from overthinking everything. Yes, you need to know your scales, but in the 80s they started making us too fixated on them.

Yes! Thank you for this Jens. This validated what I have always thought. I first learned about modes in classical theory classes and it always confused me why other guitarists were always going on and on about modes. If the song was written modally, sure, of course, use the mode, but most songs are tonal. So as I’m slowly / casually learning jazz now, it always sounds more deliberate if I focus on chord tones and arpeggios, with some passing notes here and there. It also gives me less for my brain to process in real time, so I am able to play more freely. I’m sure I will eventually work my way up to wanting to play more outside, but for now I’m perfectly happy playing the fun, early jazz styles. Now I just need to start getting better with incorporating chromaticism into my chord tones plus passing notes philosophy. I don’t always know which chromatic notes will work unless it’s already stated in the chord name. Like if I see G7b9.... “ok cool. I can play a flat 9 and it will sound good.” Does knowing which chromatic notes to use basically just boil down to any note in between two chord tones, that are a whole step apart?

This is an awesome and important distinction. As a competent rock guitarist and improviser, I have recently started to enjoy jazz a lot more. Only yesterday I was commenting that my jazz solos still sound like my melodic rock improvisations but with more chromatic notes, even when I try to emphasise arpeggios. The jazz language is a whole different ball game, and I have a lot of listening ahead of me.

A nicely constructed lesson with a well defined point. Nice one. 👍🏻

I was never taken with the notion of modes in jazz in this context and I think it only serves to confuse. If the whole piece is in a mode then that is valid terminology.

This is very helpful, I have been trying to learn jazz guitar for a long time and have found that even though I was learning and practicing modal scales, it really wasn’t helping much on a practical level. I realize now I should have been concentrating more on arpeggios and guide tone notes as Emily Remmler liked to call them. Although I learned a lot of jazz chords I also found that the only chords I retained were the ones that I incorporated into my playing on a regular basis.

Having skimmed through some of the comments, I think what I would say about this that I would hope might bridge some of the gap is that knowing all of the modes in all keys is helpful when you are an ADVANCED player, but as someone who is less experienced and just trying to navigate a rapid set of chord changes and play something semi-meaningful, it can be better FIRST to learn chord tones. I do think it's absolutely essential, in rock, jazz, whatever style, to know the notes in a given chord! I think that skill comes before knowing all of the scales and modes, unless you're specifically playing a MODAL piece of music where the chord rarely changes. Then obviously, knowing that mode, in that key, is necessary. I think there's probably an important distinction to be made in how much time a player is able to devote, and to what level of playing they aspire, in assessing the value of these different approaches. If you want to be a virtuoso, learn it all. If you just want to get out and jam or play some bar gigs and you need to sound competent but not virtuosic, learn the basic skills for the style you want to play (and here Jens is focusing on being able to play over jazz standards, which typically have rather rapid chord changes, and are not modal), and then build from there. So maybe the title of the video should be something like: "Learn the Modes FIRST!" Is Horrible Advice - Learn This First Instead (My background: I was a music major in college, 20+ years ago, at a place where this kind of theory was pretty much completely absent. We had jazz, and I was in it, but it was a classically-focused department. Music majors there, at the time, would generally either go on to grad school or to public school teaching. I became a web developer.)

That's guitar playing in general. It's all about triads, arpeggios and fillers. Great lesson that relates to all styles

Sometimes the easiest or most logical solutions are quite obvious but get obscured by a lot of needless complication. I have found the whole subject of modes to be like this. Thanks for saying what should have been said everywhere: knowing modes does not mean anything unless you know how to apply them. Chords always come first. You have made a very good site. Thank you for your help.

Right on! I couldn't agree more. Arpeggios and target notes are far more helpful for soloing. Thanks for your excellent channel.

I find the modes too confusing - too much to think about - another layer to learn. Focusing on the target notes and arps is more straight forward and understandable.

I'm sure you know about Rick Beato's youtube channel Everything Music - he does teach the modes and seems to use them as a kick-off for composing, although he also improvises with them. He said as a teenager he became aware of and interested in the modes because of the solos of Peter Frampton - Beato analyzed some of these and showed how they were modal. Later, he had Frampton on his show and Frampton said he had not consciously used modes or even known about them, but he'd listened to a lot of 60's jazz guitarists and must have just picked up that sound by ear.

The most honest lesson I saw till now, great Jens, that’s why I bought your books.

First of all I am very glad that I have found your channel Jens, your videos are very informative and helpful to understand jazz principles. Please keep up this excellent work! Now as a classically trained euphonium player with quite a bit of jazz apetite, I follow the discussion about modes with much interest. I believe that modes are indeed somewhat irrelevant to jazz as you say, as the melodic line in jazz seems to be dominantly driven by the underlying functional harmonic progressions. The feeling of the music is incorporated in the chord construction, so in the vertical aspect of the music so to speak. Modes, when used tastefully in the melodic line, can however create a variety of atmospheres without changing the tonal center. So the feeling comes from the leading melody (or the horizontal aspect of music), with chords only in a supportive role. But that is just my idea of course. Music is innocent after all, so just play the notes that make you happy and have fun!

very interesting and helpful take - I once heard Larry Carlton say in an interview that he doesn't know the modes and never uses them

I'm actually in the opposite position. I knew from day 1 that modes offer an endless number of opportunities if used correctly and did not water it down to "different starting position on the fretboard", and had been avoiding it until I found a teacher. And then I needed to read a real textbook. The jazz theory book by Mark Levine introduces modes on page 20 lol, and once I wrapped my head around it, modes really blew my mind. The lydian mode and the #11, all those b9s, etc. are just fascinating to me. I wish I didn't avoid learning modes earlier.

Thanks! Sharing to a friend who just ran off with my flashcards of modes... (I figured they weren't really worth studying, and this video confirmed it.)

Great advice. I always think that it's more important to know what key you are in at any particular point as all the modes in that key will fit any of the diatonic chords in that key it is only the chord tones that make it relevant.

Chord tones vs scales/modes is a such an interesting debate. For me the chord tones are more important but the two sit together if you want to say something really interesting , which you eventually conclude. You have to be able to outline the changes, it’s important for others band members and gives soloing a direction. I don’t have a problem with people teaching the modes as long as they stress the chord tones are the go to notes. I think people often don’t do the level of work required to get these things down properly in all keys, eg knowing the notes in common chord types in all keys. Personally for me the modes are like flavours or colours and things to call upon when the progression sees fit. I kind of feel that your approach misses the wider picture, I get that the chord tones are essential but it’s a limited approach that whilst it makes it easier for someone to learn they still have to do the scale work at some point. Things have to be played until they sit in our unconscious. I’ve tried just the chord tone approach with a few students and they often get bored (despite there being lots of possibilities) Learning jazz can never be an exact science and I love seeing all these different approaches. Have you looked at the book Building a jazz vocabulary? This has some interesting ideas.

Ahh I know very well that modes are essential to building theory and possibilities, but this does give me more insight and variation. I wish for more knowledge indeed! Great video as always!

This guy is the bomb!!! I dont play any jazz but watching him always gives me new ideas.

That´s what I always felt intuitively and 20 years later YOU confirm this, SUPER

The mistake is how the mode is learned. Modes are a source of chords, 3- 4 note interval combinations/patterns... which in turn imply other scales/ modes.. leading to alternative chords, or intervallic patterns. The key to using them is to look at what they yield in terms of smaller units and their implications. Even without a given melody at the outset (thinking Herbie Hancock's early modal experiments) the object should be working with smaller note groupings /units to compose one on the go. You cant do that with stepwise lines of notes alone. You have to work on motifs, rests, long v short note values, rhythms etc. Then by reducing your melody to the most important tones/ and rhythmic character you're free too build around those chromatically or with other devices like tetrachords embellishments (things like appoggiaturas, enclosures etc.)..anything other than 7 note modes. It's a bit like reharmonizing on the fly. the problem is your accompaniment has to leave things open or ambiguous to accommodate that. One of the problems of chord to scale thinking is that it locks the beginning improviser into the wrong mindset of thinking that because you're playing harmonically in agreement with the accompanist that you're somehow making music.. not necessarily!! And anyway why would you want to agree with the accompaniment all the time? thats boring.

Nice concept Jens!! I'm going in the right way! Thanks!!

I think learning the tonality of each mode is good but just learning them as new scales and fingerings is walking backwards because as long as you can connect every major scale then starting on a different root note or emphasizing that modal root note makes the solos more interesting. I am learning from your stuff though so I will watch more...thanks for spending the time to make these videos.

Useful, and totally logical. I've found most tutorials on modes end in confusion and disappointment - as opposed to say minor pentatonic scales which sound good immediately.

Reassuring to hear that my guitar teacher had been teaching me well. I'll carry on as I am 😌

I''ve been improvising for a long time and haven't found modes to be of any real practical use. I like to focus on hitting chord tones and extend chord tones (for example, playing the dim. 7th and 9th of a major traid). It's good to have someone like you recognize this approach.

I do Agree...The information that You Present Sir is so Wonderful...You are a wonderful instructor...thanks so very much..! It may be that some day I can get into Your Jazz Program..?

Thanks for this video Jens - perhaps you could offer a companion video - that explains when modal concepts and thinking are of the most value - when *do* you actually want to - or need to - think about things like phrygian, lydian and locrian ? Where are they essential?

Modes are NOT musical grammar. They are not necessary to learn and play great music. Great players and composers didn't need modes to create unforgettable songs and solos and neither do you.