Modes Aren’t Just Scales, They’re Progressions Too! 

Going to swallow all my pride and admit that this has vexed me for too long. This is the best ( by miles and miles) lesson on "modes' concepts I have ever seen. Thanks Eric Haugen.

Ping...err...ping..and aum....PING! The lightbulbs in my head still make that noise. Most Fridays to be honest.

People love to put down modes but exploring them is endless creative possibilities. It takes more effort to explain why you don’t understand them than it does to learn them.

Many teachers tell you things but they do not sink in because you don't know how to use it or understand the context. They probably do not think to say them because they seem obvious or they forgot how a beginner thinks. This lesson cleared up so many questions in my mind.

Jesus christ what an unbelievably good video

Wow, this video probably has the best reasoning behind thinking in modes that I've heard so far. I'm lazy and always found it easier to think of chord progressions in "major", but this explains the why of thinking in modes.

Huge lesson that addresses what most people don’t get about modes. I’d go one step further and say that chord progressions are what actually make the modes. You may be playing an f Lydian scale and emphasising that #4 super hard, but if the progression underneath is C F G C you’re playing in C major period.

Fun note, that G-F is also Bowie’s ‘Golden Years’. There’s a fun story out there somewhere that his bass player called him out on ripping off On Broadway.

Love this approach to modes. The struggle I always have with modes is to use the characteristic notes in a mode, in a natural musical way. It always feels like you need to target these notes and tuck them in to emphasize the modal sound, for the sake of getting the sound only.

....and a sweet triad lesson all by itself if you study the first 15 seconds that go back around the second time commencing with G and F triads starting on the 12th fret. Thank you!

This concept is simple and profound and also hard and challenging to master. But taught so well - well done Eric

Voicing the G as a G major triad, instead of making it a G7, is really helping to make the G sound like the tonal center.

This is gold!!!! Priceless information This would have been a very expensive lesson!

This was one of the most insightful lessons yet. So simple and to the point!

Every Haugen video is a step closer to complete musical awareness! Thank you sincerely Eric. Take care

perfect lesson! seeing the examples and explanation just made it click in an actual musical way. the bit at the end about not muddying it up with more diatonic chords i never even thought of, very important

You explaining this in the "Where to start with music theory" series is what made modes finally click for me

Thanks for distilling modes down for me…I finally understand how and when to use them. Great point on tonal centers and spice notes.

Wow, I haven't understood modes until now! Thank!

i won't say i completely understand modes now, but this is a start. you make simple chords sound great, i think that's a big part of playing guitar. you're also very skilled, i'm not diminishing your ability and knowledge. thanks for your lessons....

Gotta tell ya,.You are the best instructor on here. Everything you focus on is what should be focused upon. And you really explain it well. Great work ,man.

I want to clarify that I absolutely love Adam Neely and 12 Tone, but the fact that you didn’t overcomplicate Night Moves as some 15 minute explainer of an insane Bb scale like they might have done made this lesson more useful than anything either of them have released in years.

I've been playing for decades and I have played modally but did not realize it. Just now trying to learn this and you have shared some great light on the subject. Thank you.

best video about modes i’ve seen, i wish this was available years ago so i didn’t have to learn the hard/twisted/confusing way everyone likes to teach them

These types of lessons are why I support you in all the ways that I do. I write songs off them.

I've been searching for a good video about modal chord progressions for so long, and this is the one! I finally understand that the note which makes up the mode has to be in one of the chords, thank you! 😁

Excellent as always Eric! Constantly top draw instruction. Thanks for you generosity!

Whoa, as soon as you started playing G - F, I heard Steely Dan's 'Bodhisattva', too! Love the way you always help me to find so many connections when you explain a concept in music. Love it.

Wow what simple insightful teaching Eric I can relate to ppl teaching the modes but not the chordal connection which is now I see the most important part to getting the melody. Thanks so much 🙏

Dude your way of explaining concepts is awesome. You have been influencial in my journey of understanding guitar. Thanks!

This might be the first guitar video I’ve seen where modes are explained correctly. Great job! I found this helpful.

This answers a question I’ve had for a long time regarding the modes; it’s so simple, but sometimes you gotta find someone to show it to you. Thanks for being that someone!

Eric, when I saw this lesson title my head exploded (in a good way). I’ve been trying to understand for years why my favorite V-II-I surf progressions don’t sound like major. It’s I-V-IV Mixolydian! So simple, but you unlocked the door!

Another great lesson providing a dash of music theory with a full helping of soulful context and practical advice. The Primus line at the end made my morning! 😂

Man, you just make all this so clear. Love your channel.

I struggled with the concept of modes for years. You have 100% described them perfectly. Context is so important and overlooked in most videos. Wish I'd stumbled across this a few years ago.

Thanks for keeping it practical and simple “spice note”. I’ve used modes incorrectly for a long time. This helps. Thanks dude

When I learned about modes it confused me... I thought "I bet there's a neat way to apply this to chord progressions" but I couldn't wrap my head around it. This helps a lot, thanks bud

This video finally made my brain go aha! Thanks for the explanation with known progressions.

All the mixolydian progressions had a grateful dead feeling

Nice lesson. I've been playing for thirty-eight years and in this video you've explained the difference one note can make better than anyone. I played hard rock/metal and it took me a while to find a good teacher who understood I wanted to be more than a shredder. Yes, I became a shredder too. After all, I started playing in the 80s. Shred was all the rage, especially here in L.A. But I became a more well-rounded player through lessons like this one. It took me almost two years to find a teacher who would tie it all together like you do. This is what serious players need to learn. Everything is tied together in music.

Yo dude this made so much more sense than most modal explanations I've been given in my life. Cheers!

Thank you--thank you for explaining this in such a clear, easy-to-understand way! I finally understand modal progressions. 🙏

Love, love, love this lesson! What I've been seeing for a long time, you just explained.

I love the tone you have going on there !

This was fabulous. Thank you!

Excellent Video Eric !!

Eric Haugen and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the same lesson. Sweet!

Thank you for clearing this up. And shedding light into this. This is what my music theory needed!

Your body of this work on RU-vid is really incredible. You offer lessons for all different skill levels and it’s a testament to your own skill level and knowledge, add onto that being a great teacher. I’ve been playing since I was a kid, for 12 years now, but was turned off of music theory really early on so watching your videos has really helped me now that i’m trying to understand it and fit it into my frameworks. You’re the teacher i’ve always wanted, thanks for all your help!

Thank you! Excellent lesson.

Great lesson and a beautiful guitar

Can’t think of a better guitar lesson on RU-vid. Thank you!

Great lesson. Appreciate this man!

Great lesson!

Man. This was the best explanation of this I’ve ever heard. I learned something today! Thanks, man!

Excellent lesson. Thank you.

This is connecting so many dots for me. As a songwriter, I'm so used to working in Ionian mode and then altering chords from there to add additional flavor. It's really nice to see someone explaining the modes as chord progressions. Thank you for this.

Another great lesson. Thanks man!

Thank you, Eric! Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! Be good to you 🤍💛🍕

Like that Hiwatt Set up

This explains so much. THANK YOU

The easiest way to learn musical relationships is to write a song using them, then as you play it, you learn it on your own terms.

Brilliantly clear. Few people are able to explain this in a way that doesn't confuse. You're a very talented educator.

This was very helpful. Particularly the part about renaming the original V chord as the new I chord - and keeping the progressions short enough to establish the sound of the mode. You earned a subscribe with this one! Thanks!

That's a nice clean-sound.

Great lesson thanks man !!

Your vids always look and sound amazing!

Light bulb moment for sure with this one. Never quite grasped how the progression interacts with the mode like that. Very well explained.

Very interesting & extremely clear. I love your style ! Thanks a lot 😎

Hey dude, thank. this is the lesson i have been looking for some time now to understand how i can play all these modes and scales but i didnt understand how to put chords behind them even tho i feel a tad bit stupid given how easy it was to understand this concept listening to you. thanks again :):)

Will watch this again, most interesting tutorial I have seen on modes.

Thank you Eric for this! Another interesting way how to see chord progressions 👏🏼

What a killer lesson. God you blew this wide open for me. Thank you.

Strong work Eric! I’m a bass player. This lesson helped a lot. I think my lines will be more accurate in the future!

Saved, liked, shared, subscribed, lesson booked. Spectacular!

Thank You Uncle Eric :) you have the best and coolest lessons! not only do we learn new theory but everytime also new songs we didnt know!

great vid eric!!!!

Love your videos, man! God bless you!

Finally confirmed what I thought! Thanks Eric you are the Overlord of Clarity!! This opens up so much more for my songwriting!!

A great lesson today, learn something new every day. Thanks a lot!

Came for the modal progressions, stayed for the Mustang/Hiwatt ❤

That was eye opening, thanks!

I learned a lot in this lesson!! I always would always call it a “b7” but really we were going modal. Just depends on how you look at it. Thank you!!

Hey Eric! I love your channel, it has really helped me reignite my love for music and writing. As someone who struggles very much with anxiety over songwriting, your relaxed presentation and approach really help me remember that art isn't a competition, and we should enjoy the process. About the video, when you talked about the locrian mode and starting a song in a half diminished chord and how you "couldn't hear a melody", I immediately remembered a great song that starts with a half diminished chord: Tricks by Stella Donnelly. Truth be told, it really isn't locrian, because she only uses the diminished as a jumping point to the maj7 chord half-step below, but it's still a good example of using this chord. It also has a cool use of maj7 chords, as the entire verse is just her jumping from one to the next. I personally love the sound of the diminished, and it features in one of my favourite songs, Andromeda by Weyes Blood. It's right as the chorus hits, and it makes the song sound so ethereal. This song is also a good example of modal stuff going on, because I believe the verse starts in Lydian and moves to a Mixolydian halfway through. Really cool! Anyway, just wanted to leave you with two songs that you might like and maybe inspire you a bit! I rambled on a bit, but we often do when we talk about what we love, don't we? Either way, cheers!

Amazing content as usual Eric! Would love more videos along these lines talking about the other modes in more detail.

This is a really clear explanation- wonderful

Throw everything else in the bin, this is the explanation of modes that I needed. Thanks again for the lesson Eric!

This was amazing. Your way of teaching just clicks for me!

Very informative and practical!

I know all the bloody scales and modes, and this is new to me! 😱😥👍

Thanks so much for making a high quality video, I saved it

amazing explanation!

This clip illustrates more than anything, the skill of teaching.

Definitely a subject that challenges me, this was very helpful Eric, thank you!

Thanks Eric

Brilliant stuff Eric! Just staying in C is the way to understand this one no doubt. I shall get on with now.

I know this is the next step for me as a guitarist this has made thr most sense so far as soon as I hear the word Modes my eyes glaze over I will rematch this a few times and try to grasp it great video thanks and once again you have an awesome calming personality and a super nice guy keep going mate love from Australia

Excellent explanation!

The Calvary Cross is one of my favorite songs, so good