The Modes, One at a Time: The Complete Series

The Modes, One at a Time: The Complete Series

Seven books, one for each mode of the major scale. Every one is in A, so you hear exactly what changes from one mode to the next.

Most modes lessons teach D Dorian as the C major scale starting on D, E Phrygian as C major starting on E, and so on. That's true, and it's why so many players learn all seven and can't hear the difference between any of them. This series does it the other way round. Every mode is one note away from a scale you already know. Each book is about that one note, the chord that brings it in, and where it fits and where it clashes.

The books don't repeat each other. Each one covers what its mode is actually used for:

- Ionian: Cadences, Major Keys and the Natural 4th. The two notes that pull, the major-key families, and why E7 to A is the strongest way home.

- Dorian: Vamps, Voicings and the Natural 6th. Minor vamps, the voicings that bring out the 6th, and the minor blues.

- Phrygian: Pedal Tones, Half-Step Cadences and the Flat 2nd. Pedal riffs, the half-step cadence, metal and the Spanish sound.

- Lydian: Major Sevenths, Floating Chords and the Sharp 4th. The major chord a whole step above home, triads over an open string, film and instrumental rock.

- Mixolydian: Progressions, Dominant Chords and the Flat 7th. The rock cadence, dominant chords that stay interesting, and the 3rd mix in the blues.

- Aeolian: Minor Keys, Borrowed Chords and the Flat 6th. The minor-key families, the flat 6th as a colour, and the one note most minor songs borrow.

- Locrian: Half-Diminished Chords, Tritone Riffs and the Flat 5th. The m7b5 chord, the minor ii-V, and the pentatonic you already know that fits it.

Every book has:

- A one-note test for when the mode fits and when it clashes

- Four one-octave patterns that run root to root, not boxes

- Ten rules for soloing without licks, different in every book

- Twelve vamps to play over, plus a template for writing your own

- The mode in all twelve keys

No licks to copy, no full-neck charts, no theory for its own sake. Diagrams throughout.

Seven PDFs, 326 pages in total. Instant download.

$69.93 if you buy them separately.