The Dorian mode is a scale that starts on the second step of a major scale. It has a flat 3rd and a flat 7th note and is considered a minor scale because of the flat 3rd.
Think of the Dorian mode as just another scale for a second. Disregard all the jargon about modes and when to use them for moment. Lets approach this scale by first thinking about what a minor scale (or Aeolian mode) looks like on the fretboard:
And there you go – you’ve now identified the core components of the Dorian scale looks like on the fretboard. Like all scales on the 4-string standard bass guitar, if you play this pattern in any location on the fretboard, you will be playing a Dorian scale (or mode).
Bass Guitar Fretboard D Dorian Scale On Vimeo
The Dorian scale for the key of C would look like this: D E Fb G A B Cb D. Using what we know from before:
Unfortunately, not all of the scales and corresponding keys have no sharps and/or flats. Most of the time you’re going to encounter other sharps and flats on the 3rd and 7th notes and you’re going to need to know what to do. Luckily – the pattern for the Dorian scale stays the same!
Our Dorian scale would begin on the F. We would keep all the flats that come with the key of Eb major:
F Dorian Bass Guitar Scale
For more information on the modes, what they look like and how to play them – check out this cool article here:
*Update: A quick change! Fb was changed to F and Cb was changed to C – the correct notes of the D Dorian scale.
Mike Emiliani is the founder of Smart Bass Guitar. When he's not writing, he can be found playing bass, producing music, studying business and watching basketball.Well, here you have a lesson to play the Dorian scale for bass. This is a fundamental scale for any musician, as it is widely used over minor chords. Many times it is interchanged with the natural minor scale. First of all, let’s listen to the Dorian mode on electric bass. The truth is that the Dorian scale is used very often. There are a lot of songs that are composed using this scale. When a song is composed with a certain scale or mode, we say that the music is modal.
Key Of C Major 9th/10th Fret Position On Bass Guitar
Because we are actually making music around a certain mode. In this case, with the Dorian mode we can find different songs that you have heard all your life that have that Dorian modal feel.
This major sixth is precisely the characteristic note of the Dorian mode and will differentiate this minor scale from its two minor sister scales of the major key.
The Phrygian mode and the Aeolian mode, these two scales have a minor sixth that is at a distance of a semitone from the fifth, while in the Dorian mode, we have a major sixth at a distance of a tone.
Amazon.com: Bass Scales And Modes Chart Poster Of Pentatonic Scales
As you can see this is the fingering that starts with the index finger of your left hand if you are right-handed.
Notice how the notes of the arpeggio or minor chord that generates the Dorian mode are colored. This will facilitate your learning and you will see clearly that the minor arpeggio 7 is included in this scale.
This fingering is the first one you should master, pay special attention to the transition or backward displacement that you should make when you place the little finger on the fifth of the scale. You will have to move the hand one semitone down to get the sixth of the scale.
Improvisation With The Dorian Scale: Solo Using Modes
This pattern starting with finger 4 or little finger is quite comfortable, because you don’t have to shift your hand at all. I want full vertical predominance and it is a bass pattern that you will use frequently as soon as you learn it.
Notice how, depending on how your hand is positioned with finger 4, you can use the major scale or Ionian mode on finger 3.
Within the Dorian mode we have a minor triad chord included in it, this we have pointed out perfectly in the bass positions already explained, with the numbers in another color.
Why Do I Need To Know Modes On Bass Guitar?
In the Dorian mode a minor four-note chord with a minor seventh is formed. It is marked in the bass positions. Knowing which chord is formed within a scale is fundamental to use that scale correctly. Next we will see how it is formed:
As a curiosity we will say that the Dorian scale has no sensitive, this means that its last note is not at a distance of semitone from the tonic.
However, if we apply a pitch distance between the sixth of the scale and the seventh we obtain a Dorian scale with a sensible. This is what we call melodic minor scale, and we can say that it is its big sister. But we will study this scale in another section.
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Now as a bass player, your work, or your homework, is coming up. Although at the end of this lesson you will have a guide to all the doric scales that exist. You will learn how to form any Dorian scale with the Dorian scale distance pattern that we have explained.
Whenever we have a minor chord we will be able to use it, although it must be taken into account that the grade from where it starts is the second of the tonality.
We will have to be careful with the characteristic note when resting on it because it forms tritone with the third of the chord, even so, in a modal context this should not worry us at all because it is its note of color.
Mixolydian Scale Bass ▷ Play It Well With This Lesson【free】
That’s it, suddenly you are playing in a song and you discover that it is on the second degree of the key, this must be the minor chord which corresponds to the Dorian mode. to have freedom of movement and how can you improvise, well, the first thing is to know the positions well and the second thing is to play the scale emphasizing the characteristic note of this one, the major sixth.
But you will say to me, of course that is very difficult! Well, I don’t deny it, but you must begin to differentiate the scales by the singular notes they contain.
As you may have noticed, both scales start from the note D, but they contain a difference, the difference is the sixth note of the scale. That’s what you have to pay attention to.
All Bass Guitar Scales
When you want to sound Dorian you should emphasize the major sixth of the Dorian scale. But before we get down to business I would like you to listen to melodies that have been composed with the Dorian scale, also called modal themes. This will give you a melodic insight into these sides and will be a great help when improvising.
Attention bass player, most people don’t understand modes, and by this I mean, when we talk about a particular song being in a mode, it’s because a set of rules must be met.
Even though they start on the second degree of the key does not mean they are modal themes in Dorian the major sixth is never in the melody.
The Major Scale
There is a lot of misinformation on the internet, if you have doubts ask me. On this I assure you that I can help you, it is my profession.
At this point, I understand that it can be difficult to digest the modes, in fact, many people are left with the idea that they are simply scales that start from the major scale.
If we want to make modal music or modal melodies we will have to pay attention to these rules, otherwise we will be falling into the ignorance of the modes.
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Therefore, I want you to begin to differentiate the Dorian scale by its particularity from the characteristic note which is the major sixth.
It is a Dorian modal harmonic progression. That means, if you play the Dorian scale on top of these modal chords you will be able to feel the melodic sense of the Dorian mode.
You can rest on the sixth of the scale without any problem. You can make melodies that go through the sixth of the scale to get that modal flavor that I’m talking about.
Anthony George :: Dorian Mode Practice Tracks
After you have done it I want you to leave me a comment if you have never played the Dorian mode before.
Next I’m going to give you some guidelines with this bass exercise so you can use the Dorian mode with this backing track. I do this for bass players who are not familiar with modal music, follow these steps and you will get a taste of the Dorian mode:
Play the arpeggio again and slide your finger down a semitone from the minor seventh to the major sixth, which is the characteristic note of the Dorian mode.
The Bass Guitarist's Guide To Scales & Modes (pdf Edition)
With these guidelines, as soon as you practice this exercise, you will finally see what a mode is, and what that particular mode sounds like.
It is very difficult to make a mode sound without harmony behind it,
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