A lot of people see the “boxes” of the pentatonic scale as modes…
But they really aren’t used that way and would not be considered modes.
So here’s a quick discussion of what modes are and how they work, and how they have the requirement of being diatonic, and not pentatonic.
Want to know more about modes? Check out Modes Unleashed
16 replies to "Do Pentatonic Scales Have Modes?"
Griff, great discussion of a complicated subject. However, I thought that you might be interested to know that Microsoft’s Copilot AI stated “The short answer is yes, the pentatonic scale does have modes, though they’re a bit different from the traditional modes of the diatonic scale. …”
Hey Ricardo, checkout Wikipedia’s discussion of Arabic maqam which is stated to be a system of melodic modes where “There are 72 heptatonic tone rows or scales of maqamat. These are constructed from augmented, major, neutral, and minor seconds. …” I am certainly glad that in Western music we don’t have to deal with that musical framework and possible use of unequal temperament with perfect octaves.
thanks Griff
first time I understood the simple concept of modes
I like using the words position and box. Take C maj in position 1 ( at the nut). That box looks like 4. The next position is 2 and looks to be box 5. The next positions 3,4,5 use boxes 1, then 2 then 3. And now it starts over with box 4 followed by box 5. What was confusing were how the words ‘form’ and ‘shape’ elsewhere have been represented like
“This is Form 1 ( or Shape 1 ) with that root note on the 6th string 6th fret”. I’m on a roll adding blues notes ( I hope they’re flats? ) G maj is next.
Given the various modes of the diatonic scale, are there any notes that is better not to use in each mode to enable one to use the mode without any note sequence or combination sounding wrong? Would be interesting if one could extract say five note combinations from each mode that just sound good together!
Must say Griff!
I’ve seen a lot of videos on “Modes”. Those videos left me completely adrift. I’ve basically tried to understand modes with no teachers to verify my thoughts until today.
What a relief to finally find I was on the right track. The other modes you demonstrated left me a bit confused BUT…thank you for being the ONLY instructor to make basic “Modes” information understandable!
Diatonic scales are a subset of hepatatonic 7 note scales that have 2 diatonic half-steps and 5 whole steps such that the half-steps are either 2 or 3 whole steps apart.
Oops! That’s heptatonic.
Thank You
Hey Griff So if I’m playing using the pentatonic boxes say box 5,but I want to switch to a mode, do I go to mixolydian? I guess what I’m trying to articulate is there a corresponding mode for each box? Thanks David
No, there isn’t a mode that goes with each box, they simply don’t line up that way… short answer 🙂
THANKS GRIFF FOR SHARING WITH US ABOUT THE MODES GOOD TEACHING
GOOD EXPLANATION OF MODES VERY SIMPLE AND CLEAR REGARDS FROM BELGIUM MECHELEN.
Excellent explanation!
I’m one of those people who like to hear the thump on my porch. Like the CD’s dvd’s and printed manuals.
I don’t want to have to print my own manuals.. if this is a new course I hope you go back to this option. Like to load the DVDs in player, watch the big screen TV and follow along in the manual while I do the lessons. This works well for the modes unleashed course….
Was unhappy with the downloads only courses. I own hundreds of dollars of your stuff.
I love Santana’s modal playing.
Many of my courses are still shippable and likely will be for a long time to come. The demand for DVDs and printed manuals has really dropped off and since I can’t reliably ship them out of the US it’s dropped even further. Some of the things I’ve done recently were not on DVD, but as I clear some space on the shelves I will stock them.
Tx Griff. Modes Unleashed is a great introduction to this. Just going thru it for the third time (over a three year time period). I never was too much into theory – but – modes and how some of them can expand the blues vocabulary is a good cure (a tonic even) to push yourself into new areas. Well worth a study. Regards from Manchester UK
You are so right!