If your just starting out you don't need to spend that much cash. A cheap replica Strat/ no brand bass and practice amp is all you need.

 

When I was in my late teens early twenties I had pretty much zero cash, same for all my other mates in bands. I played gigs with beat up old guitars and they worked fine, I can even remember having to glue together parts on my old boss fx pedals The only thing I would never go cheap on is amps.

Any suggestions of a cheap(er) way to start?

A cheap replica Strat/ no brand bass and practice amp is all you need.

I can even remember having to glue together parts

If you really have dedication and passion, you could try building your own bass similar to how Queen guitarist Brian May built his Red Special, which I believe is still in use today. . . .

Ok thanks a lot guys

I believe my piano teacher mentioned Lydian mode regarding the Chopin nocturne I am currently playing, but I had not heard of Mixolydian mode before—this is getting nerdy quite quickly!

 

Modes are pretty simple in terms of how they're constructed but it takes a lot of practice and knowledge of harmony/chords to know how to use them effectively.

 

The basic concept is this - if you take any major scale and then play within those notes, but starting and ending on the other notes of the scale besides the first degree, you end up with different "modes" of the major scale. (in fact the major scale is itself a mode called "Ionian")

 

So take the notes of C major - C D E F G A B C

 

Play C to C = C Ionian (aka major)

Play D to D = D Dorian

Play E to E = E Phyrgian

Play F to F = F Lydian

Play G to G = G Mixolydian

Play A to A = A Aeolian (aka natural minor)

Play B to B = B Locrian

 

Those are the 7 modes of the major scale (the names come from the Greeks, who first developed these concepts) - in general Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian have different "flavors" of a major sound because they all feature a major third interval. Dorian, Phyrgian, Aeolian and Locrian are different "flavors" of minor because of the minor third interval. Locrian is the weird one that you rarely see though because its tonic chord is a diminished triad, which doesn't sound very good as the resolved-to chord in a progression.

 

Some examples of popular songs that are in the other modes besides standard major and minor:

 

Dorian - this is the "classic rock minor" - Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and Santana's "Oye Como Va" are good examples of it.

Phyrgian - this is the "metal minor", a good example is Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" - it has an exotic almost Middle Eastern sound.

Lydian - I've always associated this mode with the guitarist Steve Vai, he uses it in tons of songs. The theme song to "The Simpsons" is in it too. It sounds like major with a weird tension to it.

Mixolydian - this is "classic rock major" - Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is a good example, as is the majority of Guns N' Roses's "Sweet Child O' Mine."

Locrian - not commonly used but you'll see it implied occasionally in more extreme metal subgenres and in some classical pieces.

 

In reality the modes are just other "keys" in a sense - western music just happened to define Ionian and Aeolian as the modes we name keys with, but it's perfectly correct to say that a song is in "the key of G Mixolydian" or something like that - I often do it in transcriptions when it's obvious that the artist wrote it with that in mind.

I only started learning how to play the electric guitar not too long ago. So far, this is the only song that I can play, at least without screwing up horribly.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aOxF34DHtA

So maybe this time around on the T7, the 747 and the DC6 we can have a bass guitar along with our segways!

 

I only started learning how to play the electric guitar not too long ago. So far, this is the only song that I can play, at least without screwing up horribly.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aOxF34DHtA

I like it, thanks for sharing

Here's a couple vids of my playing with the band I used to be in (I'm on the camera's right/stage left doing the lead guitar/solo stuff):

 

This is a cover of Trans-Siberian Orchestra we used to do around Christmas every year - video isn't that great but the audio is really good - I do my best John Petrucci shred impersonation at the end haha:

 

The last half of the solo at the end of this song I would improvise each show, always liked what I came up with on this particular clip (at 3:45):

Great Video !

 

 

Ding, ding! Winner!

 

The solo in the transcription starts at 6:19:

 

Here's me on stage at a show from their last tour playing through JP's rig (JP took the pic!):

wow dude! I'd kill to play with John Petrucci. I've been a fan of his since Images and words. Bump into Mike Portnoy while you where there?

wow dude! I'd kill to play with John Petrucci. I've been a fan of his since Images and words. Bump into Mike Portnoy while you where there?

 

Mike Portnoy quit the band in 2010 actually - I've met him many times though, yes. Mike Mangini is their drummer now and he plays on the song I linked.

This is a very interesting topic, though I don't have any (really none, nada, zero) clue about musics, instruments and notes and that stuff.

Still it is very interesting to see what music is about and what all of you here can do and know.

Personally I am more interested in electric stuff as it is easier for me to understand, but I am envy about your knowledge guys (I hope the second part of this sentence does not sound to wrong or angry, it is defintatelly ment in a good way).

 

Best regards,

 

Jonathan

This is a great thread. Guitar is my other main hobby. I mainly play from TABS but really working hard to improve my ear and be able to transcribe on my own.

I have been lucky enough to have seen Ryan play in person, he is a great musician! And a great geek! :lol:

The basic concept is this - if you take any major scale and then play within those notes, but starting and ending on the other notes of the scale besides the first degree, you end up with different "modes" of the major scale. (in fact the major scale is itself a mode called "Ionian")

I forgot to thank you for this detailed explanation! I enjoyed listening to and watching the videos of both Kevin and you.

 

However, how would I analyze a particular excerpt of a work that is originally in a minor key? Would I use the relative major, or are the modes completely irrelevant?

 

For example, the attached is an excerpt from the Chopin nocturne I performed last weekend. It is originally in the key of C♯ minor, but features a unique cadenza-ish scale. I am not sure how the modes relate to it. Because the scale is composed of E major notes, but starts on A (four from E), would it be in Lydian?

Edited January 31, 201313 yr by zowen11

Owen,

 

(am I really analyzing Chopin on a flight simming forum hahaha?)

 

The chord in the left hand is basically just C#m with a bit of color added in the 2nd half of the measure. The fast run played above it is all diatonic to the key (no accidentals), so it really doesn't matter what notes you start on, it's still going to sound like a C# natural minor (Aeolian) scale overall. Playing from A to A in this key would be an A Lydian scale, but the chord would have to be different underneath it for it to actually be that functionally. It's really the underlying chords that determine if you're playing modally, not the "lead" part that's going on in the right hand.

 

You can hear this really easily with this sort of exercise:

 

Hold an E major triad in your left hand and then play E to E within the E major key - it's going to sound Ionian (major). Now hold an F#m chord in the left hand and play that same E to E sequence within the E major key in the right hand - it's now going to sound Dorian (which is minor-ish) even though you played the exact same right hand notes. Keep going with this concept - G#m chord = Phyrigian, A major chord = Lydian, B major chord = Mixolydian, C#m chord = Aeolian (natural minor), D# diminished chord = Locrian. Pretty neat right?

 

Modes (at least within the rock guitar improvisation field that I learned them in) are a way of emphasizing and outlining certain chord tones going on beneath the solo you're playing when you want to create a particular feel or mood. There are entire volumes of books on this sort of concept and it's something that gets developed over a lot of time and a lot of listening to players who do it really well. The guitarists I like who are good at this kind of modal playing in rock music (I know this isn't Chopin haha) are pretty well known names if you know guitarists - Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Guthrie Govan (this guy is freaking amazing at it) etc.