Songs for the Modes and Scales

[Egoodies]

Howdy folks,

Looky, I'm finding it really helpful when I run across an easily recognizable tune that I can use as an example of a piece of theory. The beginning of Purple Haze as an example of an octave sound, for example. I want to expand this to scales and modes. I’d love to have a list of purely Dorian tunes, for example. I know the main riff of Godzilla is Dorian. Anybody have any outstanding examples?

I also like to check my work. “Opposites Attract #2” by Mr. Vai. Sounds real Dorian to me ( I need to work it out). And the two chords through out "Sweating Bullets" sounds like a tritone to me.

Here's what I have so far:

Major Scale
Always with you, Always with me(Joe Satriani), Main melody - B Major


Thoughts?

[PAUL C/KX1722]

Hi Egoodies ... I personally think this is one of the best ideas I’ve seen for a thread so far. I had to register to try & help get this topic going.

Whenever I teach, I always try to give an example of a tune that is composed in whatever particular scale or mode we are concentrating on at the time. I’ll record the track (or section of a track) onto Mini Disc & get the student to put it on repeat play & really become accustomed to the whole tonal mood & the ‘character’ that the scale conveys. It’s great to associate a scale with a song you know, as it seems to instantaneously bring the actual ‘name’ of the scale to life - It’s also a great way to actually ‘remember’ all the scales you are bombarded with when you’re learning. Hearing a scale name at first is just like hearing a person’s name before you’ve actually met them & know their personality – it’s pretty meaningless, isn’t it? For example, I’ve just thought of the Lydian mode & instantly I’ve associated it with the whole mood that the main theme from Satriani’s Flying in a Blue Dream conveys to me. I've just thought of Phrygian, & Metallica’s Harvester of Sorrow main riff has popped into my head. Whenever I think of harmonic minor, I can’t help but associate it with Malmsteen.

* As for Dorian, my favourite example is The Doors’ Riders on the Storm. The Em – A/E chord vamp (& it’s variations) really highlight the whole Dorian character better than any other song I can think of right now. As the whole song is pretty much Dorian based it’s a great tune to jam along to.

* Aerosmith’s Last Child main riff is also Dorian. Although Dorian is a minor mode, in this case, for the bluesy context of the song, the tone actually suggests that it is played over an E Maj chord. Works very nicely.

* One more that comes to mind is the verse section of Black Sabbath’s A National Acrobat. The Bm - D - A - E progression suggests a 'B' Dorian tonality.

It’d be great if a few more people could post some more scale/song associations. It’d be so useful for students who are just trying to get to grips with theory &, more importantly, the ‘application’ of theory. :)

[S.Carter]

I wrote a program to track things like this. You might want to take a look at the screen shots and more information at:
http://www.frogstoryrecords.com/dev/thoth

I use it more for jazz songs. When I was doing a lot of teaching, like Paul, I'd assign tunes for the student to use to learn modes or chords. As you can see, once you have the data in there you could pull up a list of tunes that use, say, just Dorian, or Dorian and Mixolydian and Ionian, etc.

The program is not currently available, but I'm thinking of rewriting it and making it available as shareware, so I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in it.

Steve

[Koala]

Hey Steve i checked out your THoTH website and im interested in seeing it in action. For me, song association is definitely the best way to learn stuff, so please let me know if it will be available again some time.

[PAUL C/KX1722]

Egoodies, Another Satriani example for your list ...

Main riff to "War" (Extremist): E Phrygian Dominant (1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Steve, Just had a chance to look through your THoTH info & it sounds a fantastic tool. Up until recently, I’d had a break from teaching for a few months. I’d been feeling a bit ‘stale’ as a guitarist & a tutor but it’s this sort of thing that’s getting me excited about it all again. Judging by a few telephone conversations I’ve had with other musicians this morning, I’d say there would most definitely be a market for it.

I'm not a great 'jazz' guitarist, so not only would it help my students - it'd be of great benefit to me too!

Best of luck if you decide to rewrite it.

Paul :)

[Jacobe]

When I think harmonic minor I see a bearded man covered with ash and spiderwebs ...He's J.S.Bach whistling 'Fugue in D-minor' :D (or was it Toccata :confused: ) di-du-dii ....di-du-da-di -DAA- DI !


PS.There's a similar program ,as I remeber it was something like 'Jazz scale suggester system' ,search from google to see it..

[S.Carter]

Yes, I've tried the Jazz Scale Suggester System. I didn't agree with the scales it came up with, but he may be applying different rules. Also, THoTH goes a lot further, because it allows you to store information about songs and get lists appropriate to chords and scales you are studying.

From the Jazz Scale Suggester System web site, it looks like it hasn't had any further development lately. Of course, that't true for THoTH also, but that's about to change.

Steve

[PiSan314159]

When I think harmonic minor I see a bearded man covered with ash and spiderwebs ...He's J.S.Bach whistling 'Fugue in D-minor' (or was it Toccata ) di-du-dii ....di-du-da-di -DAA- DI !

HAH, funny you should say that. I found a recording of that song done on the electric VIOLIN! Since that's my main instrument I was thoroughly impressed and now I have a goal to work for.

Actually I think this thread could be a huge help to me as well so I hope it becomes popular and a large list is generated. Sorry, but I don't really know enough to add my input...:(