Modal

=Modes and Scales=

Modes
From here and here :

1. Ionian	1 2  3  4  5  6  7  8 2. Dorian 	1 2 b3  4  5  6 b7  8 3. Phrygian 	1 b2 b3 4  5 b6 b7  8 4. Lydian	1 2  3 #4  5  6  7  8 5. Mixolydian	1 2  3  4  5  6 b7  8 6. Aeolian	1 2 b3  4  5 b6 b7  8 7. Locrian	1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7  8
 * 1)  Ionian  - Very clean sounding, almost to the point of sounding sterile. Your Grandma would love this one.
 * 2)  Dorian  - Can sound smooth and soulful or hip and bluesy, depending on how you use it. Most commonly heard in Celtic music and early American folk songs derived from Irish melodies.
 * 3)  Phrygian  - Has a very Middle-Eastern or Spanish sound. Modern composers and guitarists commonly use Phrygian mode because it works well with the Ionian. Guitarists use modal music to create interesting solo lines which can be played against melodies in other modes. Composers often find the Phrygian mode to be as useful as the traditional minor (Aeolian) scale, but without the inherent sadness.
 * 4)  Lydian  - Very clean, like Ionian, but the #4 gives it a more spacey, unresolved quality. Lydian mode is the complete opposite of the Ionian, so it feels as solid as a major scale but the intervals are surprising and unexpected. This is a popular mode among jazz musicians who enjoy using a mixture of major and minor chord progression in inventive ways.
 * 5)  Mixolydian  - "Funky" or "folky", depending on how it's used. This mode has been used for everything from old sea chanteys, to a lot of '70s rock tunes. Mixolydian is similar to Lydian in the sense of a major scale feel with minor intervals. Mixolydian mode is another popular scale for solo musicians looking for a counterpoint to the Ionian key of the song.
 * 6)  Aeolian  - Dark and sad like those old cowboy songs, or tough and mean as used in a lot of heavy-rock songs. Aeolian mode is still in vogue today, although we tend to refer to it as the minor key. The intervals of Aeolian mode create the same feel as many modern blues songs. Songs composed in Aeolian mode have a strong sense of sadness. The final note of an Aeolian scale feels resolved in a completely different sense than the Ionian. If the Dorian mode reflects melancholy, the Aeolian reflects despair.
 * 7)  Locrian  - The real ear-twister of the bunch. Can sound Spanish like Phrygian, but much darker and more unresolved. here are few songs written in the Locrian mode, which has lead some music experts to label it a 'theoretical' mode. It exists because all seven notes of the Ionian scale could form modes in a mathematical sense, but the relationship between intervals in the Locrian mode is simply not that interesting musically.

Arranged in the following order, each successive mode has only one interval that is different than the mode before it : 4. Lydian	1 2  3 #4  5  6  7  8 1. Ionian	1 2  3  4  5  6  7  8 5. Mixolydian	1 2  3  4  5  6 b7  8 2. Dorian	1 2 b3  4  5  6 b7  8 6. Aeolian	1 2 b3  4  5 b6 b7  8 3. Phrygian  	1 b2 b3  4  5 b6 b7  8 7. Locrian	1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7  8

Pentatonic Scales
from here :
 * The MAJOR pentatonic is built from these intervals : R - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6
 * In the key of C, that would be : C - D - E - G - A

This scale works well for chord progressions based on minor chords. Try it over IV-II-III-IV or II-III-IV-II.


 * The MINOR pentatonic is built from these intervals : R - b3 - 4 - 5 - b7
 * In the key of C, that would be : C - Eb - F - G - Bb

You can also use minor pentatonic over certain major chord progressions if you want a "bluesy" sound. Try it over I-IV-V-I or V-IV-I-V. Be careful with the b3 when you try it this way. The b3 can sound horribly out of place over a major chord. One way to avoid this is to play the b3, bend, slide or hammer into the 3 and then land on the root. That is a classic blues lick.