Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

How well should I know each mode before moving on to the next? What benchmarks should I be looking for?

I am currently trying to complete the Music Theory section as well as Fundamentals II at the same time (studying one lesson from each section together before moving on). I'm currently on the Dorian lesson and find that, while I understand the concept of Dorian, soloing using those notes seamlessly without scale shapes/patterns requires a very thorough understanding of the names of the notes on the fretboard. Is this a fair assumption?

Am I correct in assuming that I will need to thoroughly understand the names of every note on the fretboard before fully being able to grasp these mode lessons? At this point, I'm able to identify all of the notes on the fretboard in about 3 seconds but have some trouble identifying them on the fly while improvising, especially when transitioning between strings. Playing a scale up and down a single string is so much easier for me than trying to figure out scale notes between different strings. I'm just so used to learning visual scale patterns!

Appreciate any tips or insight! I have already learned so much from Tomo and this community in a short few weeks of subscribing.

Very interesting question, looking forward from the response for Tomo or the mods!

Hi Tomo,

Recently I started to follow your "phylosophy" on learning notes and guitar.
I'm already playing for years but never really learned the "notes" for real, until now.
Now I discover similarities between different scales and different modes. Dorian vs mixolydian almost the same...but never saw that through the patterns and tabs.
Great!. Thanks for these eye-openers ..
Wil

I am going over theory and foundations, but loving this lesson, I listen to the lesson first take notes, listen again, I have taken Mr. Fujita advise just taking things slowly Since first weeks on Guitar Wisdom there has been many light bulb moments, this is proper instruction that is taught extremely well.
Fender Play is a great introduction to guitar , but it's also a great marketing tool for Fender Products, I mean Fender would love you to buy their products.
As for songs after all the theory lessons on Guitar Wisdom I check out songs Marty Music is one I use to just break away and have a bit of fun,

Hi Samuel,

It all comes down to what you want the tonal centre to be. All the notes through these modes below are the same.
Here’s a list of all 7 modes of the C major scale in order:

C Ionian mode: the major scale that is the basis for most Western music
D Dorian mode: minor scale with a characteristic natural 6th (sounds like Carlos Santana)
E Phrygian mode: minor scale with a characteristic b2 (sounds Spanish)
F Lydian mode: major scale with a characteristic #4 (sounds hip)
G Mixolydian mode: dominant scale (sounds bluesy)
A Aeolian mode: the natural minor scale
B Locrian mode: half-diminished scale, to be used over m7b5 chords

One of my instructors explained one way of thinking about modes is as Max does above. Just think of one scale like C major and which ever note you emphasize or start with as a root is the mode. so C Ionian is C major, D Dorian is C major scale emphasis on D, E Phrygian is C major scale emphasis on E, F Lydian is you guessed it C major scale. Another way of conceptualizing modes is to start with the major scale of the Root note and convert that scale using a formula for each mode. So D Dorian would take the D Major Scale and convert using the formula for Dorian which is flatten the 3rd and 7th. F# and C# become F and C - what do you end up with -- the notes of the C major scale starting with D. C Dorian would be b3rd and b7th of C major scale (Eb and Bb) also same as Bb major scale starting with C - yes, can be mind boggling. Not so bad if you limit your self to just a couple modes like Dorian and Mixolydian.

Or better yet Aeolian mode - which is the natural minor scale.