Aeolian and Dorian examples 78 -
We are going to examine some basic minor key examples and be very structured about writing
out the progression and the key points of application. Over time your ear will develop to the
point where you wont have to write out the structure, as we will do below. Your ear will
eventually guide you to all the right notes and you will be doing it on the fly. But that takes time
and practice to develop and get proficient. As I always state, one of the most important things
to do as a guitarist is to DEVELOP YOUR EAR.
When soloing in minor key, minor pentatonic and blues should be your default setting. In a
minor key progression (where the I chord is minor), you can pretty much always utilize Minor
Pentatonic and Blues (unless there is a major V chord).
If there is not a change to a II or IV chord then Aeolian mode is implied and you can utilize the
Aeolian mode over all the chords as well as the default setting of using Minor Pentatonic &
Blues. So always think Aeolian unless you see a major IV or V chord or minor II chord.
If you are soloing over all the chords in a minor key and there is a major IV or minor II chord
somewhere in that progression, whether that chord comes up 2
nd
, 4
th
, or 10
th
, you don’t want to
play Aeolian mode over that chord because you will hit a very out of key note, the b6. So with a
major IV chord or minor II chord in the progression you want to use Dorian mode over all the
chords, when playing what relates to all.
The reverse also applies. If you are soloing over all the chords and a IV minor chord comes up
in the progression, and you are mistakenly are using the Dorian mode over all chords, then
you will hit an out of key note over that IV minor chord, the major 6th.
KEY POINT: When playing over all the chords in a minor key progression, you can use
the AEOLIAN mode over ALL the chords, UNLESS the IV chord is major or the II chord
is minor - then use the DORIAN mode. (Exception - If there is a V major chord then use
Harmonic Minor over just that V chord)There is only one note difference in the Dorian and Aeolian modes, that sixth. Aeolian has the
b6 while Dorian has the major 6th. If you hit the wrong one over that chord it will sound very out
of key. So its super important you play the right mode over all the chords. Minor pentatonic
works regardless as there is no 6
th
in that scale. Check out the examples below to illustrate this
super important rule. Remember we are talking about when playing over all the chords in a
minor key progression, or playing what relates to all.
Dorian mode 1 (root) 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
Aeolian Mode 1 (root) 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7