“Do it again on the next verse, and people think you meant it.”
― Chet Atkins

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”
― Leonard Bernstein

“Actually I don’t remember being born, it must have happened during one of my black outs.”
― Jim Morrison

LISTEN!

What good is music if we don’t actually listen to it?

I’m speaking from experience here: many times I just want to jump in and play/learn a song or lick. I mean, I know it, right?

“Heard it and I’m good, now let’s get to it…”

And then, when it comes down to playing, even if the notes/chords are correct, it doesn’t always sound quite right.

I think some of it comes down to us not actually listening to what the song or lick is about. We miss the vibe.

Music isn’t only about all about the notes, licks, and chords. Those are still important.

However, a big part of music is how it feels to you or someone who is listening to you.

So, here is a fun listening test that I want you to take. And it involves playing modes.

I recently did a series of videos on my You Tube channel playing various modes on the guitar.

Those videos, and this letter, are not about how to play them or to even tell you what they are (that can be a future lesson).

In fact, before I would show any of my students how to play them, I would want them to listen to examples of the modes first.

Now, I know many of you may not even know what the heck a mode is.

Perfect! You have no bias, so you can listen freely. In fact, you might even in the best position of all of us to evaluate this little test.

Here is the experiment, and it is for a very simple result:

What does it sound like? 

Does it sound sad, happy, spacey, anxious, intense, weird, bouncy, something else?

I’m going to give you 5 of the basic modes to listen to (there are many more).

And, rather than evaluating the playing skill of the player in the video, listen to what the music sounds like.

Then comment in the video what your interpretation of it is.

That’s it.

And, this is very important: there are no wrong answers. The correct answer is yours!

Also, I think it would be great for everyone to read what others think and see if it is the same and/or different from what you think.

That’s cool.

That’s art.

Here ya go, click the link, listen, and comment (the videos are short).

Dorian

Phrygian

Lydian

Mixolydian

Locrian

Rock on until the next time!

Rock On,

Tony G.

PS: Oh and hey, can you do me a favor? I’m starting a mission to grow my You Tube Subscribers to more than 152 (Ha!). No, seriously, if you can quickly hop over there and “Subscribe”, it would be so very awesome! When you subscribe, you get real time updates when videos are posted. You might find something useful and/or fun!

I promise that the videos (most of them at least) will be entertaining and/or informative!

Here is the path to arrive there:

6 String Corner