This Round Is Done!

Let's go for a minimalist fun round to get the creative juices flowing. The minimalism in this round will be harmonic because you'll only have three chords available to you. You'll also have to play the regular major scale in the Ionian mode over these chords to solo. The trick will be interpretation and "bending the rules" to make this combination of three chords and Ionian sound interesting.

The Challenge

Take the Ionian mode (the major scale) and any three chords from a chosen key and craft your song around this setup. Obviously don't play the scale in order like when you practice. Instead base your melody and soloing on the major scale over the chords you've chosen.

For extra points, try to do it in one of the following styles:

• Ambient spacey.
• Country.
• Classical (especially Neo Classical).

Remember that Ambient will be almost entirely tricks of effect and composition. Country will probably be just a straight forward major scale mixed with a major pentatonic. Classical or Neo Classical will be very Bach inspired.

But if you got better ideas, go for it.

The Lesson

For a bit of review, a "mode" is basically the notes of the major scale, but starting on a different note. If you take the C major scale, and then start on the D note, it'll have a minor sound. If you start on the F note it'll have a major sound again. If you're not familiar with this concept then try playing the modes and singing them at the same time. Go slowly, and see if you can hear how they do sound different.

Now, even though these modes all seem to sound different, they are still the same notes. Sure, playing them all by themselves in sequence makes them sound "minor" or "major", but these aren't played in sequence or by themselves in most music. There's also harmony, or chords too.

In our challenge you are allowed to play three chords. The three chords can be just about anything that fits in the harmonized major scale. Here's the main harmonized chords in the key of C and G:

| C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim | | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F#dim |

Over these chords you can play the regular C scale (or G scale over the G chords), and if you played the scale at different times it'd sound different. Give it a try by recording, for example, the following chord sequence at about 60bpm:

|: Dm Dm | Em Em :|: C C | G G :|

NOTE: The ':' (colon) in the above means to repeat the stuff between the colons. So in this case you'd play the Dm/Em sequence once (play it twice) then do the same for the C/G sequence.

Now just play the C major scale at an even pace to match it and listen to these chords you've recorded as you play. You'll see that even though you're playing the "Ionian" mode, it actually will seem to "shift" depending on the chord playing at the time. When the Dm|Em chords play it sounds "minor" and sad. When the C|G chords play it sounds major and happy, and in fact seems to "lift up".

Recording various chord sequences and playing different modes over them is how you learn to hear the modes.

Using Only Three Chords

This challenge involves both a mode you play, and the chords that define that mode. Even though you are playing notes from the Ionian mode, you still have to come up with something good for the harmony. With only three chords this can be difficult, but there's a little "trick" you can use to get the most out of them.

Make your song a simple ABAB type song, like Verse Chorus Verse Chorus, now in the Verse (A) section play the typical I|IV|V chords (C F G), and then in the Chorus either play them out of sequence, or play fewer of them. For example, you could do I|IV|V|IV (C|F|G|F) for the Verse, and then in the chorus ramp it up with |I|V|I|V| (C|G|C|G). If you also change the intensity during the chorus then it'll signal to the listener that this part is important.

Another helpful thing about modern harmony is that some styles let you break the rules and play mostly major chords where you'd normally play a minor chord. Try putting in a chord that's normally minor but switch it to major instead.