Try out the Mode Decoder with this this FREE version!. It contains 2 complete, fully functioning modes - Ionian and Dorian. With this you can play along to any song in any major scale (aka Ionian mode) or any song in any Dorian mode. Also compose songs in any major scale or any Dorian mode. Play all the right chords and notes to get the characteristic sound of these two great guitar modes.
A ground-breaking yet simple music reference tool for any guitarist of any level - and great fun to use. Easily compose your own music and solo in Ionian and Dorian without the need to learn separate scales and chords. Think of it as a chord book and scale library compressed into one handy little app but with no music theory or scales to learn - apart from the hopefully familiar minor pentatonic scale (position 1 only). You can get up and running almost immediately, and in no time will find that you can play and compose in Ionian and Dorian with ease.
Upgrading to the full version of the Mode Decoder will also show you how to play in all of the 7 guitar modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aolian and even Locrian! Armed with this, you can turn on the radio and pick up your guitar and be strumming and soloing along to whichever song is playing. Use it to jam with friends or solo to any YouTube backing track.
How it works - chords:
Place your root note into the appropriate mode window and simply read off the chords which all sound great together. The chords which sound best for each mode are automatically highlighted for whichever mode you are playing in, but any of the displayed 37 chords can be played and will be in harmony. Click on the chord name to see a simple pop-up diagram of how to play it, and which fret to place it, then click the ‘play’ button to hear a sound clip of the chord being played.
How it works - soloing:
Back on the main screen, once you have set your note in the appropriate mode window, click the soloing engine button and the Mode Decoder will reveal 3 locations within the first 12 frets on your guitar where the minor pentatonic scale can be played. The Mode Decoder will also show up to another 3 locations past the 12th fret so you can therefore potentially play in up to six locations on the guitar neck, in all 12 Ionian scales and all 12 Dorian scales, and always be able to find the best notes. The minor pentatonic scale is shown as a default, but by clicking buttons the Mode Decoder will display the location of the ‘best notes’ - the root note, the character, (aka ‘target’ notes), which, when played make the mode sound its most characteristic, and the other notes which make up the full 7 note scale. As this is a visual system, you won’t need to learn the notes on the fretboard, individual modal scales or any extra music theory.