More of this Feature • Part 2: Great Dorian Licks • Part 3: Dorian Explained

Join the Discussion "Don't think of the dorian scale in linear terms. Think of the notes as a palette of different colors that you can use at any time" JDOGG

Related Resources • The Major Scale • Learning to Solo • Harmonic Minor Explored

From Other Guides • Chord Progressions 101 • Blues Guitar Tips

Elsewhere on the Web • Introduction to Modes

Realistically, becoming a great rock guitar soloist doesn't require a whole lot of musical knowledge. Many very good guitarists stick almost exclusively to pentatonic scales, blues scales, and assorted licks to create their solos. For the slightly more adventurous guitarist, however, there will be times a pentatonic or blues scale just doesn't provide the right sound for the situation. This is where modes of the major scale, like the dorian mode, come into play.
If you haven't tackled the modes of the major scale on guitar before, you're in for a whole whack of information to deal with. So, let's put that off for a moment, and just learn the dorian mode shape and basic usage before diving into any scale analysis.
The dorian mode, when played as the two octave pattern illustrated here, sounds like a minor scale. Try playing it yourself - starting with your first finger on the sixth string (if you start on the note "A" on the sixth string, you're playing an A dorian mode). Maintain hand position throughout, stretching your fourth (pinky) finger to play notes on the fifth and fourth string. If you're having trouble, try listening to the A dorian mode in mp3. After you've gotten the hang of playing the dorian mode across the neck, try playing it up and down a single string. Find the root of the scale on the string you're playing, then move up a tone to the second note, up a semi-tone to the third, up a tone to the fourth, up a tone to the fifth, up a tone to the sixth, up a semi-tone to the seventh, and up a tone back to the root note again. Try picking one specific dorian mode (eg. C dorian), and playing it on all six strings, one string at a time.

The sound of the dorian mode differs slightly from that of a more "regular" minor scale. In a natural minor scale (or what might be referred to as a "regular minor scale"), the sixth note of the scale is flattened. In the dorian mode, this sixth note is NOT flattened. What results is a scale that can sound a little more "bright", or even slightly "jarring".
In popular music, the dorian mode works exceptionally well in minor chord "vamps" (situations where the music lingers on one minor chord for a long amount of time). If a song stuck on an Aminor chord for a long time, a guitarist might try playing an A dorian mode over that part of the song.

Next page > Great Dorian Licks > Page 1, 2, 3