Cheers Griff
For the lesson a few penny’s dropped watching this will watch a few more times
I was going over the last video on modes when you sent this one I’m sure you know
What I’m working on but that’s a sign of a good teacher they know what you need to
Work on 😎🎶

I am one of those I just can’t do it people. I still remember one of my elementary school teachers would always tell us ” can’t never could ” and that sticks in my mind, but now at 50 years old I’m starting to tell myself maybe I’m just a rythm player. My music teacher gave me the modes 27 years ago when I was taking lessons, but never really explained why I needed them. I played through them a few times and then put them away. Now I’m thinking maybe it’s time to pull those back out and go over them again. I too am tone deaf ( that’s what the old folks called it when I was growing up ) I can sing along with the radio or someone else and people say ” oh you have a great voice ” , but let me sing by myself and it’s ” don’t quit your day job”. You are an awesome teacher. I wish I could have found someone like you 30 years ago, I believe I would be in a totally different place. Music was all I ever really cared about as a child and who knows maybe one day I may still be able to walk out on that stage. Probably with a little assistance, but it would still be a dream come true. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Griff , I really enjoyed this lesson . It gives me a better perspective of how to break down a song . Thank you , Mike Z.

Griff, This is absolutely THE best lesson to date IMHO. You have lifted the fog. I think I have learned more in this one lesson, than any other three lessons combined. You sir, are a master teacher. From all of us out here, I thank you profusely.

Griff, great stuff! I wish I would have known this stuff 50 years ago when I first started playing it would have made learning songs a lot easier!
Howdo I find the previous video to learn about the modes?

You have the capacity to pick u the fragments that are alone and bring them together congruently for me to advance my learning. Little by little the keyboard is becoming more familiar and friendly to me. Thanks for your lessons and your ability to pickup the fragments and string them together for meaning and music for me.

Very hawsome! So well explained! Thank you

Thanks again, Griff – Please keep it up.

Griff,
Loved it. Very,very informative. Thanks a lot. Looking forward to next lesson.
Matt.

Thanks for these lessons, Griff. I feel a good dose of theory along with the empirical really helps round out a musician’s education. Can’t wait for the next one. BTW…it’s prolly no coincidence that Neal Schon plays so melodically, having traded licks with Carlos Santana at the ripe old age of 16 on classic albums like Abraxis. Keep ’em comin’, Brother!

Thanks for the lessons, Griff. I have nearly all of your programs,which have helped me tremendously. I hope you will put together a program that would include the material you just presented because I would surely buy it. Being a teacher myself, I can appriciate your approach to conveying a difficult concept. You did a great job ( A+).

Hi Griff! I’ve been working my way through your “Guitar Theory Made Useful” course, and this video totally helps reinforce the concepts around chapter 13 – thanks! Unfortunately I’m stumped in one of the first songs I tried to figure out – hoping you can explain what’s going on. The song is Michaela Rae’s cover of “Green Onions.” The chords are E, D, and A – so the key is clearly A. The lead starts and focuses on E – so E Mixolydian, right? Nope. The second note in the lead isn’t even in the scale, it’s a G. Any idea what’s going on here?

BTW – your videos and courses have been super helpful. Keep up the great work!

Ahh, the light bulb has been illuminated! Excellent and thanks. ✌

Nice one Griff. I found this very easy to get along with as, this is the way I have been finding my melodies for years. I can’t read music but I CAN hum a tune and like you’ve said before, if you can hum it, you can play it. I’ve stumbled my way through melodies, riffs and licks for years, doing it all by ear. Your lessons have taught me the theory that I have been lacking and a much quicker and knowledgeable route to licks, riffs n melodies, which makes my guitar playing so much more satisfying. Another great lesson. Thanks Griff. Ray (UK).

Had set aside some practice time today for SMB…..then watched these two recent videos on modes….Wow , sure have some stuff to learn now. Think I’ll have to give up my day job to keep up with all the lessons. Thanks for the sussinct explanation of modes Griff.

P.S. Thanks, this lesson is the answer to my question from yesterday.

This is PURE GOLD!

Yesterday I watched and listened to the two Videos “The Notes In Between” and “Sleuthing Melodies…”
Today then I was able to quickly get to the “Notes in between” on a two chord vamp B to A.

B and A whole step apart. Ah Key of E.
The sound of the vamp was “centered” on B. Ok B is the five of the major scale.
Ok the mode is Mixolydian built on the fifth of the scale.

Nailed it. I suddenly sounded like a pro.

If anyone is interested search for “Allman Brothers Style Backing Track in B” on YouTube and be amazed.

Ijust got one word SUPER THXS

A very good people exercise in training your ears to listen.

These ‘modal type’ lessons are so good I am lost for words.Griff,there are not enough superlatives to do these lessons justice-Awesome;astonishing etc.Thankyou also does not do you justice but is all I got!

Best regards andy(U.K.)

This set of videos finally explained what modes are, how to use them while playing, and this “sleuthing” one in particular is amazing. Thank you.

its all Greek to me but i am gonna give it a good try

Thanks, Griff. This video will save me a lot of time in the future. But if you don’t run into many diminished chords, I guess you don’t mess with jazz much. 🙂

Fabulous Griff. I just put down an old Chubby Checker song “20 Miles”. Ready for a reunion with some old mates. Again and again thanks heaps.

Griff, great video, thanks. But maybe rules are made to be broken (or maybe not).
I’m playing “You Won’t See Me” by Lennon/McCartney. While playing it, I felt that it sounded like the Key of G, but maybe no.
The main chords are G, A, & C (yes C, not D)
G & A are a whole step apart, therefore they must be the IV & V chords. So, if A is the V chord, then C must be the VII chord.
Hey, now you have seen it; a rock song with a VII major chord Apparently, this song is in the Key of D, which would make sense, since we have G & A,
however, the D Major Chord never appears in the song at all. This sounds like a straight forward rock song, not some weirdo Jazz thing,
So what gives? I’m confused. Can you enlighten me.
Thanks in advance.
Norm

Many thanks for this Griff – a fascinating lesson and so useful. I have struggled previously to see how the modes fit into the structure of these songs and also the major, minor etc chords related to the diatonic scale. This key should unlock the door to working out and playing some of these great melodies. Really inspiring!
Every good wish, Andy (in the UK)

Hey Griff, I enjoy these Classic Rock vids , but you don’t have enough of them. What do ya say that you have a subscription, much like your Blues Guitar lessons, that come in the e-mail ??? I’d sign up for those, too, if you’d offer them.

These last two videos have been perhaps the most enlightening ones I have seen! So many of my questions about some guitar solos were answered! While i know the modes, I never clearly understood them!
Thanks for being such a great teacher and guitar player!

Thank you so much for this lesson ! I took private guitar lessons a couple of years ago “ along with many of your courses “ and my teacher started off with scales and then modes etc. He discussed
The way to figure out what key a song is written in . But you have really made it so simple to figure those things out and have sped up my learning curve ! You make it fun and not so grooling to figure out the location and mode of most of my favorite songs. It’s amazing to me some people can explain what others are trying to teach and make so simple . My friend you have that gift !!

Good stuff, thank you!

Loved it. One of the best lessons. Food for the music mind. Keep up your good work.

thanks again

Hi Griff,

Thoroughly enjoyed these last couple of videos.
Very simple explanation of what I’ve always thought was too complex to think about !

I tried your technique on ’The Loner” – Gary Moore, which is very similar to your Gary Moore song in the video and ’Still got the Blues for you’.

The other thing I found interesting is you can reverse engineer your technique and get the chords from the solo.
I often struggle to pick out the right chords for songs by just relying on my ear. This will help tremendously.

Thanks again.

Ian ( from Perth, Scotland)

I was thinking about Hey Joe. We have C, D, G and A (and also E). Which is the tonality then?
Thanks for the great content.

Hi Griff, this was a great video! I have one question about the standard harmony rule: Does it work for minor keys? That is, if a song is in A minor, are the II, III and VI chords still minor, and the IV and V still major?