Dorian Mode on Guitar
In this lesson we’re going to dive into the dorian mode on guitar. We’ll take a look at what makes up the dorian mode and explore the dorian scale shapes all over the guitar fretboard. We’ll also view some sample dorian chord progressions and cover a few approaches to soloing over a dorian chord progression.
Let’s start off with understanding what the Dorian mode is.
What is the Dorian mode?
Dorian is the 2nd mode of the major scale. If you recall, there are 7 modes to the major scale:
- Ionian
- Dorian
- Phrygian
- Lydian
- Mixolydian
- Aeolian
- Locrian
These modes are built from each scale degree of the major scale. In the case of Dorian, you’re re-writing the parent major scale using the 2nd degree as the root. Let’s take a look at how this works.
Dorian Scale Formula
The major scale has a set pattern of whole-steps and half-steps that create the interval qualities of the scale. The whole-step/half-step pattern for the major scale is as follows:
W W H W W W H
This whole-step/half-step patterns gives you the following interval qualities:
Let’s work with the D major scale to create its Dorian mode. The D major scale contains the following notes:
D – E – F# – G – A – B – C#
When applied to the fretboard, you can see the whole-step/half-step pattern and interval qualities clearly:
Now let’s take the D major scale and re-write it using the 2nd note, E, as the tonic starting point (root note). Notice we get a different whole-step/half-step pattern and the interval qualities for a given scale degree have some differences.
This gives us the Dorian formula of: Root – Major 2nd – Minor 3rd – Perfect 4th – Perfect 5th – Major 6th – Minor 7th
Because Dorian has a minor 3rd, it’s considered a minor scale, or minor mode.
This is very close to the natural minor scale with the only difference being the 6 degree. In the natural minor scale the 6th degree is flat. The raised 6th in Dorian is what gives Dorian its unique sound.
Take a listen to both scales to hear the difference:
Now that we have the formula for the Dorian mode, let’s map the scale to the guitar fretboard.
Mapping the Dorian scale to the fretboard
Given Dorian is just a mode of the major scale and contains all of the same notes as its parent major scale, it will share the same scale shapes that you’re already familiar with if you know your major scale shapes.
The only difference is the root note for each shape will be different in order to reflect the 2nd note of the major scale now being the tonic note. In the diagrams below, we’re using E Dorian, but the shapes are movable and apply to any Dorian scale.
As you can see in the diagrams, Dorian’s first position scale pattern is the same as the major scale’s second position pattern.
Essentially you’re just shifting the major scale patterns up one position.
Transposing to other Dorian modes
As with the major scale itself, the scale shapes are transposable to other Dorian modes. You simply just need to start the patterns from another root note.
Connecting Dorian up the fretboard
Again, since we’re using the exact same scale patterns as the major scale, the Dorian scale patterns connect up and down the fretboard.
Chords of Dorian
Dorian is probably one of the most popular modes in music, particularly with rock and progressive rock, as seen by the extensive use of the mode by Pink Floyd. It’s a good mix of minor moodiness with a touch of the uplifting feel of the major scale.
Dorian contains all of the same chords as its parent major scale, but we can re-number them based on the 2nd note being the tonic, so we get the ii chord moving to the i chord, the iii chord moving to the ii chord, etc.
In the Dorian context, we get the following chord qualities:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | ii | III | IV | v | vi° | VII |
| Minor | Minor | Major | Major | Minor | Diminished | Major |
If we take a deeper look at the chords we can gather some more useful information when it comes to identifying the Dorian mode and creating the Dorian sound with chord progressions.
Let’s stick with E Dorian.
| E Dorian | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| E | F# | G | A | B | C# | D |
| Em (i) | F#m (ii) | G (III) | A (IV) | Bm (v) | C#dim (vi°) | D (VII) |
| E – G – B | F# – A – C# | G – B – D | A – C# – E | B – D – F# | C# – E – G | D – F# – A |
As noted earlier in this lesson, what separates Dorian from the natural minor scale is the raised 6th. It’s this note that gives Dorian its unique flavor. From the table above you can see that in E Dorian the 6th note is C#. Highlighting chords that contain this note in chord progressions helps bring about the Dorian sound.
Looking at the chord table above, you can see the ii chord, IV chord, and vi° chord all contain C#. Being the the vi° chord is diminished, its use will be limited, but progressions containing the ii or IV chord is a telltale sign that the progression is Dorian.
Let’s take a look at some real world song examples.
Example chord progressions
As I mentioned before, Pink Floyd has quite a few songs in Dorian.
“Breathe (In the Air)” – Pink Floyd
From The Dark Side of the Moon, “Breathe (In the Air)” might be the most obvious example as it’s based around a i – IV progression, which is a quite common Dorian progression.
E Dorian: Em9 – A
Listen: “Breathe (In the Air)”
“Wake Up” – Mad Season
From Mad Season’s sole album, Above, wake up features an A Dorian progression throughout the song.
A Dorian: Am – G – D – C
Listen: “Wake Up”
“Down By the River” – Neil Young
For the last example we’re revisiting the familiar Em – A progression we’ve seen before. This time Neil Young uses it in the song “Down By the River”, from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.
E Dorian: Em7 – A
Listen: “Down By the River”
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
From the Greatest Hits album, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” gives us a couple of Dorian progressions in the same song. The verse is A Dorian while the chorus is the familiar i-IV E Dorian progression.
A Dorian: Am – G – D (verse) | E Dorian: i – IV (chorus)
Listen: “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Soloing over a Dorian progression
When soling over top of a Dorian progression, there are three simple scale approaches that are quite easy to implement.
- Root pentatonic (minor pentatonic)
- Root pentatonic plus major 6th
- Dorian scale
Let’s start by looking at the root pentatonic scale.
Soloing with the Root Pentatonic Scale
If you looked at the first position of the Dorian scale, you may have noticed a familiar pattern hidden within…the first position minor pentatonic scale.
The minor pentatonic works just fine over a Dorian progression, but it does miss out on highlighting the raised 6th that gives Dorian its unique sound. With one small tweak to the minor pentatonic, we can bring this sound to life.
Root Pentatonic Plus Major 6th
To incorporate the true sound of Dorian into our solos, we can simply add the major 6th to the minor pentatonic scale.
This keeps the scale pattern familiar and easy to play while also giving you the versatility to target the chord tones of the major IV chord. This works particularly well over the ii and IV chords
Dorian scale
Obviously, over a Dorian progression you also have access to the full Dorian scale, which gives you both the major 2nd and major 6th notes that are missing from the tonic minor pentatonic scale.
Utilizing the whole scale gives you more options to add flavorful notes to your lines, but you also have to be a bit more careful about note selection. Utilizing triads and targeting chord tones is a good strategy to ensure you’re always landing on notes that resolve well to the underlying music.
Dorian Backing Track
You can put all of these concepts to use with the Dorian backing track below. For this track you can utilize the D minor pentatonic scale or D Dorian scale.
Wrap up
Dorian is the second mode of the major scale. It’s a minor scale that encompasses both a feeling of sadness and hope due to the raised 6th degree. It’s a popular mode in rock, progressive rock, and pop music, and personally, one of the most fun modes to play in. Hopefully this lesson helped simplify the mode and its characteristics and gave you a solid foundation for identifying and playing in the Dorian mode.
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