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Dorian mode chord progression?


Ness2022

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I'm writing a little song in the dorian mode, and I was making the strings for the background in the lazy lazy 1 5 6 4 way, but it doesn't sound good. I'm guessing that progression is best used in the Ionian mode. What is a good progression for dorian mode?

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I learned of mode-progressions this way: Find the characteristic notes in the mode - D dorian is B that seperates it from aeolian. Then find the 7-chords that contain that note without containing a tritone. Eminor7 and Cmajor7. There are your chords along with Dminor7.

Of course you could go the Bill Evans way: make intervallic structures and move them around the mode. Take this structure D A B E F for example

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When you say "dorian" you're implying the opposite of a progression. Dorian is a "mode" (the second mode of the major scale, to be precise) and implies a static harmony; i.e. not progressing from one chord to another.

Wrong, you can use chord progressions in dorian just like in Ionian and Aeolian. Why should the use of chord progressions suddenly be forbidden, just because the sixth scale step is raised(compared to aeolian)? :dunno:

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its not forbidden he meant as it being a tonic. you can use in that dorian scale(D) dm7-Em7 and play over it to get the sound of dorian, improvise over the chord tones of Dm6 D F A and B while the chords are moving.

listen to "so what" and listen what they can do with D dorian:

you can scroll to 1:31 if you don't feel like listening to the chorus.

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Wrong, you can use chord progressions in dorian just like in Ionian and Aeolian. Why should the use of chord progressions suddenly be forbidden, just because the sixth scale step is raised(compared to aeolian)? :dunno:

You minunderstand.

"Progression" refers to the motion of harmony.

"Mode" refers to the sequence of notes forming a scale.

Dorian refers to a scale, not a chord or a progression. Dorian also implies a very particular kind of harmony. It's not forbidden change the harmony, but that doesn't make it a "Dorian" progression.

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  • 2 years later...

The fun part about modes is that they really open up, not restrict, the type of chords you can play. To keep things sounding dorian, emphasize the characteristic notes, the major sixth, the minor third, the flat seventh, and especially the root. If a chord based on one of these notes sounds better as major or minor, don't worry so much about keeping everything diatonic, just play what sounds right. To make progressions, you can experiment with stacked fourths ala Miles Davis. You may notice that these stacked fourths form the cores of other chords. You can play with this idea a bit, and modulate to new keys based on these chords. In short, don't let strictly adhering to the diatonic dorian mode restrict what you play.

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