F dorian
F natural minor with one note raised: D. Seven notes: F G A♭ B♭ C D E♭. The same notes as E♭ major, centred on F.
- Parent key
- E♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- D The raised 6th
- Repeating chords
- Fm – B♭ i – IV
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| iVampFmF · A♭ · C | ||||
| iiGmG · B♭ · D | ||||
| ♭IIIA♭A♭ · C · E♭ | ||||
| IVVampB♭B♭ · D · F | ||||
| vCmC · E♭ · G | ||||
| vi°D°D · F · A♭ | ||||
| ♭VIIE♭E♭ · G · B♭ |
Light up
What makes it dorian
Natural minor, with the 6th raised
One note separates F dorian from F natural minor: D♭ becomes D. Over the same root, that turns Fm – B♭m into Fm – B♭.
F natural minor
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
- C
- D♭
- E♭
F dorian
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
Hear the difference
One chord that says dorian
Fm6 holds D, the colour note. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on F
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Dorian is row 4 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- F lydianFGABCDE♯4
- F ionian (major)FGAB♭CDE—
- F mixolydianFGAB♭CDE♭♭7
- F dorianFGA♭B♭CDE♭♭3 ♭7
- F aeolian (natural minor)FGA♭B♭CD♭E♭♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F phrygianFG♭A♭B♭CD♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F locrianFG♭A♭B♭C♭D♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating Fm – B♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with D ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickFm – B♭, two bars each, in frets 3–6. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while Fm – B♭ sounds. Stay in frets 3–6.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver B♭, aim for D. It is the note that makes it dorian.80 bpmLevel 2