Lesson Summary

🎸 The big idea

Most guitarists get lost with modes because they think they need a bunch of new shapes. This lesson shows a simpler, musical approach: start with a scale you already know (minor pentatonic) and add only the two notes that turn it into Dorian. You’ll learn how to hear Dorian, find the important notes fast, and start using it across the neck without getting trapped in “boxes.”

✅ What Dorian is (in real music terms)

Dorian is one of the most common modes in real-world guitar music, especially in:

• One-chord minor vamps
• Funky minor grooves
• Minor progressions where you want a brighter, more “alive” minor sound

You hear Dorian colors in tons of well-known songs and styles (Tom Petty, Santana, Pink Floyd, Herbie Hancock, Daft Punk, and more).

🔥 Step 1: Start with what you already know (D minor pentatonic)

We’re using D Dorian, and we start from the D minor pentatonic box (root at the 10th fret area).

D minor pentatonic notes:

• D (1 / root)

• F (b3)

• G (4)

• A (5)

• C (b7)

  Then back to D

Key point: pentatonic gets criticized online, but it’s still one of the most powerful sounds in guitar music. If pentatonic doesn’t sound good, it usually means the player needs better groove, phrasing, and decoration, not a new scale.