Scales
A Dorian Scale
A · B · C · D · E · F# · G
The second mode of the major scale — minor with a raised sixth, and the most useful modal minor sound there is.
A Dorian Scale
A · B · C · D · E · F# · G
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | A · B · C · D · E · F# · G · A | |
| Left hand | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 | A · B · C · D · E · F# · G · A |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
A Dorian is made of the notes A · B · C · D · E · F# · G. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W H W W W H W.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · the seven modes
Modes
A mode is the same set of notes started from another degree. Each card is one rotation of A Dorian: choose it to re-order the degrees from its tonic and hear it, or open its own page. The seven modes of the major scale are the ones most players learn first.
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of A Dorian gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Related scales
The scales A Dorian shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
G MajorG · A · B · C · D · E · F#
Parent scale: the major scale this is a rotation of
Scales inside it
A RitusenA · B · D · E · F#
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
A EgyptianA · B · D · E · G
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
A Minor PentatonicA · C · D · E · G
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
A Minor Sixth PentatonicA · C · D · E · F#
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
A Flat Three PentatonicA · B · C · E · F#
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
A PiongioA · B · D · E · F# · G
Every note of this scale is in A Dorian.
Scales that contain it
A Bebop MinorA · B · C · C# · D · E · F# · G
Contains every note of A Dorian.
A Composite BluesA · B · C · C# · D · Eb · E · F# · G
Contains every note of A Dorian.
A ChromaticA · Bb · B · C · C# · D · Eb · E · F · F# · G · G#
Contains every note of A Dorian.
Understanding A Dorian
Names and spellings
A mode is named by the note it starts on, not by the major scale it comes from: D Dorian uses the notes of C major, but its tonic is D and its chords are built from D. The same mode name on another tonic is a different scale with the same pattern.
How it is built
On A the mode is A · B · C · D · E · F# · G, following the step pattern W H W W W H W. Against the natural minor on the same tonic, only the sixth degree differs: dorian raises it.
That single note is the whole identity. The raised sixth brightens the scale just enough to lift it out of natural minor without making it major, and it is symmetrical — the pattern of steps reads the same forwards and backwards.
How it is used
It is the default minor sound of funk, soul and modal jazz: think of a vamp that sits on one minor seventh chord for eight bars and never resolves. "So What" is the canonical example.
Its characteristic chord is the m6 or m13, both of which contain the raised sixth. Play natural minor over those and the one note that clashes is exactly the one that makes dorian dorian.
Learn this properly
Chapter 9: ModesCommon questions
- What notes are in A Dorian?
- A Dorian contains A · B · C · D · E · F# · G. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- What is the difference between dorian and natural minor?
- One note: dorian raises the sixth degree. Everything else is identical.
- What chord does dorian fit over?
- Minor seventh, and especially m6 and m13 — the chords that contain the raised sixth.
- How do I play A Dorian?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of A Dorian?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of A Dorian gives Am (i), Bm (ii), C (III), D (IV), Em (v), F#dim (vi°), G (VII). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.