The Modal Chord
Modal chords can mean different things to different people. For a Jazz player the modal chord means what scale to play to a specific chord. Heavy metal tends to employ modal scales and then there is modal music composed in modes. This article touches on little of all.When you play a single chord with a open string and over different positions you can think of it as modal. It sounds modal, let me give an example:
The chord in question is a Major chord with a open B string. The chord is moved up the fingerboard in a scale like motion (F# Locrian to be more specific) always playing along with the open B. None of the chords have a 5th except the E chord, with the B playing the part of the 5ths. With this you get some interesting sounds.
The modal feeling of the chord progression comes from the open B note witch can be though of as a pedal point. There is not much difference in playing a scale with a open note (pedal point) or chords, except you get a richer harmony.
Let's look at some of the scales you can employ with these chords:
With each chord you can either play a Ionian or Lydian as I have put forth for all but the first chord. The reason I put Lydian is that it sounds more interesting to me.
ToDo: Try mixing up the chords, try different chords in a sequence. Make a basis of a song from those chords.
Files related to this article:
Midi file with the chords and scales.
PDF with chords and scales.