Hi everyone. I forgot to ask something about the World Series yesterday... Does anyone know who the guitarist is that plays the music while Fox goes through the starting lineups for both teams? I don't recognize the song (it was probably created specifically for Fox), but the guitarist's tone and style sounded very familiar.

Also...the program that my computer uses to play DVDs has decided to stop working nicely. So does anyone have any suggestions on a free one that's really good? Let me know...thanks.

Edit - 369 posts! 3 6 9...12 15 18...21 24 27...30. That School House Rock song helped me learn my 3x multiplication tables...haha. Does anyone remember it?

Theory posse – ok folks… the part that many of you have been waiting for…. Modes..
modes are scales just like any other, therefore they simply provide a template of intervals carving up an octave.. nothing more, nothing less… think back to how the natural minor and how it was calculated from its relative major scale to generate a new scale [based upon a new series of intervals]… so modes are calculated in exactly the same way but with one small difference.. they each use a different starting note from its relative major [which I’ll call the centre key].
So, if there are seven notes in a diatonic major scale, then there can be only seven diatonic modes…
The main point to note is that the major scale is used only calculate the modes… the similarity ends there as each mode is a scale in its own right…
The scale of G major is composed of the following [familiar by now] series of intervals:
Tonic, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, major 7th.
The major scale also has a name in modal terms…. Ionian… therefore G major = G Ionian.
I you look from the 2nd degree of the major scale, rename it from being the 2nd of the major scale to the tonic of a new scale you’ll see a completely new series of intervals emerge. We’ll do this using G major…

Starting from the 2nd we get the following series of note values… A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, the Dorian mode…. and calculating the intervals with respect to this new tonic [in this case ‘A’] you get:
tonic, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, minor 7th. [which is essentially a minor scale with a major 6th]…. So this example is A Dorian

All of the chords that we calculated from the centre key [in this case G major] still apply but they are rotated in the same way as the notes themselves… we get I = Am, II = Bm, III = C, IV = D, V = Em, VI = F#mb5, VII = G

Note that A Dorian is like being in a ‘key’ in its own right… the progression I, IV, V would be Am, D, Em…. and when creating melodies it has a minor tonality but the major 6th makes it sound less ‘dark’ than a natural minor [with its minor 6th]… also… although the mode is calculated from G major… you are never in the key of G because you are in A Dorian…

When you are in the key of G major and the Am chord is sounding, you are still in G major – not in A dorian.
When you are in A Dorian and the G chord is sounding, you are still in A Dorian – not in G Ionian.

What we’ve just seen applies to all modes…. They are calculated from a parent major scale – the centre key – they adopt all of the available chords from the centre key – they have a new series of intervals – they are essentially keys in their own right…… and of course the G-everywhere thing provides the fingerings for all modes derived from G major all over the neck…

this made me laugh,

two guys are talking about christmas one day and one guy says "so what are you getting your wife for christmas this year?" the other guy replies "a pair of shoes and a big dildo" "why the big dildo?" the first guy asks and then the other guy replies "so if she dont like the shoes she can go fuck herself"

Theory posse - also, what helps to see the modes for what they are is to calculate them based around the same tonic… I’ll use G.
G Ionian is from the Tonic of a major scale [in this case G major G, A, B, C, D, E, F#]
G Dorian is from the 2nd of a major scale [in this case F major F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E]
G Phrygian is from the 3rd of a major scale [in this case Eb Major Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D]
G Lydian is from the 4th of a major scale [in this case D major D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#]
G Mixolydian is from the 5th of a major scale [in this case C major C, D, E, F, G, A, B]
G Aeolian is from the 6th of a major scale [in this case Bb major Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A]
G Locrian is from the 7th of a major scale [in this case Ab major Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G]

The very cool part is; if you know the mode and the tonic, you can work out the centre from which it was derived… you then shift the G-everywhere thing accordingly – e.g. centre key of A major means the whole thing moves 2 frets up the neck – you can now play in any major, natural minor and diatonic mode in any key from the nut to the top fret…. Now ain’t that something……. And all from learning a little math and 7 fingerings…… not too much pain for such a huge gain…

Stu fans!!!!!

The Stuart Hamm fan website is on the lookout for someone that can check out Stu's next gig (since it's looking like none of us can go... Austin, you might be in the area)

death cube k: nah man, hand's fine tho, lol, kinda playin some, just anticipating the arrival of my js1000bp..again...i decided to cancel it, then reorder it, so hopefully efkay still has one around, otherwise it's comin from japan baby..

The Local Person - I'd say thanks but i'm still trying to figure out why I was in that ever so kind message.

Whojack - Problem.

PhrygDom - (Was a joke ... "ha ha?") ... haha next thing we know, there's a huge ORANGE post "you guys should congratulate clone 1 on his number of messages etc..."

DeathCube K - I dug that song anyways. Was interesting to listen to. I'm starting to realize there is a lot of repetativeness in instrumental guitar rock. Few artists can maintain my interest. Some guitarists who write songs are really great players but they're compositions don't have a whole lot to them to make them special.

-My hand, getting better. I'm playing every second day for 3 - 4 hours. It's really not enough time but I can't push it. Learning Hordes of Locusts all BY EAR (no tabs! tabs evil) to play at my school's xmas assembly. I'm learning both the NOTE version and the D#11 version. They're slightly different and they both have some parts to mix and match.