Modes No More Mystery, Frank Gambale

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic purchase.......2007-08-24

This is a must for any serious guitar player. Frank is an absolute legend and is a natural teacher. His jaw dropping solo's inspires and reveals what is possible by applying the 'modes'. I would have paid ten times the price of this DVD to watch this artist in action. Truely a fantastic purchase.

Modes no more mystery indeed!!.......2007-03-11

Frank Gambale is one heck of a guitarist we all know that!His absolute sense of harmony,his incredible chops and emotional playing puts him on the world's greatest musicians!I personaly didn't he was also a great teacher!I was struggling with modes for a very long time but no more thanks to this dvd,it's very easy to understand and of course the information that Frank gives is of essence!If you don't have it,get it now!

The best modes instructional you can get!!!.......2007-01-24

I am a guitarist and home studio user for the past five years.I had learned modes in my first or second year of lessons, and played around with them for a bit.I always remembered the scale patterns, but forgot how to keep each scale from sounding like the relative Major scale that it was derived from.

My first thoughts before I bought it was that price was slightly high, but still affordable, but the length was only 60 minutes or so.I decided to go ahead and order it.

First time I watched it, it was a good memory refreshment from my early guitar lessons.The next few times I watched it, I took mental notes of things that I was forgetting to do or completely missing from my playing of modes.

I have to say that this video couldn't have been made any clearer.Mr. Gambale does a fantastic job of explaining everything in a very friendly and understandable manner.The way he teaches in the video is in a very organized manner and very easy to follow.Its very professionally edited, has great bonus material.It is probably THE MOST helpful instructional materials that I have ever bought.It totally opened my eyes of how all the scale patterns and theory work together to open up the entire fretboard.

Before I got this DVD I was making backing tracks in Cubase and soling on guitar using mainly single scale positions on one part of the neck for one particular key.This DVD alone helped to put everything that I have learned in the last 5 years of playing, and taught me how to play solos over the entire neck in any modal key.I'm not stuck in a small four fret area of the neck anymore, and Im not limited to just Major and Minor scales anymore.

I highly recommend this video to any guitarist that wants the best instructional DVD on the subject of modes.This video just can't be beat!Thank you Mr. Gambale!!!

EXTRAORDINARY!... Really No More Mystery........2006-12-04

This DVD really teachs from a smooth technical approach of the 7 modes through a very kindness and open minded instructional way. For years the guitar modes were undecifrable for many young guitarists till this magnificent instructional teaching video appeared.

The DVD begins with Frank playing the instrumental song "High Five" from the NOTEWORKER recording. Afterwards we can discover the other Gambale's love: The Pimball playing, inside his personal studio (an exact copy of his real studio room), and for the closing section, in the end, we can see another interpretation of his great song "Faster Than An Arrow", from the recording of the same name.

But ¿What are you going to learn in this DVD?:
1. What are the greek modes and how play them accurately on the guitar.
2. The construction of every mode in every key by keeping note C over the 4th and 5th chords of every mode.
3. A practical aplication of these modes into a IV - V7 - I progression for personal soloing and improvement. Frank plays examples os soloing on all the modes
4. How to recognize these modes by ear into songs that you could hear everywhere. Frank play an example of an instrumental, explaining the mode changes.

Frank is a very kind and funny person that explains with detail all the concepts of the video. He actually helped me to improve my way of soloing and to undertand in a practical way the mode shapes and how to apply them. Really a great DVD with a great kind of a host as Frank Gambale is. For beginners and profesionals... Good Luck!

THINKING OUT LOUD...on modal theory (spelled out for lesser mortals).......2006-02-03

Let's face it...most of us, despite many years of ripping up the fretboard (by ear or other method) with guitar leads based on scale patterns, have not put together all seven modes and their endless possibilities for harmony and song-writing. I have had a basic idea of western music theory (major, minor, dominant) and even mode construction (piano key cycle from middle C - whole step, half-step, etc.) as a template for basic interval and chord construction, but the application to guitar (it is much harder to see on guitar it seems) composition was never so interestingly presented as it is here. Many guitar players mostly see modes as stacking patterns, using the same notes up the fretboard, which is partially correct. But to see the Actual character of the mode as applied to harmony in the composition is the more useful way to think of it. By always using C as the beginning point for analysis(and pedal tone for chord progressions), each seven note mode is analyzed (normally built from the successive white key on the piano starting on middle C) as to interval characteristics (e.g., Aeolian = flat 3rd, 6th & 7th) and then applied to the WHOLE fretboard as a template for composition - COOL, but watch him effortlessly utilize each mode's unique characteristics to create feeling in a song...and then combine different modal attributes to put together sections of a composition (Intro/chorus/lead, etc.). Incredible live examples are played out before your eyes with camera glued to the right and left hands, allowing total visual/auditory immersion in the many elements that go into this high-level of playing. Watch the picking technique, or slow down the dvd for a careful look at the lightning fast arpeggiated solos - this is a FEAST for us guitar lead gluttons (and I have been a fan of his since Great Explorers came out). A fairly high level of musical understanding is required here to see the possibilities and apply this knowledge, but the vista provides a worthy goal to strive toward. This is a gordian knot that is fun to contemplate.

A few complete performance pieces are generously included as well as some FINE extras: Joe Pass delicately tearing it up for a softer look at the ideas presented, and Allan Holdsworth peeling up the rosewood on another. Finally, an older Gambale (this is about 15 years old) showing a taste of his new video on performance that is very fun (the drummer is fantastic as well), although it just makes the ending of this dvd THAT MUCH MORE PAINFUL. I will watch this many times for sure, it is that good. And Frank does a great job getting to the point and being a great teacher on a somewhat difficult project (seeing all modes on the complete fretboard and getting a feel for the many uses in musical composition including emotional emphasis). My only gripe is that the written material referred to during the lesson was not included in my copy??? Not a huge issue, but it would have been convenient. Now, go play guitar...don't think about it too long or you will waste more time wondering just what in the hell you do with a Phrygian mode. Thanks Frank, this is great!

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