B Dorian
The B Dorian mode — B C# D E F# G# A — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
B Dorian is the natural minor with one note changed — the 6, G#. That single note is what gives the mode its sound: lean on it and the colour is obvious. Leave it out and the melody alone could pass for plain minor — then it is the chords underneath that keep the mode.
What is B Dorian?
B Dorian is the seven notes B C# D E F# G# A — the notes of A major started from its 2nd degree, B. Same seven notes as the parent, but with B as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
B Dorian vs B natural minor
6 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is one note, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- 6 is G# in Dorian, where B natural minor has b6, G.
Play B natural minor and B Dorian back to back over a Bm chord and listen for G# — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in B Dorian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Bm; the rest are the chords of A major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Bm and E and the mode is unmistakable.
B Dorian on the guitar neck
Because B Dorian is A major from its 2nd note, its natural fingering is position 2 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of A major — the shape whose lowest note is B. Learn that shape with B as home — start and end on it, over a drone on B or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with A as home and you hear A major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice B Dorian on guitar
- Loop position 2 of A major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on B so your ear hears B as home rather than A.
- Hold a Bm chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on G# on the strong beats — that is the sound of Dorian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws B Dorian from its own root: the orange dots are on B and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, A major; to hear Dorian, start and end on B.
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