Bb Dorian
The Bb Dorian mode (also written A#) — Bb C Db Eb F G Ab — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written A# Dorian. A# and Bb are the same pitch, though spelling it from A# would need double accidentals (A# B# C# D# E# F## G#), which is why Bb is the name in use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
Bb 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 Bb Dorian?
Bb Dorian is the seven notes Bb C Db Eb F G Ab — the notes of Ab major started from its 2nd degree, Bb. Same seven notes as the parent, but with Bb as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
Bb Dorian vs Bb 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 Bb natural minor has b6, Gb.
Play Bb natural minor and Bb Dorian back to back over a Bbm chord and listen for G — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in Bb Dorian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Bbm; the rest are the chords of Ab major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Bbm and Eb and the mode is unmistakable.
Bb Dorian on the guitar neck
Because Bb Dorian is Ab major from its 2nd note, its natural fingering is position 2 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of Ab major — the shape whose lowest note is Bb. Learn that shape with Bb as home — start and end on it, over a drone on Bb or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with Ab as home and you hear Ab major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice Bb Dorian on guitar
- Loop position 2 of Ab major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on Bb so your ear hears Bb as home rather than Ab.
- Hold a Bbm 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 Bb Dorian from its own root: the orange dots are on Bb and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, Ab major; to hear Dorian, start and end on Bb.
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