Greasy Pocket
Upbeat funk in E minor — tight rhythm guitar, punchy bass, clavinet stabs.
Jam this track with live chords →The Dorian Mode
Dorian is natural minor with a raised 6th — formula 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7 — and its character is minor, but hopeful. In D, the notes are D, E, F, G, A, B, C.
The sound
Dorian is the cool minor — Santana's "Oye Como Va", "So What", Pink Floyd's "Breathe". That natural 6th over a minor third gives it a lift the natural minor doesn't have: funky, jazzy, never gloomy. If a minor-key vamp sits on one chord and the b6 of natural minor sounds too dark, Dorian is almost always the answer.
D Dorian on the fretboard
D Dorian uses only natural notes — the classic way to first find it — and the shape moves to any key like every guitar scale:
Practice D Dorian on the interactive fretboard →
When to use it
Minor-key funk and rock vamps, i–IV progressions (Am–D), modal jazz, Santana-style latin rock. Over a static minor chord it is the most forgiving of the minor modes.
Hear it in one minute: loop a two-chord Am–D vamp — the D major chord is the giveaway that the 6th is natural.
Dorian in every key
| Key | 1 | 2 | b3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A | B | C | D | E | F# | G |
| Bb | Bb | C | Db | Eb | F | G | Ab |
| B | B | C# | D | E | F# | G# | A |
| C | C | D | Eb | F | G | A | Bb |
| C# | C# | D# | E | F# | G# | A# | B |
| D | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| Eb | Eb | F | Gb | Ab | Bb | C | Db |
| E | E | F# | G | A | B | C# | D |
| F | F | G | Ab | Bb | C | D | Eb |
| F# | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# | E |
| G | G | A | Bb | C | D | E | F |
| Ab | Ab | Bb | Cb | Db | Eb | F | Gb |
Jam it over a real track
The fastest way to own Dorian is a matching vamp. These free tracks fit it — play them here or open JamLab to see the mode on a live fretboard:
Café Nylon
Warm bossa nova on an A minor vamp — nylon guitar, soft percussion, breezy and romantic.
Jam this track with live chords →