A Dorian
Minor with a lift, in the key that sits best under the hand.
A Dorian uses the notes of G major starting from A. It is minor, but the natural 6th keeps it from ever sounding sad — the sound of funk, of modal jazz and of a thousand guitar vamps.
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Minor, with the 6th left natural
A Dorian is A B C D E F# G. It has the ♭3 (C) of any minor scale, but where natural minor would put F, Dorian puts F# — a natural 6 instead of a flat one.
- The ♭3 (C) makes it minor.
- The natural 6 (F#) is the one note that separates it from A minor.
- Compare A B C D E F G (Aeolian) to hear it.
Finding the F#
Play an Am7 chord and then land on F#. It should sound bright and slightly unresolved — not wrong, but lit from the side. That single note is the entire Dorian identity.
- Target the natural 6 over a minor chord to hear Dorian.
- It is the note that makes minor sound cool rather than sad.
- On the neck, it sits one fret above the natural minor's ♭6.
The vamp that proves it
Play Am7 to D7 and stay there. The D7 contains F#, so the progression itself forces the Dorian sound. That i–IV vamp is So What, Oye Como Va, and most funk rhythm guitar.
- Am7–D7 (i–IV) is the Dorian vamp.
- The IV chord is what carries the natural 6.
- Two chords is enough — modal music does not need changes.
One note separates Dorian from plain minor, and that note is why funk exists.
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