A
Tonic: A
5th degree
Fit the shape on A. Find the 5th degree on the neck — the perfect fifth of the key.
Reference Method Simplified
Method and site by Reinaldo Assis
Before reading about the method, it helps to already know how to find notes on the instrument neck.
Go to the Note Finder →The foundation of RMS is the major scale. The goal is to help you quickly understand how to find all the Greek modes — and therefore the natural minor scale too, which is the 6th Greek mode — from the major scale, seeing that changing which note you treat as the tonic (the key center) changes the name that same collection of notes receives.
Before naming the modes
Let us call the Greek modes first, second, third… through the seventh Greek mode.
We do not need to memorize names like Dorian or Mixolydian yet. RMS prioritizes visual references and the logic of scale degrees. First you learn where the notes are; the names come later, when they already make sense.
To find the Greek modes, we need to master the major scale on the neck. From there, each mode is just a change of reference — which degree you treat as the tonic.
The major scale on the neck
Fit the shape over one note and every other scale tone is revealed.
The major scale can be found with the shapes below. When you place the pattern over a note — the tonic — you immediately know where the other degrees lie on the neck.
Switch between the two shapes and drag degree 1 to try different keys. The neck below starts in G major.
Notice how the shape shifts on the two highest strings — B and high E — when you drag the tonic to start the scale from higher strings. The major third between G and B requires that one-fret adjustment; it is the same detail that appears in the Note Finder.
Major scale shape
Tonic: G major
Strings 6, 5, and 4 — ideal to start.
Drag degree 1 (gold) or click any fret to fit the shape over another tonic.
open
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
E
B
G
D
A
E
1 = G2 = A3 = B4 = C5 = D6 = E7 = F♯1 = G
Find the degrees by hand
With the major-scale shape, you can already locate any degree in any key.
We encourage you to practice fitting the shape over different notes and identifying the degrees. Three examples to start — try to solve them before revealing the answer:
D
Tonic: D
3rd degree
Fit the shape on D. Locate the 3rd degree — the major third that defines the major sound.
C
Tonic: C
7th degree
Fit the shape on C. Where is the 7th degree? Think of the major seventh, one semitone below the tonic.
Naming the degrees (optional)
In the major scale, each degree has a name. Those names change when the interval departs from the major pattern.
| Degree | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tonic | Root |
| 2 | Supertonic | 2nd degree / 9th (in extension) |
| 3 | Major third | Defines the major quality |
| 4 | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | Dominant |
| 6 | Major sixth | Major sixth |
| 7 | Major seventh | One semitone below the tonic |
| 8 | Octave | Tonic again |
When a degree departs from the major scale
Always compare with the interval you would find in the major scale built on the same tonic. One fret higher or lower changes the degree name:
| Degree | 1 fret lower | 1 fret higher |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd degree | Minor second / minor 9th | Augmented second / major 9th |
| 3rd degree | Minor third | Augmented third |
| 4th degree | Diminished fourth | Augmented fourth |
| 5th degree | Diminished fifth | Augmented fifth |
| 6th degree | Minor sixth | Augmented sixth |
| 7th degree | Minor seventh | Augmented seventh |
How to find the Greek modes
The same major-scale shape — only the note you treat as tonic changes.
So far we have used first Greek mode, second Greek mode, and so on — without traditional names. The idea is simple: the major-scale shape on the neck never changes form. What changes is which note you choose as the reference (tonic).
Imagine a G major scale fitted on the neck. If you treat G as the tonic, you are in the first Greek mode. If you treat A (the second degree) as the tonic, you are in the second Greek mode — the same notes, reorganized from a different reference.
Repeat for each degree: third degree as tonic → third Greek mode; fourth degree as tonic → fourth Greek mode; and so on through the seventh degree. That is why mastering one major-scale shape gives you access to every mode — including natural minor, which is the 6th Greek mode.
Visual summary
In G major: each scale tone, when treated as the tonic, produces a different Greek mode.
Traditional names
When you are comfortable with the numbering, these are the traditional names of each Greek mode:
Ionian
Major scale
The tonic coincides with the first degree of the major scale. This is the starting reference.
Tonic on the 1st degree
Dorian
Second Greek mode
The tonic falls on the second degree. Same major-scale notes, new reference.
Tonic on the 2nd degree
Phrygian
Third Greek mode
The tonic falls on the third degree. The whole- and half-step arrangement changes the color.
Tonic on the 3rd degree
Lydian
Fourth Greek mode
The tonic falls on the fourth degree. Characteristic brightness from the implied augmented fourth.
Tonic on the 4th degree
Mixolydian
Fifth Greek mode
The tonic falls on the fifth degree. Dominant color, with a minor seventh relative to the new tonic.
Tonic on the 5th degree
Aeolian
Natural minor scale
The tonic falls on the sixth degree — the sixth Greek mode, also known as the natural minor scale.
Tonic on the 6th degree
Locrian
Seventh Greek mode
The tonic falls on the seventh degree. The most unstable mode, rarely used as a main key center.
Tonic on the 7th degree