Em7 guitar chord — root mapping, fingerings, arpeggios, triads, pentatonic, scales

Dorian is a minor mode with a natural 6th. That note separates it from natural minor and allows a major IV chord beside the minor tonic; the i – IV vamp immediately reveals the Dorian sound. With no leading tone, the mode usually relies on a repeated vamp, bass riff or sustained m7 chord rather than a V – i cadence. Dorian is common in modal jazz, funk, rock and folk.

Dorian is a minor mode with a natural 6th degree. It differs from the natural minor, or Aeolian mode, by one note: it uses 6 instead of b6. The minor 3rd preserves its minor quality, while the major 6th provides its defining modal color and makes a major IV chord possible instead of the minor iv found in natural minor. The combination of b3 and 6 forms a tritone that clearly separates Dorian from ordinary natural minor. Its lowered 7th means that the mode has no leading tone a semitone below the tonic.

1 — tonic: the modal center and the root of the minor i and i7 chords.

2 — major 2nd / 9th: the root of the minor ii chord; over the tonic minor chord it functions as a 9.

b3—minor 3rd: establishes the mode’s minor quality, belongs to i and i7, and serves as the root of the major bIII chord.

4 — perfect 4th / 11th: the root of the major IV chord; together with the natural 6, it produces one of the principal harmonic markers of Dorian.

5 — perfect 5th: a stable tone of the tonic minor chord and the root of the minor v chord.

6 — major 6th / 13th: the defining degree of the mode. It distinguishes Dorian from Aeolian, belongs to the major IV chord, and serves as the root of the diminished vi° chord.

b7—minor 7th: belongs to the tonic i7 chord and serves as the root of the major bVII chord. It lies a whole tone below the tonic and does not function as a conventional leading tone.

Harmonizing the scale in triads produces:

i—minor; ii — minor; bIII — major; IV — major; v — minor; vi° — diminished; bVII — major.

The diatonic seventh chords are i7, ii7, bIIImaj7, IV7, v7, viø7, and bVIImaj7.

The mode’s principal harmonic marker is the combination of a minor tonic with a major IV or IV7. The progression i–IV immediately reveals the natural 6, since that degree is the 3rd of the IV chord. The v chord remains minor because the mode contains b7 rather than a major 7th. Dorian therefore has no ordinary major V chord of the kind found in harmonic minor and functional minor-key harmony.

In D Dorian, the triads are Dm Em F G Am Bdim C; the seventh chords are Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7b5 Cmaj7.

Dorian is used over minor and minor seventh chords when the harmony supports a natural 6 rather than b6. In jazz chord-scale theory, Dorian is the standard basic choice for the diatonic ii7 chord in a major key. For example, D Dorian is used over Dm7 in the progression Dm7–G7–Cmaj7, where it functions as the second mode of C major.

In modal music, the scale is often sustained over a single minor chord or an alternating i7–IV7 progression. This movement preserves the minor tonic while emphasizing the natural 6th through the 3rd of IV7. Dorian is widely used in modal jazz, funk, rock, and music built around repeating minor harmonic loops. It does not fit every minor chord: when the harmony explicitly contains b6, b13, or a minor iv chord, the Dorian natural 6 may conflict with it.

Dorian is the second mode of the major scale. Its relative parent major scale begins a whole tone below the Dorian tonic. For example, D Dorian and C major contain the same notes, C D E F G A B, but D is the tonal center in D Dorian rather than C.

Its closest parallel minor mode is Aeolian, 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7, which differs only in the 6th degree. Phrygian has the formula 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 and differs through its lowered 2 and 6. Melodic Minor has the formula 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 and uses a major 7th instead of b7. Mixolydian contains the same 2, 4, 5, 6, and b7, but uses a major 3 instead of b3.

Over a minor seventh chord, begin with the chord tones 1 b3 5 b7. To make the line sound specifically Dorian, emphasize the natural 6: sustain it, place it on strong beats, or connect it to stable tones through motions such as 5–6, 6–b7, 6–5, and b7–6. Degree 2 can function as the 9th, while 4 can function as the 11th.

Over an i7–IV7 progression, follow the notes of each chord. Degree 6, which acts as a color tone over i7, becomes the 3rd of IV7 and clearly articulates the harmonic change. For example, over Dm7–G7, the note B is the major 6th relative to D and the major 3rd of G7.

In a diatonic ii7–V7–Imaj7 progression, Dorian, Mixolydian, and Ionian use the same parent-major pitch collection, but their target notes change with each chord. Improvisation should therefore follow the 3rds and 7ths of the harmony rather than merely running one scale. Do not sustain the natural 6 when the chord or melody explicitly calls for b6 or b13.

Dorian is a minor mode with a natural 6th degree. Its foundation is a minor tonic, i or i7, while its defining sound is 6, which produces a major IV or IV7 chord. Unlike natural minor, it has no b6; unlike melodic and harmonic minor, it has no major 7th or leading tone. The Dorian formula combines a minor 3rd, perfect 5th, major 6th, and minor 7th: 1 b3 5 6 b7.