flying in a blue dream question

[BarHook]

hey i just wana ask one thing about satches song flying in a blue dream:
basically i was told that at least for the beginning he is playing in A dorian mode over Amin7 chords. Now, A Dorian is G major rite, but my guitar teacher sed that he is playing in Emin, now I know that that is the relative of Gmaj but why is it still called A Dorian because you are no longer accenting the second note (A) of the scale?

Also a quick question when u play in A Dorian, it means you are playing Gmaj just accenting the A's rite?

As you can see im very new to this modes scene and I would appreciate some straightening out :)

thanx
bye

[Christoph]

Originally posted by BarHook
Also a quick question when u play in A Dorian, it means you are playing Gmaj just accenting the A's rite?

For the billionth time, no. For you to truly be playing in a mode (i.e. A Dorian) your chord progression has to be in that mode . . . otherwise you're just emphasizing different notes. An example of an A Dorian progression would be Am7, D7, Em7.

By the way, I think the beginning of Flying in a Blue Dream is in G mixolydian.

[u10ajf]

I've never understood how modes fit in with chord progressions. Am I right that short melodies usually stick within an octave and the lowest note and highest notes are octaves, define the root of the melody and set the mode? To play a chord progression in a particular mode do you have to invert some of the chords to keep the notes within the same octave? Just to clarify here's an example ,
not CEG, FAC, GBD (where the D from the G major is 1 tone too high to stay within the mode)
but CEG,FAC, DGB?
Please someone put me out of your misery!

[BarHook]

ok going back to christops example, why was the chord progression you gave in A dorian and not Gmaj thanks

[Christoph]

Because it begins and resolves on an A chord and uses the notes of the A Dorian scale.