there are tons of exoctic scales? have you ever really listened to russian chinese tropical blues jazz or napolionic music? it all sounds just a bit different and thats where the sound comes from.


have you learned the chords behind the modes?? lets look at a few modes of C to help you along.

c= ionian cmaj chord this is c major scale any way.
d= dorian you might use a d min or d min9 here
skipping ahead
b= locrian b dim for instance.

im still working on this stuff too so i cant really give you all the wheres and why fors. but i can help enough.

if you run through the modes they will sound just like the major scale. try using the dim or min chords on backing or recornd your self on computer/radio/ pocket recorder playing these chords. you start to hear each one is different and has a distinct sound to it.

the best use of the modes i know of is it allows you to still be in a certain key but play notes scales and chord that dont fit. so for instance you can play in c and have a really dark sound by using b=locrian.

there are more uses than you might think for all this stuff.