flying in a blue dream question

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

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.

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!

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

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