Modal Node System (Mns) – Music Theory - Guitar

Rethink Guitar Theory: Modal Vision, Number Systems, and Visual Logic for the Fretboard

What you'll learn

Identify the 12 notes of the chromatic scale using an absolute numbering system from 1 to 12.

Describe the difference between traditional scale-degree-based theory and the mode-centered system taught in this course.

Recognize modal shapes and chord structures using top-string-on-top fretboard diagrams.

Classify chords and intervals based on modal centers rather than traditional major/minor labeling.

Apply the modal whole-step and modal half-step concepts to construct chords and intervals across the fretboard.

Demonstrate how to build chord names using the mode-based naming convention (e.g., dD3, xA4).

Compare traditional chord progressions to modal-centered ones, mapping them accurately in Excel.

Translate between standard notation, guitar tab, and the new system using custom-built Excel sheets.

Analyze the logic behind conventional chord naming systems and articulate their limitations.

Construct personalized fretboard maps and chord charts using Excel’s formulaic capabilities.

Evaluate the efficiency and clarity of the mode-centered system against legacy systems.

Design a custom workflow for songwriting, improvisation, or teaching using the streamlined naming and mapping system.

Requirements

Comfort with digital tools: You’ll need basic familiarity with Excel or spreadsheet programs, as we use these to map concepts visually and logically. No advanced Excel knowledge is required — just enough to enter values and follow along.

A curious and open mindset: Since this course challenges traditional music theory structures, it’s important to come ready to rethink and reframe how you understand the fretboard, chords, and modes.

Guitar access: You’ll need a guitar (electric or acoustic) for hands-on experimentation with the fretboard mapping and exercises.

Description

This course offers a complete rethinking of how guitar theory can be learned and applied using a system rooted in logic, spatial understanding, and modern tools. Rather than relying on legacy methods built around the piano and the major scale, Modern Guitar Logic teaches you how to view the fretboard through a modal lens that aligns more naturally with how guitarists actually play and visualize music.You’ll begin by learning a top-string-on-top tablature system, which aligns with how the guitar is physically held and seen from above. We use Excel throughout the course as a core tool to map out fretboard patterns, modes, intervals, and chords in a highly visual format. From there, you’ll be introduced to a modal center system that replaces the conventional, often confusing, scale degree system. Instead of renaming “1” every time your tonic shifts, you’ll use a stable system where modal names remain consistent and the distances from your modal center define your chord structures.The course also introduces a twelve-note numbering system that treats each note as an equal unit in a modular cycle, replacing the arbitrary and letter-based naming of notes. In parallel, we apply an absolute 1–7 numbering system to the modes, so Ionian is always 1, Dorian is always 2, and so on—making it easier to move through modal relationships without reinterpreting each one in the language of major-scale-based theory.Chord names are based on modal steps and center points, rather than major/minor scale approximations. Intervals are described by actual distance—such as modal whole steps and modal half steps—rather than by comparing everything to a major scale. This approach carries through to a system for labeling chords and intervals that is internally consistent, easy to apply to fretboard movement, and optimized for communication.Additionally, the course incorporates MIDI-style numbering logic to the guitar fretboard, giving students a powerful framework for working in digital environments and integrating with modern music software. At every step, we compare the streamlined system with the traditional model and show how to translate between them, allowing students to understand both worlds without confusion or contradiction.Whether you're a self-taught player looking to organize your understanding, a teacher seeking a better way to explain theory, or a tech-savvy guitarist who wants to leverage logic-based tools, this course equips you with a system that is built for clarity, speed, and long-term fluency.

Overview

Section 1: Objective - Paradigm Shift

Lecture 1 1005 A Better Method - The Argument for It

Lecture 2 1006 The Fretboard as Planet Earth - Paradigm Shift

Lecture 3 1007 Modal System vs. Traditional System Key Differences

Section 2: Methodological Changes

Lecture 4 1009 String Presentation Orientation – Top String on Top

Lecture 5 1011 Why Guitar Tablature with Top, Heavy, E string on Top is Better to Learn Fr

Lecture 6 1013 Why Excel is THE BEST Guitar Fretboard and Music Theory Tool

Section 3: Basic Science of Sound & Music

Lecture 7 1020 The Basics of Sound and Pitch

Lecture 8 1025 The Harmonic Series

Lecture 9 1030 Timbre (Tone Color)

Section 4: Notes & Modes with Numbering System & Excel as a Music Took

Lecture 10 1110 Why We Should Number the 12 Notes

Lecture 11 1111 Excel Notes and Numbering System ON

Lecture 12 1115 Why an Absolute Numbering System for Modes Is Objectively Better

Lecture 13 1116 Excel - Modes Absolute Numbering System ON

Section 5: Excel - Notes & Modes with Numbering System & Excel as a Music Took

Lecture 14 1112 Excel Notes and Numbering System

Lecture 15 1117 Excel - Modes Absolute Numbering System

Section 6: Scale Formula

Lecture 16 1120 History of the Major Scale Formula

Lecture 17 1124 Excel – Major Scale Formula ON

Lecture 18 1134 OneNote - Modes Formula

Section 7: Excel - Scale Formula

Lecture 19 1125 Excel – Major Scale Formula

Lecture 20 1127 Excel – Major Scale Formula Part 2

Lecture 21 1135 Excel – Modes Formula

Section 8: Modal Ranges and Modal Half Steps

Lecture 22 1150 Modal Ranges and Modal Half Steps Are Objectively Better than Traditional S

Lecture 23 1154 Excel – Model Ranges

Section 9: Excel - Modal Ranges and Modal Half Steps

Lecture 24 1152 Excel - Mode Formula Comparison & Mode Relationship Table

Lecture 25 1155 Excel – Model Ranges

Lecture 26 1157 Excel – Model Ranges Part 2

Section 10: Convert Scale Degree Key and Chords to Absolute Mode Numbering System

Lecture 27 1164 OneNote – Scale Degree Key Conversion to Absolute Mode Numbering

Lecture 28 1169 Excel – Scale Degree Chords Conversion to Absolute Mode Chord Numbering

Section 11: Excel-Convert Scale Degree Key and Chords to Absolute Mode Numbering System

Lecture 29 1165 Excel – Scale Degree Key Conversion to Absolute Mode Numbering

Lecture 30 1170 Excel – Scale Degree Chords Conversion to Absolute Mode Chord Numbering

Section 12: Mode-Based Chord Naming System vs Traditional Scale Major Minor System

Lecture 31 1172 Why a Mode-Based Chord Naming System Is Objectively Better Than the Traditi

Lecture 32 1173 OneNote – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Major Modes

Lecture 33 1174 OneNote – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Minor Modes

Section 13: Excel-Mode-Based Chord Naming System vs Traditional Scale Major Minor System

Lecture 34 1175 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Ionian Mode

Lecture 35 1178 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Dorian Mode

Lecture 36 1180 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Phrygian Mode

Lecture 37 1185 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Lydian Mode

Lecture 38 1188 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Mixolydian Mode

Lecture 39 1190 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Aeolian Mode

Lecture 40 1193 Excel – Chord Named by Mode & Modal Half Steps (MHS) Locrian Mode

Section 14: Intervals – Distance Terms

Lecture 41 1203 Modal Distance Objectively Better Then Scale Degree Intervals

Lecture 42 1209 OneNote – Modal Distance Names vs Scale Degree Interval Names

Lecture 43 1213 OneNote – Modal Distance Names vs Scale Degree Interval Names – Major Modes

Lecture 44 1216 Modal Distance Names vs Scale Degree Interval Names – Minor Modes & Locrian

Lecture 45 1224 OneNote Inverted Modal Distance (Return Trip) Vs Inverted Intervals

Lecture 46 1227 OneNote - Mirror Inverse Intervals vs Negative Scale Degree Intervals

Lecture 47 1233 OneNote – Negative Modal Distance vs Inverse Intervals – Major Modes

Lecture 48 1235 OneNote – Negative Modal Distance vs Inverse Intervals – Minor Modes & Locr

Lecture 49 1243 OneNote – Intervals Over an Octave – Best Method For Scale Degree System

Lecture 50 1246 OneNote – Over an Octave – Scale Degree Intervals vs Modal Distance

Lecture 51 1250 OneNote – Negative Over an Octave – Best Method for Scale Degree Interval S

Lecture 52 1253 OneNote - Negative Over an Octave Scale Degree Intervals vs Modal Distance

Lecture 53 1256 OneNote - Compound Intervals – Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 54 1260 OneNote – Compound Intervals vs Compound Modal Distance

Lecture 55 1262 OneNote – Negative Compound Intervals vs Negative Compound Modal Distance

Section 15: Excel-Intervals – Distance Terms

Lecture 56 1210 Excel – Distance Names vs Interval Names

Lecture 57 1214 Excel – Distance Names vs Interval Names – Major Modes

Lecture 58 1217 Excel – Distance Names vs Interval Names – Minor Modes

Lecture 59 1220 Excel – Distance Names vs Interval Names – Locrian Mode

Lecture 60 1225 Excel – Inverted Intervals

Lecture 61 1228 Excel – Mirror Inverse Intervals

Lecture 62 1233 Excel – Mirror Inverse Intervals – Major Modes

Lecture 63 1236 Excel – Mirror Inverse Intervals – Minor Modes

Lecture 64 1239 Excel – Mirror Inverse Intervals – Locrian Modes

Lecture 65 1244 Excel – Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 66 1247 Excel – Modal Ranges & New Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 67 1251 Excel – Negative Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 68 1254 Negative Modal Distance Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 69 1257 Compound Intervals – Intervals Over an Octave

Lecture 70 1261 Excel - Compound Modal Distance – Alternative Names Over an Octave

Lecture 71 1263 Excel - Negative Compound Modal Distance – Alternative Names Over an Octave

Section 16: Build Scale by Interval & Modal Distance

Lecture 72 1314 OneNote - Scale Built by Interval or Modal Distance – Compare Major Modes

Lecture 73 1319 OneNote-Scale Built by Interval or Modal Distance–Compare Minor Modes & Loc

Lecture 74 1326 OneNote–Scales Built by Negative Intervals or Modal Distance– Major Modes

Lecture 75 1329 OneNote–Scales Built by Negative Intervals or Modal Distance– Minor Modes

Lecture 76 1334 OneNote–Scale Notes Derived by Interval or Modal Distance

Section 17: Excel - Build Scale by Interval & Modal Distance

Lecture 77 1310 Excel - Scale Built by Interval or Modal Distance – Major Scale or Ionian M

Lecture 78 1315 Excel - Scale Built by Interval or Modal Distance – Compare Major Modes.

Lecture 79 1320 Excel-Scale Built by Interval or Modal Distance–Compare Minor Modes & Locri

Lecture 80 1325 Excel–Scales Built by Negative Intervals or Modal Distance– Major Modes

Lecture 81 1327 Excel–Scales Built by Negative Intervals or Modal Distance– Major Modes Par

Lecture 82 1330 Excel–Scales Built by Negative Intervals or Modal Distance–Minor Modes & Lo

Lecture 83 1335 Excel–Scale Notes Derived by Interval or Modal Distance

Guitarists with some music theory background who feel lost navigating scale degrees, interval names, or mode applications.,Visual learners who benefit from grid-based systems like spreadsheets and guitar fretboard diagrams.,Self-taught musicians looking to fill gaps in theory with a system that makes practical, spatial sense.,Analytical thinkers, engineers, or accountants who enjoy clean systems, logical naming, and number-based pattern recognition.,Composers and songwriters who want a more intuitive structure for building and naming chords.,Music educators interested in exploring new frameworks for teaching fretboard theory using tools like Excel and MIDI-based thinking.