The Modes Of Randy Rhoads

Hey everyone, today I am going through 4 of Randy Rhoads most iconic solos. Rhoads was Ozzy Osbourne's original guitarist from 1980 to 1982 and he produced 2 landmark albums for rock guitar that people still discuss in hushed amazement. In this lesson I am breaking down the modes and scales Randy used to get the sounds you hear him make and there are a lot! If you would like the transcriptions to all 4 solos, you can send me a donation to my paypal satch@telus.net for any amount you think it is worth and I can send you the tabulature.

Tonight

First up let's look at the song Tonight off of the album Diary Of A Madman. Tonight - E Ionian mode bars 1 to 3, bar 4 is E major pentatonic, bar 5 back to E Ionian changing in bar 6 to C Lydian (rhythm guitar hits the bVI chord borrowed from Em), back to E major pentatonic in bar 7 and ending on a return to E Ionian in bar 8. Here are the modes/scales Randy is using in Tonight.  

Follow along with the video at the bottom of this lesson. 

Fig 1 E maj pentatonic extended

Fig 2 E major scale 16th position

Fig 3 E major pentatonic 9th position

Fig 4 C Lydian 14th position

Fig 5 E major scale single string linear

 

Believer

Believer - E minor pentatonic (bar 1-3) E Aeolian mode (bar 4), E Dorian mode (bar5), E diminished + Em triads (bar 6 and 7), (bar 8) symmetrical scales with E Aeolian and nods to E dorian, (bar 9). Here are the modes/scales Randy is using in Believer.  

Fig. 6 Em pentatonic pos 12

Fig 7 E Dorian 12th pos

 

Fig 8 E Aeolian 7th pos

 

Fig 9 E Dorian 4th pos

 

Fig 10 E Aeolian 4th po

Diary Of A Madman

Diary Of A Madman - bar 1 is A Hungarian minor with a b7 passing tone thrown in off the top. Bar 2 an Eb7 (tritone sub for A7) is followed by an E triad arpeggio with an added b9. Bar 3 is more A Hungarian with the inclusion of a b7. Bar 4 is a stock Am pentatonic scale ending on a half step bend on the major 3^rd. 

 Here are the modes/scales Randy is using in Diary.  

Follow along with the video above.

 
Fig 11 A Hungarian Minor position 5

 

Fig 12 A harmonic minor pos 5

 

Fig 13 A Hungarian minor pos 12

Fig 14 Am pentatonic pos 17

Children Of The Grave

Children Of The Grave: C# Aeolian (bar 137-138), C#m blues scale (bar 139), C#Aeolian with major 3^rd at beginning of phrase (bar140-141), bar 142 is C# Hungarian minor (first 5 notes) then into C#Aeolian for bar 143 and 144. 

 Here are the modes/scales Randy is using in Children Of The Grave.  Follow along with the video at the bottom of this lesson. 

Fig 15 C# Aeolian pos 9

 

Fig 16 C# blues pos 11

 

Fig 17 C# Aeolian 3 notes per string

 

Fig 18 Hungarian minor pos 16

 Thanks for reading and I hope you got a lot out of this!