Hi Guys,

I apologise if this has been covered before but I assure you I have been searching for this info on the web and I have not found the answer I'm looking for.

Brief background: I play Electric Bass (Grade 4) and I recenty started Piano (Grade 2). I now want to start taking piano seriously (well, more seriously). I understand modes and Major Scale Harmony reasonably well.

I *really* want to start learning (internalising) the modes of the Major and Melodic Minor Scales. I have read that it is a good idea to start on Ionian (C D E F G A B C) and then descend down the Dorian scale (D C B A G F E D) and then back up the Phrygian and so forth. This makes sense to me BUT I'm unsure of the fingerings I should adopt.

For grade 2 I had to learn the following scales (HT Ascending and Descending across two octaves)

C Major, G Major, F Major
E Aeolian
G Mixolydian
A Dorian

Each of the these scales (apart from F) required the RH fingerings 1231234.

My question ...
Should I treat each scale (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian etc) as a separate scale (like my Grade 2 exam does) or should I look on each mode as part of the C Major scale and adopt the fingering for the C Major scale. If I do the latter, the finger would be as follows:

< Ionian > < Dorian > < Phrygian > < Lydian ... etc>
C D E F G A B C D C B A G F E D E F G A B C D E F etc ...
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 etc ...

If I treat each mode separately, we now have the following fingering ...

< Ionian > < Dorian > < Phrygian > < Lydian ... etc>
C D E F G A B C D C B A G F E D E F G A B C D E F etc ...
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 5 etc ...


Which fingering should I use when practice Major Scale Modes? Bear in mind, that this exercise is to help me establish some foundation for improvising.

Any suggestions (book recommendations?) would be gratefully received,
Thanks,

Rob.