Lydian ears

[pingu]

Hi and A Happy 2024 to yall

im trying to get the Lydian sound
into my ears ….
(I don’t naturally ‘ hear’ Lydian
the raised 4th just sounds odd to me)

So
I am learning ‘the real guitarist’ by Steve Khan
which is quite nice ….

whats another good ‘Lydian Tune’
not just tunes that have Lydian chords in them

I need to play a few tunes that have
melodies that feature that raised 4th

thanks all

[grahambop]

Sid’s Ahead - melody (top note) starts with root, #4, 5.

[Tal_175]

Sid’s Ahead - Melody (top note) starts with root, #4, 5.

It's definitely #4 (or b5) but it sounds more like a blue note to me than Lydian.

[grahambop]

Well he asked for melodies with a raised fourth in them and that one lasts for almost a bar, it might help make the sound more familiar.

Of course there are tunes like Inner Urge, but the note tends to be very quick. At the moment I can’t think of many where the note is more prominent. There must be some though.

It might help just to play some of the chords repeatedly that use that sound (and make it the top note), that should make it sound more natural after a while. The Inner Urge chord progression would be an obvious choice for such an exercise.

[James W]

Singing it would help - sing the mode, but return to the root after every other note in the mode.

[James W]

As for Lydian tunes, I have a fondness for John McLaughlin's seminal classic Devotion, where at least three tunes are based on a Lydian vamp ('Marbles', 'Don't Let The Dragon Eat Your Mother' and the title track).

[pamosmusic]

Singing it would help - sing the mode, but return to the root after every other note in the mode.

+1

You could sing it from Fa at first. Lots of Fa La Do triads interspersed with Ti

Fa La Do Ti Re Do La Fa
Fa Do Ti Do La Fa
stuff like that.

Then start singing from Do (Re Mi Fi* Sol La Ti Do) and do similar things.

In addition to returning to the root (of Lydian) a lot, I’d probably return to Fi (#4) a lot too.

Can also help to play a bass note or shell voicing and sing extensions above it. Or play an upper structure (Bm or D) and sing the root (C) below it.

EDIT: I tend to find singing from Do with Fi easier, but that might be because I’m used to it. Most of the time when you teach a mode (relative minor, for example) you start with Do on the key center (so La-based minor). Not sure if that’s necessary, but it’s pretty typical.

[Christian Miller]

[Christian Miller]

Chorus

I hear the verse as lydian actually, but the first chord is mixolydian, so I think that’s what it is technically.

[Christian Miller]

It’s hard to track down a piece of music that entirely uses the Lydian…..

i mean

[Christian Miller]

[James W]

[James W]

[Reg]

Hey... it helps to hear Lydian as a harmonic reference, rather than a melodic concept.... here's a vid of the real guitarist I made for this forum years ago...

[MrTriangle]

The opening quotes this -

[Christian Miller]

Chorus

I hear the verse as lydian actually, but the first chord is mixolydian, so I think that’s what it is technically.

Speaking of Lukather

I think we can agree the lydian is the most 1980s of all scales.

[BradGuitar]

This starts with a big stinking #11…

Sting loves a bit of Lydian…

Summat bit more applicable to the forum…

I think you need the harmony to initially help get the ear in the sound. B natural sounds different over Dm7 compared to FMaj7. Even a drone will do the trick.

Perhaps compose/blow over a ii V I and use the #11 on the I chord. Don’t be afraid to sit on the note.

[MrTriangle]

[Christian Miller]

That helpful David Bennett chap has done a video

[Christian Miller]

Oh a little more high falutin

just the first phrase really in this case

That D/C type chord is often used in a major tonality, frequently as a way of modulating to the dominant (C D/C G/B Am7 D7 G for example), but it does have a distinctive modal character. For example, the first phase of this piece

Or this

or this

[pingu]

wow thanks all ….

thats given me plenty to
play around with ….

[Christian Miller]

Yeah I find immersion the best way. You’ll hear it and then you’ll hear it everywhere. Sing the scale as well, as someone else suggested.

[rpjazzguitar]

First thing that occurs to me is to start with Lydian Dominant.

Play C to D9 (like the beginning of many tunes, eg Lucky Southern) and then play C to D7#11, like A Train. Maybe follow up with Dm7 G7 and make a loop.

Lydian (major, not dominant) is a bit more subtle (and very different harmonically from lydian dominant). I might spend some time with Blue In Green. For the first chord try x x 8 10 10 12, which gets the #11 on top, and it's got another in bar 5. Rinse and repeat with other tunes.

[James W]

For Lydian Dominant, see:

[RLetson]

Wouldn't Lydian ears be tattooed, like the rest of her?

I'll see myself out.