JFR Lesson of the week

The technique lessons featured on this page are designed to be for Electric guitar. Most of the lessons covered here however will transfer to acoustic without any issue. This lesson page will be updated as often as possible. The other pages on JFRocks and JFRocks UNplugged keep me rather busy and I try to keep all technique lessons to CD ROM. What this page will do a lot of the time is expand upon lessons covered on various CD ROMs. If this is the case the Category below will state which CD ROM the lesson is expanding on. I hope you enjoy these mini lessons as I call them and remember all lessons from the past are located on the Lesson Archives page.

*Remember Effect suggestions are my suggestions for the home player. Usually suggestions are geared for a low budget.

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This Lesson's difficulty level 1-10 scale

This week's lesson is another one of our modes for moods. This week we're going to take a look at one of my personal favorites (although I tend to add to it a little at times) the Lydian mode.

The Lydian mode is defined as a Major scale with a sharp 4th. That means the 4th note from the Major scale is sharpened or raised 1/2 step or 1 semi-tone (a.k.a. 1 fret)

For this lesson we're dealing with the key of "A". The "A" Major scale is made up of the notes:

A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#. Highlighted in Yellow is the 4th, which happens to be the "D". For our Lydian mode we have to sharpen that note or raise it up 1/2 step. So that means our "A" Lydian scale will be made up of the notes: A, B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#.

As we've seen from the other modes for moods lessons changing 1 note in a scale can make in world of difference in how a solo or riff comes across to the listening audience. The Lydian mode to me creates a warm feel with slight tension. You can look at a sharp 4th as a Flat 5th if you want to if that makes it easier for you on your fret board. It doesn't matter per say but technically Lydian is looked at as a sharp 4th because the 5th or the
"E" in this case remains un-touched in the scale.

Now that we know what the Lydian mode is, let's use it and mess with it a bit. I'll show you a simple exercise that you can jam and I'll also show you a additional way to alter this mode into an 8 tone scale that will give you an extra note to work with.

As always with these modes for moods lessons, the mood you perceive a mode to have is up to you. Everyone perceives these things their own way, it's not up to me or anyone else to tell you what kind of feel the Lydian mode has, I'm just here to help you use it. And remember these modes are not just for solos, I've incorporated the properties of the Lydian mode (sharp 4th) into the Rhythm section of our exercise too.

Scale below is a "useful" version of this scale. Those of you who purchased Play that THANG will know exactly what I mean by "useful". But for those that didn't I mean one that a lot of players use in the real world. It's a great pattern to remember for both leads and solos. Not a typical music lesson take home scale.

The D#'s or the notes that make this Lydian mode are highlighted in Yellow.

E____________________________________9_11_12_11_9___________________________________________
B__________________________7_9_10_12______________12_10_9___________________________________
G____________________6_8_9________________________________11_9______________________________
D______________6_7_9___________________________________________13_11_9______________________
A________6_7_9_________________________________________________________12_11_9_7_6_4_2_0____
E__5_7_9____________________________________________________________________________________

E____________________________________9_11_12_11_9___________________________________________
B__________________________7_9_10_12______________12_10_9___________________________________
G____________________6_8_9________________________________11_9______________________________
D______________6_7_9___________________________________________13_11_9______________________
A________6_7_9_________________________________________________________12_11_9______________
E__5_7_9_______________________________________________________________________12_11_9_7_5__

There are countless ways to alter these modes into 8 tone, 9 tone, 10 tone scales etc.

This one example below will be the easiest for most of you to work with. It's the same Lydian mode scale but it's now an 8 tone version. All I've done below is leave the 4th in the Major scale and add in a sharp 4th.

This is how many players would use this mode. You get the best of both worlds. You get the whole Major scale (Ionian) plus you get the feel of the Lydian mode.

This gives you an extra note to work with. These 8 tone and even 9 and 10 tone scales are covered in graphic detail on the Play that THANG CD ROM. If you don't understand these types of scale I highly recommend the CD to you.

E________________________________________9_10_11_12_11_10_9______________________________________________
B______________________________7_9_10_12____________________12_10_9______________________________________
G______________________6_7_8_9______________________________________11_9_________________________________
D________________6_7_9___________________________________________________13_12_11_9______________________
A________5_6_7_9____________________________________________________________________12_11_9_7_6_5_4_2_0__
E__5_7_9_________________________________________________________________________________________________

All D#'s are highlighted in Yellow to show the notes that help give this its Lydian feel.

E____________________________________________________
B________9___________________2_____5-4____9 <optional___ __
G_2______9___8_______________2_____4___x_ 9___________
D_2________x_9_____________2___ 2x________ 9___________
A_0__x___________x_x_0-2---4___________________________
E____________________________________________________

E____________________________________________________
B________9___________________2_____5-4____9 <optional___ __
G________9___8_______________2_____4___x_ 9___________
D__________x_9_____________2___ 2x________ 9___________
A____0x________ __x_x_0-2---4___________________________
E____________________________________________________

E______________________________________________________________
B________9______________________9_10__10----14/////~~_14^1>release_14~_
G________9___8________9_8_9---11________________________________
D__________x_9___9--11__________________________________________
A____0x________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________

E______12_______12_______12________12______________________
B_14^1_____14^1______14^1______12^1_____12^1>release_12~~_______
G__________________________________________________________
D__________________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________________

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G___________________13_16_13_14_16_13~_____________
D_2---------14_13_14_16________________________________
A__________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________

E__________________________________________________________
B____12_10__9__10-9_9_9~_--sl dwn--______5-4__5_5-4__4----9~______
G_9x__9__9__9___9___9_9~_--sl dwn--___4x_4____4_4___ 4----9~______
D__________________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________________
E__________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________
B________9__________________________2_____5-4____9 <optional___________
G________9___8_--sl dwn--_______________2_____4___x_ 9_--sl dwn--__________
D__________x_9_--sl dwn--_____________2___ 2x________ 9_--sl dwn--__________
A______________ ________x_x_0-2---4__________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________