Ive got a spanish guitar magazine which has an article about the Lydian mode. In the example they bring a A lydian (whcih it's an E major isn't it?). But it adds that this A lydian mode can be played with a G# minor pentatonic scale.(This note is the seventh degree of th lydian mode - the third in the major scale). Now I'm confused . Could you help me to see the light in this tunnel?
A Lydian = A-B-C#-D#-E-F#-G#
G# minor pentatonic = G#-B-C#-D#-F#
So... all the notes of G# minor pentatonic are contained in A Lydian (this is true of several other modes - pentatonics are a reduction of the major scale, so you'll get all kinds of overlap like this).
So you could play G# minor pentatonic over an A major progression and get a Lydian sound (because of the D#), but you cannot play "in A Lydian" by using the G# pentatonic minor, because the tonic is missing.
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Thanks a lot Noteboat..geez you're fast!....One more question, How should I know which pentatonic fits the lydian mode (in this example)? I mean why didn't they choose another degree of the scale ?
Well, you need one that has the Lydian "note" - in this case, the D#. Since the pentatonic scale has just five notes, there will be five scales that have that note. I'll write these out with sharps so you can see them clearly, but most would normally be written with flats:
D#-F#-G#-A#-C#
C-D#-F-G-A#
A#-C#-D#-F(or E#)-G#
G#-B-C#-D#-F#
F-G#-A#-C-D#
When you compare those to the key of A, four of them won't work that well - because they have A#, and other notes that conflict with the key of A.
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So you could play G# minor pentatonic over an A major progression and get a Lydian sound (because of the D#), but you cannot play "in A Lydian" by using the G# pentatonic minor, because the tonic is missing.
I reread both posts and now I undertood them quite well.
Thanks a lot again Noteboat!!
NoteBoat has it right. Another way to look at it (the way I learned it at Univ. of Miami) is that G# min pent is also B pent maj. They are relative scales (B major is relative to G#min). The rule I learned was that to play a pent and get a lydian sound over the major chord that is sounding, you play a major pent a whole step (2 frets) up from the root of the chord.
So, if Cmaj7 is being played by the piano and you want to solo with a lydian sound, then you play D maj pent (D, E, F#, A, B)
Have fun,
Robert
NoteBoat has it right. Another way to look at it (the way I learned it at Univ. of Miami) is that G# min pent is also B pent maj. They are relative scales (B major is relative to G#min). The rule I learned was that to play a pent and get a lydian sound over the major chord that is sounding, you play a major pent a whole step (2 frets) up from the root of the chord.
So, if Cmaj7 is being played by the piano and you want to solo with a lydian sound, then you play D maj pent (D, E, F#, A, B)
Have fun,
Robert
Thank you Robert!
and welcome to the forum! I hope to see you your posts often.
All the best
