LYDIAN HEXATONIC: WHY IT SOUNDS THUS
The Lydian Hexatonic is a hybrid,
half way between a Lydian Mode and the very mild, homogenous Pentatonic
scale. To build this scale, the 7th
step of the Lydian is removed.
When this is done, the sound becomes slightly Oriental, but less so,
because the raised 4th is still present, so a tritone still exists,
unlike a Pentatonic which has no 4th step and no tritone. What occurs with the Lydian Pentatonic:
the tritone is present but cannot resolve properly, leaving a slightly haunting
sound.
A Lydian Hexatonic works well when
played over a 7sus chord, so it sounds very well in the 12 bar blues. Before leaving the theoretical study of
the scale, I’ll dissect it and form some permutations. It can of course be played just as a
scale. Ordering the notes in consecutive ascending and descending fourths creates
a very interesting stack toped by an augmented fourth. Using 5 notes, a ‘So What’ chord can be
created. Starting with the tonic
of the scale and ascending, using all the notes in intervals of a third will reveal
a 69 Augmented 11 chord. Play patterns that place the notes of your underlying
chord on downbeats, as is also true of the Augmented and Diminished scale. Here are some musical examples to demonstrate
the above information.
I will give the example on a F7sus,
but the successful student will transpose the examples to all 12 keys.
Please indulge, inspect, and enjoy this study and please let me
hear your comments and feedback.
Sincerely,
Errol Weiss Schlabach
No comments:
Post a Comment