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Modal Pentatonic Scales Guitar Lesson – Lydian Mode

In guitar lessons home, Intermediate Guitar Lessons | on April, 07, 2011 | by | 26 Comments

In this free video guitar lesson we will take a look at how to use basic pentatonic scale shapes to create modal sounds. For this lesson we will concentrate on playing the Lydian mode while using only the 5 basic pentatonic scale shapes.

The beauty in this kind of study is that you can play true modal improvisations by just using the basic pentatonic scales that are familiar already to most guitar players.

The video starts with me doing a short improvisation in A Lydian. You can download the backing track that I am improvising over below.

A Lydian Backing Track mp3 *Please right-click the link and download the mp3 to your computer.

After you get a good handle on soloing throughout A Lydian, try your hand at creating your own backing tracks or finding some around the web that will enable your to use this simple modal pentatonic method in other keys.

Hope you guys have fun and please remember that your Premium Subscriptions and Donations are the only thing that enable me to continue these FREE video guitar lessons and backing tracks. Thanks!! Carl..

Modal Pentatonic Scales Guitar Lesson – Lydian Mode

26 Responses

04.07.11

Awesome lesson. I learned a lot from it… Thank you very much!
You’re a great teacher! I like the way you explain the content. Well done and again, Thanks.
Dann
USA

04.07.11

Hey Carl.. thanks for the video. Awesome as always. :)

Some wheels started turning in my head while I was playing along with the backing track, but I am not really makin any sense of it in my head. :D

It seems like the E major pentatonic fits really well with these chords too, and from what I can tell, the E major pentatonic is exactly the same as the B major pent except for a single note! (D# instead of E)

Is this some sort of modal pentatonic as well? (P.S. I hope this didn’t confuse anyone!)

04.07.11

Hi Carl,

I don’t quite understand why shifting the A major pentatonic scale by 2 frets will make it fit into A lydian.
Can you kind of explain why does the B Major Pentatonic scale fits in the A Lydian?

Thanks in advance,
Frank

04.07.11

Hey Ajo, your are correct the E Major Pentatonic sounds good to. It does this because all of the notes fall within an A Major tonality without the fourth so it doesn’t clash with the #11. I have some more of these types of lessons coming where we will get the other modes from this simple process as well. I think Dorian will be next. :D

Carl..

04.07.11

Hey Frank, it is because the notes that are produced by playing the B major pentatonic scale over an A Lydian harmony produce the sound of Lydian. It does this because the B Major Pent. has the major 3rd and more importatnly the #4 of the A Lydian mode in it. Combine that with the A Lydian harmony and viola, you have a Lydian sound. I will be ding this same process with the other modes as well and I think you will understand the process more the more modes I do. :D

Cheers!! Carl..

04.07.11

Very nice lesson very cool the backing track too thanks a lot !!! = )

04.07.11

great stuff Carl,
I have been looking for someone or some book or video to tell me how to apply the basic things that I know to make them sound more complex or sophisticated. thanks and keep up the good work.

04.07.11

PDF file of lesson?

04.07.11

What are the chords used in the backing track? Thanks. :D

04.07.11

Hey Michael, no I didn’t do any PDF for this lesson since I am only talking about the pentatonic forms that I had already shown and made PDF’s for in my pentatonic scale lessons that are found in the Intermediate Guitar Lessons archive. That should give you all the scale forms you need for this kind of thing. :D

Carl..

04.07.11

Hey Rafael, I am basically just switching from a A maj. add9 #11 chord to a regular old A Major chord during the more rhythmic strumming parts. And for the softer arpeggiated picking parts I am playing a different voicing of A maj. add9 #11 to an A Maj. add 9 chord. :D

Cheers!! Carl..

04.07.11

Yeah Just Finished the Video. haha i’m just amaze Thanks for the vidz :D Keep on posting Rock on! \m/,
Rogie
Philippines

04.07.11

Thanks for the lesson. Great as usual!

Also, nice UNC t-shirt!

04.07.11

Oh yeah, I think I have every UNC shirt ever made. :D

04.07.11

Carl,

Your website is great. I really enjoy the Eric Johnson style pentatonic lesson you previously posted…

In regard to the current (modal pentatonic) lesson, can you comment on the style of improvisation you are using? Are you playing the major pentatonic scale up and down the neck? It is obvious that you are doing much more than simply playing a scale in a single position. Can you give me any pointers?

Thanks again and keep the great lessons coming!

Regards,
Lowell
Dallas, TX

04.07.11

Hey Lowell, all of the improvisation at the beginning of the video is just me playing B Major pentatonic scales up and down the neck. Doing that over an A Lydian harmony is what creates that Lydian sound.

As for tips on how to break out of playing in one position, I think it mostly comes down to visualization of the scale forms. I have an entire series of lessons on the pentatonic scales in the Intermediate section of the lessons archive. In those lessons I talk about how I choose to visualize the pentatonic scale all over the neck.

Check out those lessons and let me know what you think. :D

Cheers! Carl..

04.07.11

Hey Carl,
Is this approach to Modal Improvisation known as Pentatonic Substitution ?
A Lydyian = Key Of E
B Major = Dominant of E
Therefore the resulting notes from the B Major Pentatonic , B C# D# F# G# or G# Minor Pentatonic are notes from the A Lydian Scale ?
Therefore if we take the Dominant Key , of the Key of any given mode , we can improvise with the resulting Dominant Pentatonic Scale ?
ie
D Dorian = Key Of C , therefore we use G Major Pentatonic or E Minor Pentatonic
E Dorian = Key of D , therefore we use the A Major or F# Pentatonic Scale etc ? Thanks ..this should open many new doors if this is the case

04.07.11

Carl,

This was a groundbreaking lesson for me! Not only did I get the “quick access” to Lydian using the Pentatonic forms, it triggered me more to using the Major Pentatonic forms – or better said – “seeing” them more on the fretboard. For some reason this unlocked the fretboard more than anything.

One question though. What do I “look for” when choosing to lay Lydian down during a solo. This backing track is obviously great for this, but what do I look for in order for this to be a good choice. I undertstand A Major is a possibility, but not all chord progressions around A Major will fit, correct?

Thanks,

Joel Powell
Ann Arbor, MI

04.07.11

Question: How does that get to be an “A lydian” pentationic scale?
There are 5 notes B C# D#F# G#, but no “A”. Add the “A” and that’s
six notes not 5. Shouldn’t we be building a 5 tone scale from “A” the forth tone of E Major? I’m confused.

04.07.11

Hey Paul, the root tone would be taken care of with the harmony that you are soling over (ie A major type harmony).

The tone that give Lydian it’s sound is the #4 scale degree which in this case is the D#. So playing that note over a major harmony would give you a Lydian sound immediately. All the other tones are form the regular major scale and can be included or not depending on what you want to use. Since we are using pentatonic scales here there will only be 5 notes to play with so some will be left out. The idea is just to place the pentatonic scale in a position on the fretboard where it includes all the essential notes for a particular mode, there for attaining that sound.

Cheers! Carl..

04.07.11

Lydian is probably Satriani’s favorite mode as well.. great lesson… looking forward to seeing the next classes on modes… thanks for your lessons. For the first time I think I will be able to put my personality on my playing… I’ve been looking for this for such a long time.

04.07.11

Very useful Thank you so much :)

04.07.11

Hi, great website, thanks
I see you did the Modal Pentatonic Scales “Lydian”

When will you do other modal scales?

04.07.11

Hey Angelo, thanks for checking out my lessons!

Yes I do plan on tackling the other modes as well. However, I think I am gonna put it in a complete guitar course for mastering pentatonics that will be coming up in a couple months. :)

Cheers! Carl..

04.07.11

what lesson should i start to learn with improvise

04.07.11

Hey Carl, i really appreciate & understand your way of teaching…thanks a lot buddy.. .i’ll wait some guitar lessons & technic from you my mentor…thanks..! cheersssss…

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