Exploring Lydian - Everything You Need To Know (and possibly more)

[@arthurmee]

This is superb. Your tutorials are so helpful and beautifully presented. No padding . . just pure content. Thank you.

[@yardy88]

After what... 15 years of guitar I feel like I might have found the key to actually understanding theory and it's this channel

[@reinortega23]

What took you so long?

[@codemans22]

make a circle of fifth you can physically use, made wonders to my life

[@rda51]

Once again, perfectly explained and presented. Fretjam has the best guitar theory videos on youtube! Thanks so much and great work 👍

[@thedailydecipherwithshanep7855]

That might have been the most informative mode video I’ve ever seen!!! Saved and will be studying!!! Thank you!!

[@martinkingston1498]

Your lessons are amongst the VERY best of what is available on the internet. Thanks for all of the effort.

[@MarcosJ-mq4lk]

These are amazing lessons.....Markedly different to all other lessons ive tried thus far on YT and ive been on here since 2007

[@Ronno4691]

03:59 to 04:12 is truly sublime. A brilliant way to demonstrate the tonal difference between the two scales. Fretjam is quality. Just watched this to the end....what a feast of musical knowledge this lesson is AND there's an accompanying online lesson on the Fretjam website!

[@nicolasforfant484]

Each new lesson I follow triggers one or more exhilarating "Ahaaa Moments" of "Now I Get It"! You are definitely the BEST on KZbin. A MILLION THANKS TO YOU!!!

[@richatlarge462]

Just watched this video in 2021: excellent! It's funny reading all the comments, with the same pattern of "You made a mistake", followed by the host's explanation, followed by "Oops my bad". I'm not a good guitar player at all, but I do play piano and I get the theory. All the modes use the same major scale, just starting from a different note and making that note the new root to which things resolve. In the case of Lydian, it's the 4th position. But when creating music, do whatever sounds good. I just fiddled with a chord progression of Dmaj7, Amaj7, Fmaj7, Cmaj7, then resolving on Amaj7. What modes are involved? Don't know, don't care.

[@michaelkennedy5126]

Best explanation of how to use modes on all of the Internet. Thank you very much.

[@averyamadeusjacobson2650]

This is by far the best explained and presented guitar lessons on youtube.

[@shoresportsman]

I literally can't thank you enough for all these tutorial. You make them so simple and straight forward and easy to understand. I feel like I've learned more over the couple days on your channel than in months of picking through various other youtube videos.

[@techoutperthsmobileitsuppo2530]

I like your emphasis on internalising the spacial and emotive qualities of the modes, because these are the musical aspects of intervals

[@andrejz8954]

Amazing lesson, and I really mean it! Your stuff is appreciated beyond expression. Always being 100% thorough and then somehow seems to keep giving that bonus tricks and stuff. Really amazing stuff, thank you!

[@metallicaspiker16]

The Steve Vai scale (as I call it). In my opinion, this is one of the best groupings of notes ever created alongside Phrygian Dominant, Whole-half Diminished, and the Hirajoshi scale. All cool stuff 😊

[@wfly81]

I think of it as the Satriani mode, so...yeah...pretty much.

[@metalore]

I like to call it the Fire Garden scale. I don't know why, I attribute that sound most to that album.

[@cal_blac]

This is probably the best explanation of a mode I’ve come across so far. So many details in this that make it more comprehensive and also just easier to understand. Subbed.

[@jacobjosephgoudreault3114]

Where has this video been all mylife??? Thank you so much!

[@zipperhead101]

I keep coming back to this one. Actually, to all of your vids. Thank you very much!

[@MK-tj5bf]

The best explanation ever about modes. Thank you!!!

[@ryanryan3945]

Wow. The best, most informative tutorial about the lydian scale I can find. Well done.

[@fretjamguitar]

Thank you sir for your time with this.

[@jamessamontinamusic9388]

This video is for everybody! even a slow learner like me can understand this lesson, I can't thank you enough for your time to do this. :) Sorry for my bad English hehe I'm from the Philippines 😉

[@scottwheeler7615]

Your English is fine dude 👍

[@dakinmaher4522]

What's really weird is I know all this. But you are putting it in a perspective that I can apply with more ease while playing. I thank you for that. Liked, subscribed & shared with my son. He is a beginner/ moving to intermediate soon😀 Thank you again

[@frannyp46]

Wonderful insightful and well explained.The bit where you said play g Lydian a fifth away at d major has opened things up for me.Thank you

[@deusexmusica803]

Amazing, thank you! Lydian sounds so bright and beautiful

[@scottverni8333]

What a great explanation. Love these videos I can actually learn from.

[@wdmontgomery]

One of if not the best teachers out there ....

[@justincase6151]

These videos are presented in a very common sense way. Absolutely amazing presentation.

[@krudler406]

is this the greatest channel on KZbin? yes, yes it is.

[@billhall6625]

thank you . I've been playing forever and you keep me learning new things.

[@resb1714]

It can't get any better then Fretjam! Thank you for another great lesson!!!

[@Stenoky]

you are the best teacher here! well explained. thank you sir

[@extrememind100]

Hands down the best channel ever

[@joerobinson2538]

12:16 Here Comes My Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers😀 that song always fascinated me as a kid and now I know why! Lydian!🎸🤟🏻

[@fearlessfrankie6479]

This opened up another door for me & it was staring at me all this time! Thanks

[@jbasalo1970]

Absolutelty perfect video. You're the best online guitar teacher no doubt. Thanks a lot.

[@lemlavarin]

The KZbin teacher I always wanted but couldn’t find 🙏🏾😭

[@KUM0]

Best theory videos I've ever witnessed, superb

[@MichaelLeeMetalProject]

just let the tonic ring out whilst playing the scale and the Lydian sound comes to life. But without the tonic being played over the scale, I find it a bit difficult to distinguish the mode. Great lesson as always!

[@fretjamguitar]

It's true it does lose its quality a bit when you're playing it away from the tonic (such as the examples shown from 3:28). But Lydian can also help to melodically "blend" maj7 movements away from the tonic. Depending on how quick the chord changes are, you might not pick up on that #4 quality. But it does give us a reliable bunch of tones to cover those more rebellious maj7 chords.

[@dougcameron6609]

fretjam Interesting because he meant the scale in with nothing else while you were thinking over another chord than the root during a progression. In what way are you meaning rebellious?

[@fretjamguitar]

@@dougcameron6609 Sorry I may have misunderstood Michael's comment. I was thinking more about playing Lydian in the tonic position of a progression vs away from the tonic and how that effects its sound. Something I was thinking about a lot when making this video. By rebellious I mean maj7 chords that aren't strictly a part of a "natural" key and can often throw us. For example bII, bIII, bVI and bVII in major keys. If a maj7 occurs on these degrees, Lydian (on the same root as the chord) is a reliable way of playing through them.

[@MichaelLeeMetalProject]

@@dougcameron6609 You can apply my statement over a scale or over another chord besides the root in the progression. I'm sorry for not making that more clearer there, doug

[@dalvoenriquescarpa]

Man!!! this is the best lesson on this topic, ever.

[@AUGOM0919]

Oh my gooseneck why didn't i knew about your channel..? I'm having info overload right now.. But this is superb i swear.

[@MrRossleb]

This is genius. thank you for so much detail and depth.

[@carlosrelampago2279]

Finaly a great video for those who are studying the secrets...👍

[@robertobaldizon8206]

The best lesson on the topic. Thank you very much...!!!

[@calfee62]

Fantastically valuable. Thank you! Cheers!

[@quijanofitzgeraldl.2980]

A legendary lesson from youu broo. Helped so much🤘 keep it up. This is the best channel for music theories. Just saying. Love it

[@kytronnbueno1428]

Thank You for The Informative Lessons. Merry Christmas, Wishing You a Healthy, Happy & Prosperous New Year.

[@苏一旺]

Best guitar theory videos on youtube!

[@chriscircelli8821]

This is a great lesson!!! A lot of your licks are very much reminiscent of Steve Lukathers playing-who is an outstanding player.Tasty bluesy rock with some nice outside playing with a bit of a dirty tone, and a nice tone you have as well! Well done mate.

[@vicentesalvadorpitrelli2092]

Gracias fretjam ,excelente,saludos desde Argentina !!!

[@rickdiaz7239]

This is college level stuff he's teaching you for free! Great stuff, and best wishes..

[@quijanofitzgeraldl.2980]

First video that i saw from your chnnel but gives great impact to me. I like your approach on how you teach these topics. Auto subscribe for you my friend👍

[@roshanvarghese7729]

Superb content. Very informative

[@sassyguitars]

Love learning theory, you have a good way of laying it out, Keep it coming.

[@ryansimone471]

Question - at 3:33 you talk about how Ionian tends to be used for the major key tonic (as in over the I chord), with lydian covering any major 7th chords that might occur away from it then show a diagram showing A as the root note and Amaj7 as the tonic chord. What I think you mean is if you're playing any other chords in that key that are major 7 chords, you can play lydian over them? So for example you could play C Lydian over the bIII chord in this example? By the way what key is that that has all those major flat 7s? Thanks!

[@fretjamguitar]

Yes that diagram was an example of some common maj7 lydian chords occuring away from an Amaj tonic. It would be the key of A assuming the progression resolves on A.

[@markjohnson9485]

Amazing lesson!!! So very useful, Thank you!!!

[@acepaul407]

Over the years, the way I learned the flavor of each mode is to concentrate on the notes that are sharp/flat from the major scale. In the case of Lydian, I make sure the #4 is really emphasized in my soloing/progression. If not, it's going to sound like a major scale. For the Mixolydian I make sure the b7 is emphasized or else it's going to sound major.

[@luisarmenta2619]

I'm struggling, but I think I understand and hopefully explain to anybody stuck/ correct me if I'm wrong also. So in the most simple way possible: Every chord has a mode For example: I want to play A lydian. To do this, someone can play an A major chord. I then can use the D Major scale pattern, it will contain all the notes in A lydian (6:46) Ok, now that I know the pattern, I can focus what notes to land on. You have to play the #4 to get a Lydian feel. (this note is the same as the 7th if you know the D major scale pattern intervals), also try to play the triad of the chord which is the 1,3,5, and 7. (which is the 4th, 6th, 1st, and 3rd of a Dmajor scale pattern respectively) What I guess is the thing I don't get, is how to seamlessly change between the patterns. It is tedious to do this for me at the moment. Remembering what intervals correspond from a mode to it's parent major scale is hard. If anyone has tips/other ways to do this that would help.

[@joaquimalvesferreira9125]

thank you fretjam , very good.

[@andreaspammer6542]

Perfect lesson wonderful

[@ArnaudEvens]

Very helpful lesson!! However, I want to learn more about the maj7 chords away from the tonic other than the IV, like on the bII and the bIII (around 3:30). Any suggestions?

[@fretjamguitar]

What would you like to know about them?

[@ArnaudEvens]

@@fretjamguitar Well I particularly like the AM7-C#m7-CM7-Esus progression, and the color the CM7 adds to the progression. However I don't really understand how this CM7 'works' in the progression. I would say you're playing a 1-3-b3-5 progression relative to the A major key, but I don't get why this b3 can be a M7 chord. I understand you can play Lydian over these chords, but in terms of songwriting I don't understand the M7 chords in between the chords of the major diatonic harmony. Is there some lesson or topic I should cover to get a hold of this?

[@ArnaudEvens]

I think the concept I was looking for was 'borrowed chords'? On which you have a great lesson by the way! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHuzloGPgJucfc0

[@fretjamguitar]

@@ArnaudEvens I picked up this comment very late but if you haven't seen it yet, I have a lesson that might help with this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqi2nq17aKp5q6M

[@greghaislip]

Outstanding lesson! Thank you!

[@luciano7057]

Awesome lessons, thank you

[@jahissa]

Absolutely Brilliant Thank you My teacher

[@graphicsociety1]

Another amazing lesson!

[@markandoyo7575]

Are they the Lydian were mostly used under the Lovemaking sounds like smooth Jazz or the Motown Jazz?

[@Chavilbus]

Thanks, excellent Lesson !

[@sttarch5150]

At 4:38, how is GM7 in the A Maj scale? Is that a key change?

[@fretjamguitar]

This was an example of how Lydian can be played over maj7 chords that lie outside the parent scale of the key. The progression still resolves to A major, but Gmaj7 is like an "outside" chord that can be covered by G Lydian.

[@muzikgarage]

BRILLIANT CONTENT

[@matthewnunez6559]

YES!!! Love your videos. Thank you.

[@johnl.6930]

Unbelievable!!!! Thank you so much! In order for me to feast on just one video I’ll need to take little bites, swallow and digest!

[@musicmind2013]

great idea mike

[@daisolokh8212]

Thank you to make me understand teacher ❤🎉

[@GuitarZer0o0o]

Absolutely amazing lessons ! Question - at 4:07 - from A Ionian to Cmaj7 - is that a borrowed chord ? Because C does not come as a MAJ in the key of A. Thanks

[@fretjamguitar]

Sure you could see it as borrowed from the natural A minor key. Lydian will give it a slightly different feel.

[@GuitarZer0o0o]

fretjam thank you! I get it now - this is awesome!! You are awesome ..

[@pedrobravo4404]

Very helpful, thanks!!

[@Javier-qk7ms]

This is gold

[@minor9439]

This is awesome thanks

[@x2mars]

Thank you! 😊

[@parhar1065]

It’s so beautiful but I don’t know how to play it but I love it and my English is too weak so I don’t know all what you use to saying. It’s was beautiful explaining.

[@fretjamguitar]

Are you more comfortable with reading English text? My northern accent can be a bit unclear! It's all transcribed on the lesson page.

[@parhar1065]

Yeah I am more comfortable with English and text.

[@parhar1065]

reading*

[@merttalay9702]

Can you do a video about functional harmony like mediant Subdominant minor tonality major tonality and modal interchange

[@ShinyFlakesShinyFlakes]

I am now a master of the Lydian mode. Hey Ladies!! 😉

[@guismth]

Awesome!

[@lauroneto3360]

Superb

[@nemoniemand320]

For some reason when playing Lydian my ear always wants to resolve to the 7th degree of the scale, to the point where the modal tonic note feels unresolved until flattened to its 7th degree. I don't know if this is common but it's puzzling because an A over an AM7 chord should feel just as or more resolved than a G#, no?

[@fretjamguitar]

You know, I hear the same! And I've only recently observed this in my own playing. The lydian tonic does often sound a bit TOO consonant, if that makes sense. It's almost like the #4 sets the path towards avoiding that tonic sound. I know exactly what you mean. It could be because the #4 is a perfect 5th from the 7. There's something so resolutely attractive about perfect 5ths in music. I think the answers lie in psychoacoustics and how certain frequencies relate to one another. But I totally agree, the lydian tonic is not as "strong" as it is in other major scales. Very thought provoking to read your comment!

[@CMM5300]

Great lesson. 1 more thing, the lydian triad 1 #4 5 aka sus#4

[@Antoniol705]

There's one thing I don't understand. Why in the key of A Major you use Cmaj7. Shouldn't it be C#maj7?

[@wilisjaya2368]

Tutorial sangat membantu sekali

[@thefakengx3839]

I wonder how long this presentation takes to make though 👍🏻👍🏻🙇‍♂️

[@richardgutierrez2864]

Great video! Now I under stand how to maintain the modal sound threw out the progression

[@estebansaez2145]

Excellent!!!!

[@oPosiidon2800]

I have a chord progression and it goes Abadd9 - Bb7(11) - Db6(9), would this be in Amaj (first postion) or what?, because in the B chord there is an A lydian note being played. I'm only saying this because when I solo over it in A (I) it still works.

[@fretjamguitar]

Well the first "rule" is if it sounds good to your ears then it's worth playing. Did you mean a #11 or 11 over Bb7? If it's a #11 then one scale choice would be Bb Lydian dominant (just over the Bb7 chord). This is Lydian with a b7, connecting to the b7 being played in the chord (and the #11 if that's in the voicing).

[@oPosiidon2800]

@@fretjamguitar yeah it's a #11

[@oPosiidon2800]

Thanks :)

[@mojobluesmusic8960]

Brilliant

[@ArdaKaraduman]

Hmm, I got mixed up. Just gonna use mixolydian :)

[@davidkahan]

I guess @10:35 ? me too.

[@jwlycra]

Can someone explain the Diagram @ 3:30? It just jumps to it and I have no idea what or where this comes from.

[@fretjamguitar]

It's basically showing examples of maj7/Lydian chords that would typically appear in an A major key progression.

[@jwlycra]

@@fretjamguitarThanks. Although I'm a little off the mark in that area, since I've been watching your videos I have progressed heaps :-)

[@thuanvo8560]

Excused me Sir , I'm wonder if there's mistake in here Sir, If you choose Amaj7 as Ionian and the Lydian Mode should be Amaj7,Bmaj7,C#maj7,D#maj,F#maj,G#maj? , as your expamle in 3:33 that would be Lydian of Abmaj7, in otherway that's exp is considered as Amaj7 Phrygian??, and another , in 6:03 , you said that : " Lydian can also be seen as the fourth mode of major scale ( that's correct) for exp : F lydian would be the equivalent of playing the C major scale ( That's correct) from its fourth degree of F (That 's not correct because the C is the fifth degree of F not the fourth degree), then we have a structure : Tonic Lydian= fifth degree Major Scale,and i didn't see in your video that mentioned the Mixolydian major Scale , in the next exp you give the B Lydian= F# major scale ( The F# is the ,fifth degree Major Scale of B Major Scale, fifth degree of B not the fourth degree) , I'm know that just a little mistake and i know that you also didn't mean that mistake , because your knowlegde and the way you teach in your channel is wonderfull, i 'm just hope it can be understood perfectly.sorry for my bad english :(, trust me i don't mean to judge you :(

[@fretjamguitar]

In the first example, all you need to know is that Lydian will work over any occurrence of a maj7 chord (same root for Lydian and the chord), no matter where it occurs in a progression. The chords I displayed in that table at 3:33 were examples of where a maj7 chord might occur in the A major key, over which Lydian could work. These aren't necessarily diatonic chords, but are still used in the key. Secondly, in regards to "from its fourth degree of F" - all I meant was that F is on the fourth degree of the C major scale (C - D - E - F). I'm finding it difficult to follow your other examples and why they appear as mistakes to you, but I think there is a misunderstanding here. B Lydian is indeed the same as playing an F# major scale pattern because B lies on the 4th degree of F# major (hence 4th mode Lydian). Count the major scale degrees from F# (F# - G# - A# - B ... 1 - 2 - 3 - 4). It seems as though you're inverting the relationship which is where the confusion is arising. There are no mistakes in this video I can say that with confidence.

[@thuanvo8560]

@@fretjamguitar My bad sir, because my english is not too good and i think the exactly what you said, it's the inverting relationship..

[@wilconwel]

Amazing as always. There is not match for fretjam’s accessibility, applicability, and virtuosity.

[@ismararnautovic6551]

Still waiting for bass lessons!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

[@askgodforyou]

This is great so could you play in one scale and empathize the mode tone you want to be in and it's octave

[@KenDWebber]

Totally confusing. If I'm playing D lydian... the seventh chord is C# minor, not a Major chord as you've stated. Then on one lick you have a lydian run resolving on a 5; which would be a no no, yes, because resolving on a 5 in lydian would make your ear think you've switched back to the major key the lydian mode is borrowed from, example, with D lydian a resolve on the note A would make your ear think the song is in A Major instead of D lydian, yes? Seems like if I'm in D lydian resolving on the A note, the "V," sort of defeats the purpose of playing D lydian in the first place.

[@davemac5257]

Nothing on youtube that can match this, A plus

[@benjaminjentgen3596]

I'm really intersted in music theory and how to develop strong licks on chord progressions. However, even if I understand what a mode is, I don't understand how to play it. I mean, I like working for the moment on Am or C backtracks to memorize the positions, and I know that I may play other modes while going up and down the neck. I guess that if I want to hear a mode properly, I have to select proper backtracks (including 7th chords and such a thing), and to think about shapes to follow more strictly? I'm pretty sure I play every mode anytime because I don't know what I'm doing lmao.

[@fretjamguitar]

You can use basic major/minor tracks to explore each mode, but the best way to hear the difference is to play them in parallel. So that means, for example, over a Cmaj track (no other chords), you can try C Ionian, C Lydian, C Mixolydian. Over an Am track try A Aeolian, A Dorian, A Phrygian. Interchange between them as you wish. As you play through the modes on the same root, over the same chord (even just a power chord or bass note will do), you'll start to pick up on (and train your ear to) their subtle differences and which tones create that difference. There are also tracks specifically written for each mode, so once you can hear the parallel difference between modes, you can then look at developing them individually and take more time with the harmonic/chordal indicators for each mode. For example, in this lesson I show you a typical chord movement that implies Lydian. I also have a lesson on modal ear training that will help with this. To get you started with phrasing around a mode, think about chord tones and arpeggios first. This is like the skeleton of your licks. So that would be Cmaj and Am respectively. Then start to add in three or four note phrases from the mode of your choice around those chord tones, a bit like connect the dots. There are also runs you can learn such as the examples I gave in this lesson (three notes per string and rootless variations), which are like a more drawn out way of connecting these dots. But through all this, think about target notes that will give your runs and phrases a clear destination based around the chord you're playing over. To move beyond playing anything that sounds too linear or "scale like" (though this can often sound good), try techniques such as string skipping and more "vertical" concepts such as pedal notes. Again, feeding arpeggios into your licks will help with this. And of course, bends and slides are two ways of breaking up and punctuating your scale movements. So think about bending and sliding to strong target notes (the #4 is a good one for Lydian for example). Lots to think about! But take it in small steps. Start with basic, short phrases that build on and interject the arpeggio of the chord you're playing over. Then you can embellish those ideas gradually.

[@benjaminjentgen3596]

@@fretjamguitar Wow, thanks for this comprehensive answer :) I've already spotted some 'powerful' notes under bending or slides, and most probably its related with all of this. I could also hear sometimes that playing simple A eolian doesn't match very good some A minor progressions, maybe because they were designed for a specific mode. Many thanks!