George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept Critical Review: Part 5

[@docwallacemusic]

Thank you for returning to this series! I appreciate your thoroughness, as well as your adhering to the text. As you point out, many of the critics of LCCTO do not understand it. IMHO, the proof is in the pudding. The music generated by Russell, Tyner, Coletrane, Davis, etc., speaks for itself. The first time I sat down and tried all of Russell's seven principal scales (using F as lydian tonic) over a G7 chord, I was stunned. Each scale worked for improvisation and offered up far more chromatic possibilities than the usual chord-scale approach. While there may be aspects of Russell's theory that seem arbitrary or confusing, it holds up in practice, and it holds up aurally. I'll look forward to Part 6 and what follows; be well and stay well!

[@dannyfratina3901]

Bravo on this series. Russell's work is so misunderstood today and Confident KZbin Guys have made the situation worse I think. Depth and pacing is important for really understanding complex topics and this series is getting through it really well. I also loved your Parker series. There is so much lazy mythology in jazz and we in the community will gain so much more if we untangle and debunk all of it.

[@ZRJZZZZZ]

In the classical tradition, D-flat‘s relationship to C is substantial. The first inversion of a D-flat major chord is known as the Neapolitan Sixth. Another way of looking at it is that it is based upon the tritone relationship to the Dominant, G7.

[@robertgwatts1858]

Thanks, man. I need to read Russell's book. You now have me convinced that this is an easier way of looking at modern harmony. 👍

[@Thayne2222]

dude I just want to say as a guitar player the "melodic minor on the b9 of the V chord" is so damn pervasive and yeah, thinking of it as b7 lydian makes SOO much more sense and is way less clunky. Love this series.

[@vinisilva_guitar]

When I understood the chordmode concept and tonal gravity(vertical tonal gravity, horizontal tonal gravity and supravertical tonal gravity) now I know what I can play over any chord even the most random note choice. Now we can create so many possibilities to play over any type of sound. Understanding supravertical tonal gravity we can relate an entire piece of music to one supravertical lydian tonic(any of the 12 lydian chromatic tonics can be supravertical) from the most ingoing to the most outgoing and any of then offers differents possibilities to create melodies and harmonies. Horizontal tonal gravity is simple just keep in mind three things: Horizontal melody, vertical tonal gravity and tonic station. Any chord(vertical representation of some lydian tonic) that harmonize some melody(horizontal lydian tonic) at given time, that's the vertical tonal gravity happening at the same time over the horizontal melody. Any major/minor scale who have the avoid note(F in C major scale or A minor scale or any chromatic variation of major and minor scales) that note wants to resolve to the major chord or the relative minor that's why it's horizontal(It's goal oriented). Tonic station is the last chord you play at the last phrase/end of the melody. When you end on any major or minor chord like for example playing a melody in C major scale and ends with Eb6 that's the tonic station. If you end your same melody in c major with Emaj7(#5) now the the tonic station is E lydian. Why the E lydian sound more strong in cadence than the Eb lydian? That's because in the Horizontal Tonal Gravity C lydian is the primary tonic and all the gravity relates to the horizontal melody(in Horizontal Tonal Gravity). E lydian sound more strong in cadence because E lydian it's above C lydian (C) G D A E and Eb lydian sounds less strong because is bellow C lydian Eb Bb F ( C ) . Why the F in C major is a avoid note in C major chord? That's because this dissonant note(11 T.O in C Lydian Cromatic) is the lydian tonic(F Lydian) that's why Russel says C major chord don't came from the major scale because of it's duality, C horizontal scale wants to resolve to C major chord wich is a vertical representation of it's lydian tonic but C major horizontal scale is F lydian too.

[@ziqinggu6085]

Best Vedio for learning Lydian Chromatic Concept, although it's a critical review.

[@ericcalonico5621]

Please continue with the series...

[@WaterTowerBand]

Dude. you are my hero.

[@unsatura]

yes, i thought it was contrived when i learnt that the alt dominant was made from 1, b4 and b7 of the locrian b4, ie., the 7th mode of the melodic minor .... it sticks out like a sore thumb after the beautiful scheme of chords scales in thirds ... it felt like such a blemish ... my ODC was acting up

[@WaterTowerBand]

I think you are going to change the way we understand the concept for a modern age.

[@inFAMOUSgagimeister]

I love these videos! thank you for making them! :D

[@bennybe1977]

As a bass player I think Ricks approach is easier from visual guitarist POV, since in strings a mode/chord is a pattern, many guitar\bass players (me included) would find it easier to implement as a mode from half step up, that's how many of us think (see Nashville's numeric system). When you think notes (piano/brass/composing...) I get why it looks more complicated.

[@juliasmith9747]

Russell has some interesting ideas, but take not to confuse Db b7th with Db 7. This chord is of course ambiguous, a tension creating device, and can be read as in Ab minor or as a decoration of the gravitational power of G. In its ambiguity lies the nature of its function.

[@fattymusic7274]

He’s just reinventing the wheel, maybe even a square one.

[@justusotter5388]

Very nice one! Big fan of this series, especially considering the other videos about the subject which frankly are neither detailed nor any good or accurate. I have read the first half of the book myself, but found his explanations (and especially justifications) rather confusing. That's why I am excited for the next episodes! But I must say, that the things I learned so far were either too abstract for usage (as the tone order of tonal gravity), or too trivial to be of much use, like in this video. It may just be me, but it appears perfectly natural to me to think of the altered scale in the way proposed in this video, so the Lydian Chromatic concept did not really facilitate any of this. I am a big fan of abstract theory, but I feel that Russel's concept can have practical application outside analysis too, like in improvisation. But I have not discovered these aspects yet. Meanwhile I have developed my own, obviouslyless elegant and less mature concept of tonal organisation, hevily influenced by Russel, but also others. So my hope for this series is that I can enrich this concept to encompass even more.

[@bebopreview3187]

I'll be showing you how to simplify the scale usage for more practical purpose eventually (don't know if Russell devotees will approve though)

[@SzamaNi-v7u]

Thank you so much! I love your videos! I was always interested in LCC. The book was very hard for me to comprehend in the beginning. Since I found your channel I started understanding more and more about this concept and it was easier for me to grasp the knowledge in this book. Thank you so much once again for the hard work you put into this project. Is there any way to contact you other than YT comment? I would love to ask you some questions about planning an improvisation using this concept. Take care!

[@johnjacquard863]

i like to think of G7 ALT as Db7 Eb7 Fmin7b5 Gmin7b5 just in the sense of voicings

[@vinisilva_guitar]

As you probably may know(If you do someone may not know)any random voicing can be a lydian chordmode. Db7 can be C Auxiliary Dominant Blues(Whole Tone-Tone scale, Dominant Diminished), F Auxiliary Diminished Scale, B Lydian, B lydian Diminished, B Lydian Augmented, or any lydian scale you can create containing all the tonal orders inside a lydian tonic. You can play F lydian #5 #9 to solo over Db7 chord for example. Even If you Just play F lydian works too because you're in the consonant nucleous.(9 T.O)

[@attuneu]

could someone tell me what the piece of music is preceeding this episode, its wonderful as is this series.Many thanks for your work

[@bebopreview3187]

The music is called Ezz-thetic composed by George Russell and featured on his 1956 jazz workshop recording - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2aYeKOda6Z-oq8

[@attuneu]

Thanks Andy love your work and generosity

[@visog]

Good series - pace is good for me. Complex theory needs time and clarity

[@WaterTowerBand]

at 2:57 I think you meant to say "Con SO nant" nucleus?

[@bebopreview3187]

I also mean to say Lydian but also end up saying Lydia which is less forgiving. Yorkshire Accent. If I spoke in my true Yorkshire voice you wouldn't understand a word. 'Ah Bob sez to thar Bob that if thar Bob dunt gi ah bob that bob that thar bob owes ah bob. Ah bobs gunner gi tha bob a bob in i' which roughly translates in Queens English ' Our Robert says to your Robert that if your Robert does not give that shilling (5 pence) that your Robert owes our Robert. Our Robert is going to give your Robert a punch in the eye' A bit like cockney rhyme, a very fast way of speaking but only understandable to other Yorkshire folk. To answer your question Yes that is what I should have said.

[@WaterTowerBand]

@@bebopreview3187 ahhahah thanks for that explanation. You really are an amazing mind, and I can't WAIT for more. I think you are the foremost authority on this subject on youtube. Thanks to you, I am going to finally attempt to apply The Concept to bluegrass music. Your accent is very nice to listen to!

[@bebopreview3187]

@@WaterTowerBand Are you Kenny Feinstein? If so I wouldn't take Jacqueline Einil that seriously. Check her maths and you will see that there are not 144 intervals in the lydian chromatic scale nor 81 in Consonant nucleus nor 49 in the lydian scale. She is squaring the number Ei (sum) = n2 (the number squared). The maths is actually Ei = ((n-1)+(n-2) + (n-3)....+(n-n)) I will be speaking on this in the next episode when I have the time to make it.

[@WaterTowerBand]

@@bebopreview3187 wow... thank goodness for your brain. I hadn't even thought about checking the math, I am SUPER grateful for you. Patiently awaiting your next video! and yes, Kenny is Water Tower hehehe thats me!

[@ronmitchmusic4154]

Yeah... but it's still just the same group of notes thought isn't it. Ab Melodic minor = G Altered = Db Lydian flat seventh(aka. Db Lydian dominant) = any other mode of Ab Melodic minor scale. I want to disagree with what you are saying here, but I don't know how to; because it's all basically the same thing said differently but folks are putting it forth that the way they are saying it is the way that makes the most sense...

[@bebopreview3187]

Not really, I don't really think you have got it. What you are saying is what most people think - and I also thought before I read the book. When people write things in books about Lydian scales they are expressing their thoughts in the Major Minor tonal system -as you are. The Lydian Chromatic system of Russell's always includes the whole Chromatic spectrum of notes in western music and each chord root becomes it's own tonal center. So George Russell I believe, would see G Alt as Db7/G with Db as the tonal root of the chord. Now it is easy to substitute all the scales of the LCC with the same root. The Berklee system cannot do that as it is a simple matching of chord to scale. I do show a simpler way of using the LCC as we go through this series, but this is just an introduction for those who find understanding the book difficult as well as a critical review.

[@ronmitchmusic4154]

@@bebopreview3187 Thank you for your reply. I have been enjoying the series up to here, and will continue watching the rest of it. Looking forward to more elucidation. And again thank you for responding to my comment. Cheers.

[@fryingwiththeantidote2486]

14:00 hahaha, harry potter and the return of the lydian chromatic concept

[@johnjacquard863]

the Lydian b7 is def a alt chord

[@johnjacquard863]

interesting think about G7 alt same as the tritone sub of G7

[@OM-md6ki]

Just teach the music