What is it about Lydian that guitar players can’t get enough of?
Why do players like Steve Vai use it all the time in their songs, solos and licks?
And what do you need to do to get that really cool, “in the clouds” Lydian sound?
You’re about to learn.
…And it’s pretty easy actually.
Start playing badass Lydian licks by watching this demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Dcf4rOSmE
Here is how to use the 5 Lydian licks you just observed to make your guitar playing sound great:
Work To Improve Your Lead Guitar Phrasing
Phrasing refers to the way in which you play the notes. This is the reason why two different guitar players can play the same notes and one sounds great while the other sounds mediocre.
Phrasing is the key.
How do you practice phrasing?
Focus on practicing vibrato, bending, slides and other techniques to make them as expressive as possible. Check out the phrasing in my video examples for a starting point.
(If you don’t want to sound just like me — that’s fine. You can develop your own style over time. For now, just use my as an example to get you started.)
Watch this video to learn how to “match phrasing nuances”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IVI5BGVYgo&feature=emb_title
Transform Other Guitar Licks Into Lydian Ones
This is a really cool drill you can work on for as long as you want and it doesn’t become old.
Here is what to do:
Take any major scale guitar lick you can play and raise the fourth degree in the scale by a ½ step.
Question: “Tom Hess, what if I know a guitar lick in a minor key? (Say D natural minor)? Can I turn it to Lydian too?”
Answer: Yes, for sure. Raise scale degrees b3, 4, b6 and b7 by ½ step (1 fret).
If you want more help with this — I can help you with online guitar lessons.
Work On Squeezing Emotion From The Right Notes
In Lydian, the sharp fourth scale degree is a fret below the 5th and the 7th is a fret below the root of the scale.
These half steps are critical for giving Lydian its feel.
And you can “milk” these half steps using dramatic bending technique.
Want to see the difference this makes in your playing? Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynah7OVMa9I&feature=emb_title
Write Lydian Guitar Riffs
You can also turn any guitar riff into a Lydian one too. You can put together your own riffs (using the Lydian mode) from scratch or…
… use riffs you already know and turn them into Lydian from whatever key they were in originally.
This is a super easy & fast way to put together new songwriting ideas when you are stuck.
Now you know simple ways to use the Lydian scale to make your guitar licks more creative and expressive.
What now?
If you really want to take your guitar playing to the highest level — I can help with that in my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons. If you practice guitar consistently and have specific goas you want to achieve, I want to help you reach them.
See how hundreds of guitarists are improving on guitar as we speak & how you can do the same.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, recording artist and composer. He teaches guitar players from all over the world in his online guitar lessons. Learn more on the Tom Hess Wikipedia page.
