IN THE WOODSHED
This month Charlie Griffiths looks at the I - II/I chord change and how it can inspire dreamy, ethereal soloing using Lydian mode.
Charlie Griffiths shows how to create a Lydian sound over the I-II/V chord progression.
This month we’ll look at soloing over the I - II/I progression. This means there are two Major chords a tone apart, such as D and E, with a D root supporting both chords, so D and E/D. If you play an open D chord then move the shape up two frets you will hear how this sounds. You may recognise these two chords from the opening of Extreme’s song, Hole Hearted. Of course it works in all 12 keys and is a great way to create a Lydian tonality from any root note. We will use various strategies to solo over this sound.
We have five licks, in four different keys: D, G, A and F Lydian. Although each key will have different note names, every Lydian mode has the same intervals (1-2-3-#4-5-6-7), so like the Major scale but with a #4 interval. This creates a magical, ethereal atmosphere used to great effect by players like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. For the five licks we will use: triad arpeggios, playing laterally along the string, superimposing arpeggios and Pentatonic scales, and odd note phrasing.
The first lick utilises the two triads I and II, or D and E. Rather than playing these inversions as chords, we are separating the notes into melodic lines. This is the most immediate way to create the Lydian sound.
In lick 2 we place the scale intervals along the second string, which is perfect for sliding up and down the neck melodically. Thinking of the interval spacing can be very useful when plotting a scale like this. For Lydian the interval spacing is: Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone Semitone, starting on any root note.
For lick 3 we use arpeggio substitution, which means playing an arpeggio over a different root note, chord or tonality in order to target certain intervals. Here we are playing an Emaj7 over an A chord which targets the 5th, 7th, 2nd and #4th intervals and will inspire you to play different melodies than you would if you simply played the Lydian scale. To use this in other keys think ‘up a 5th and play Major 7’.
Lick 4 uses a similar superimposition technique but with Minor Pentatonic shape 1. In this case think ‘down a semitone and play Minor Pentatonic. This is a great way of breaking out of a typical Lydian scale approach as the more bluesy Pentatonic lends itself to sounds more fusion-y in this context.
Our final example uses Satriani-style smooth legato lines using a mixture of seven-notes-per-beat and six-notes-per-beat phrasings. The key is to target the downbeats with your first finger while keeping the legato notes as even in length and volume as possible. Play each example slowly at first, then speed up gradually.
NEXT MONTH Charlie looks at how to play effectively over the blues turnaround
EVERY LYDIAN MODE HAS THE SAME INTERVALS (1-2-3-#4-5-6-7) SO LIKE THE MAJOR SCALE BUT WITH A #4TH, NOT 4TH INTERVAL