THEORY OF THE MONTH
The Lydian Dominant scale, you say? It’s Nik Preston’s middle name...
Welcome back! In our previous look at the Lydian Dominant, we established that it has applications over dominant chords which appear not to be resolving. This included dominant chords which resolve down b by a semitone, for example D 7 to C, and also dominant chords which resolved up b a tone, such as B 7 to C. We’ve also looked at its place relative to its parent scale – it’s the IV mode of melodic minor, so rests on the fourth degree. As this scale occurs on the fourth degree of its parent scale, it’s a great choice for dominant chords built on the same degree. This is a common harmonic movement, but tread carefully from a stylistic perspective – as it may not be appropriate for every setting. This month, we’re taking a deeper look into the scale itself, and exploring some approaches designed to improve our fretboard familiarity and aural skills.
Triad coupling, or triad pairs, in the context of Lydian Dominant – and indeed Melodic Minor harmony in general – offers some interesting triadic relationships, as every type of tertial triad is present: Major, minor, augmented and diminished. Example 1 shows us two major triads built on the first two degrees. Example 2 simply features two diminished triads on the third and raised fourth degrees. Example 3 shows us two minor triads built from the fifth and sixth degrees – and Example 4 illustrates the augmented triad found on the flattened seventh degree before resolving to the C7.
While we may know the chord types found in any parent scale, it is beneficial to have a fundamental knowledge of the chord types found on degrees of every mode. Yes, that can sound like a daunting workload – but exercises such as these definitely go some way to familiarising us quickly. When utilised alongside transcription, transposition and improvisation, we can make huge strides in a relatively short amount of time. Example 5 demonstrates a slightly contrasting approach to that of triads, as it is predominantly comprised of larger intervals – types of fourth or fifth. By focusing on these larger intervals we can access some less obvious, more modern sounds. Quartal and quintal harmony has been with us for a long time, but the types of lines we can derive from a focus on these wider intervals are definitely on the more modern end of the spectrum.
My advice when using these approaches for scale familiarity is to practise them as slowly as you need in order to be able to name the chord tone or extension you are playing. For example, when you play the third note in Exercise 5, you would be thinking ‘9th’ as opposed to just ‘D’. This knowledge is purely acquired – anyone can develop it, and it will pay dividends.
As always, take it slowly, have fun, and leave the practice room with more options than you went in with!