If I am playing in the key of A minor and wanted to play a bit of the Lydian mode around one of the major chords in that scale say C should I technically play A Lydian or C lydian?

C Lydian would be more appropriate being C major is relative to A minor but C lydian has a #4 interval

• F Lydian would work better as it is the 4th mode in the C major scale.

F Lydian and A minor are the same. Remember for the example I`m starting out in A minor.

Should it be D Lydian?

Use D Lydian if your playing in A major not minor. You said chords in the C. A minor and F Lydian share the same notes in the key of C but their steps patterns differ and so does their sound.


For example:

Am is the second chord in G so you can play a C lydian

Am is the third chord in F so you play a Bb Lydian

Am is the 6th chord in C so you play F Lydian and so on......



What chords are you playing around Am to tell what key your really in.....??????

It gets tricky!

This is a simple but complicated question!

You say the key of Am

Well there's Relative minor which are the chords from C
C,Dm,Em,F,G, Am,B-7b5

Or the true A Minor Key

I
Minor

II
Diminished/Minor

III
Major/Augmented

IV
Minor/Major

V
Minor/Major

VI
Major/Diminished

VII
Major/Diminished

Which one...........




Man It's getting hot in here!

I was speaking hypothetically . I do understand the different interval patterns and that F Lydian and A minor would be used differently I`m just unsure about the application.
Let me try asking this way.
If I was playing in a minor key -should I use the 4th of the relative major key and use Lydian to play over that chord?

There are 13 chords in a minor key because on the 6th and 7th degrees of a minor key there are two alternative notes. This means that, apart from on the tonic (whose triad doesn't include the 6th or 7th degrees of the key), there are two alternative triads for each degree in the key's scale.

Chords In A Minor:

I
A Minor

II
Bdim or Bm

III
C or Caug

IV
Dm or D

V
Em or E

VI
F or Fdim

VII
G or Gdim

So your answer is yes you can play D Lydian

That's what I get for thinking like a jazz musician

Yep! That's it

Awesome.Thanks for the info.I know it`s a frustrating thing to explain.

No Problem at all...

One thing about music theory is it goes on forever...

Glad to help out

Brian

The light bulb above my head is on!This info answers a lot of questions.Thanx again.

Most guitarist hate music theory I happen to be one that loves it




Brian

If you record the progression and play what ever you want to over it, and listen to the way the notes sound against the chord, you'll get a lot better idea of what works and what doesn't. You could play a chromatic series of sixteenth notes , like A,A#,B,C or E,F, F#,G. You could do all sorts of things that would work depending on where you start and where you end up. Why be restricted by modes? I just don't understand this emphasis on modes at all.
I'd be willing to bet that a very small percentage of the great guitar players ever thought about a mode in their whole life. Maybe Steve Vai or Joe Satriani do, but what about Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Joe Walsh, Stevie Ray Vaughn, any great blues player, country player, Django Reinhart ??? Wes Montgomery? I've met a lot of these guys, listened to their music, and read all about them. Never heard 'em say anything about a mode.
Maybe I'm wrong. Somebody set me straight.

I agree, but learning the modes is what you do during practice not thinking about them exclusively when your playing. After all these years I try to keep things simple using the basic Pentatonic Scale even though I know most if not all the modes,exotic scales etc.....
The trick is knowing what scale tone or tones to put together to make a particular sound. If you want a spanish flavor you should know to add a b2 or b9, or for example if you want a gypsy/indian flavor while playing a natural minor scale use the major 7. (harmonic minor)
Studying the modes and other scales will educate you on what scale tones do what together.....

I recommend it highly........
The more you know the more you can do. Just stay creative in the process and not a theory book worm

I just came across this thread....I seen the last post before Brians response " why use modes "

Modal playing becomes second nature....great guitar players dont think about it...they react...this comes from years of study and practice....actually knowing your guitar like you know your right hand. Speaking of right hands " Many players seem to ignore the impotance of a good picking technique!!"

I'd be willing to bet my life that all the great ONES practiced and understood modal playing and how modes react with chords....

I have a friend TOM HESS who is a virtuoso....I think he would punch me square in the eye if I ever told him modal playing was useless and could be passed over.....If you doubt TOM's opinion...give his C.D a listen too.....he is perhaps the greatest player I've ever known.... he has 2 C.D's on the market now...his band is simply entitled HESS......