Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Mixolydian vs. Lydian Dominant

Q: I have to play a solo over a C9 vamp, and I realize I have several scale choices. let me see if my theory is correct here: The mixolydian scale is totally diatonic, but the #4 in the lydian dominant scale works because the ear also accepts the blues scale (b5), right? So in a way, the lydian dominant works like a pivot between inside (diatonic mixolydian) and out (blues with b3 as well), which also lets the Dorian work sparingly too. Does that sound about right? (or am I trying to get into heaven here?)

You pretty much have it but not completely: Some people would argue that lydian dominant is actually more inside than mixolydian because the natural 4th in mixolydian would technically clash with the major 3rd in the C9 chord. There is some truth in this I think. Technically lydian dominant has no "avoid note" so to speak, the #4 being far enough away from the 3rd in the chord. Some players would tell you, me too for that matter, that mixolydian is better used for a 7sus4 chord. It is all a matter of taste I suppose. C Dorian would only work over a C9 chord because it sort of looks like a combination of the C major pentatonic and C minor pentatonic scale. But it leaves out the most important note, the major 3rd. And it seems clumsy (too big) for blues. So I think that a C dorian scale over a C dominant chord isn't really a great choice.
Also, I wouldn't put the cart before the horse, meaning that I wouldn't think that (as you said) a scale is diatonic to a chord, it is really the other way around: chords are diatonic to scales. So C9 is diatonic to both C mixolydian and C lydian dominant. But you are right to think that we like the sound of the b5 because it reminds us of the blues scale (again, a matter of opinion).

Besides the major and minor pentatonic scales, mixolydian and lydian dominant, you can also create some tension by using the half/whole diminished scale.

I've posted on dorian over a blues before. Here>> Other links:

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