Connect Lydian Shapes
This video lesson above demonstrates how to connect all Lydian shapes in A. When you can do it along with the video lesson, move on to other keys.
Also, try different rhythms, triplets are used in the video but any rhythm is possible.
When you feel happy with all shapes in all keys, let’s also play the Lydian through the cycle of 4th.
Lydian cycle of 4th
Instead of jumping up and down the neck, move to the closest possible shape, like this:
A Lydian – E shape, D Lydian – A shape, G Lydian – D shape, C Lydian – G shape, F Lydian – C shape.
Repeat that pattern a fret up, starting in Bb with the E shape.
Keep this exercise up for a few days and you’ll never forget how to play the Lydian mode.
Lydian Improvisation
When you can play Lydian in all shapes and any key, you must move away from playing the scale up and down and instead start finding licks and melodies.
A great way to do this is to improvise, without any chords behind it, just pick notes at random and see how they feel, maybe you can create a melody that “feels Lydian”.
Above, I attempt to make this Lydian feel come through. It’s the #4 and maj7 that makes the sound.
You must also find Lydian in various songs. During the advanced acoustic course, I point out whenever Lydian appear.
In the next step, we look at the final mode, Mixolydian. And since you know the drill by now, let’s play all five shapes, as well as connect and play the closest possible shape as well.
Connect Lydian Shapes Guitar Lesson | Related Pages
Major Scales | Step-by-step guitar course
Using the CAGED system and Major Pentatonic as our foundation, we can build all our major scales on the guitar.
The self-eliminating practice routine takes care of this in 8 steps. All you have to do is put the time in.
Advanced Acoustic Course
In the Advanced Acoustic Course, we find huge chord extensions and unique chords using open strings. A few solos are incorporated as well.
Perhaps most importantly, we create 2nd guitar parts for most of these tunes, enabling you to play along with me and the singers as if we were a band.
Major Pentatonic | Major Scales
This is where it all starts, you must learn how to play the Major Pentatonic in all five shapes and don’t cheat by thinking of them as minor.
And let’s not name these shapes 1-5, let’s call them by their CAGED name, and let’s practice them not just in A as the videos show!
Maj7 | Arpeggios
Let’s practice the maj7 arpeggios in all CAGED shapes. This is relatively easy as long as you know your CAGED maj7 chord shapes.
Video lessons are available starting on an A. To complete this step, you must play starting on the remaining 11 notes as well.
Guitar Chords | The CAGED System
With traditional music theory, the stave, and a piano, you’ll get easy-to-understand chords but they will not help if you want to play chords on the guitar.
Instead, on the guitar we use chord shapes derived from the five open-position chords, C, A, G, E, and D, hence CAGED.
Chordacus
Spytunes chords, scale, and arpeggio software, Chordacus is a refined version of the so-called CAGED system.
Now available as both a chromatic (original version) and “within a key”, developed with the help of a Spytunes student.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about connecting Lydian shapes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.