GuitarSam eZine Volume 27 January 2001   Subscribe Email us Back to Index

Edly: Music Theory

What is music theory, anyway? You hear so much about it, but does anybody really know what it is? Edly does!   Scales? Chords? Keys? Ear-training? Modes? Toads?   If you need help connecting the musical dots or playing musical works, send us your best (or dumbest) questions, and we'll have Edly, one of Earth's leading music theory experts, field the responses. Dear Edly, Over what chords, or set of chords, may the lydian flat 7th be effective? I am primarily a blues rock guitarist but am always interested in scale possibilities. I play over minor chords, blues progressions but usually I am not playing over dominant chords with flatted or sharped 5ths or sharp ninths (pretty much dominant 7th) Thank you, Alex Hi Alex, A common use of the Lydian b7 scale is over a dominant 7th chord, where the chord resolves down a half-step (such as Db7 to C). (The chord doesn't have to have a b5 or #4 in it.) In jazz lingo, the dominant seventh chord is functioning as a substitute for the five chord ("sub V") chord. The scale can certainly be used in other instances, and I go into this in a lot more detail in the theory book, but this is the quickie answer. Hope it helps! Edly

Two great books from Ed Roseman www.edly.com Edly's Music Theory for Practical People Edly Paints the Ivories Blue  To get your head keyed in the right direction, visit Edly's website "Musical EdVentures" at www.edly.com  Beam your music theory questions to us at askedly@guitarsam.com

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