5 Simple Lydian Guitar Licks That Sound Awesome

Learn Cool Lydian Guitar Licks That Your Playing Sound Great

By Tom Hess

What is it about the Lydian mode that creates so much expressive emotion when used in licks and solos?

Why do world class players like Vai or Satriani use this mode all the time?

And what do you need to do to get that really cool, “in the clouds” Lydian sound?

You're about to learn.

…And it’s pretty easy actually.

Start playing badass Lydian licks by watching this demonstration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Dcf4rOSmE

Here is how to use the 5 Lydian licks you just observed to make your guitar playing sound great:

Transform Other Guitar Licks Into Lydian Ones

This is a really cool drill you can work on for as long as you want and it doesn’t become old.

Here is what to do:

Take any major scale guitar lick you can play and raise the fourth degree in the scale by a ½ step.

Question: “Tom Hess, what if I know a guitar lick in a minor key? (Say D natural minor)? Can I turn it to Lydian too?”

Answer: Yes, for sure. Raise scale degrees b3, 4, b6 and b7 by ½ step (1 fret).

If you want more help with this – I can help you with online rock guitar lessons.

Work On Squeezing Emotion From The Right Notes

In Lydian, the sharp fourth scale degree is a fret below the 5th and the 7th is a fret below the root of the scale.

These half steps are critical for giving Lydian its feel.

And you can “milk” these half steps using dramatic bending technique.

Want to see the difference this makes in your playing? Here it is:

Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynah7OVMa9I&feature=emb_title

Prioritize Lead Guitar Phrasing

Phrasing just means how you play the notes you are using. This is why two guitarists can play the same scale and one sounds amazing while the other sounds boring.

Phrasing is what separates great lead guitarists from average ones.

How do you improve your phrasing?

Focus on practicing vibrato, bending, slides and other techniques to make them as expressive as possible. Check out the phrasing in my video examples for a starting point.

(If you don’t want to sound just like me – that’s fine. You can develop your own style over time. For now, just use my as an example to get you started.)

Watch this video to learn how to “match phrasing nuances”:

Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IVI5BGVYgo&feature=emb_title

Write Your Own Guitar Riffs Using The Lydian Mode

You can also transform any guitar riff into a Lydian riff. You can start from the beginning or…

… use some of the guitar riffs you already mastered and transform them into Lydian riffs.

This is a super-fast way to create song ideas when you are having a hard time.

Now you know simple ways to use the Lydian scale to make your guitar licks more creative and expressive.

What now?

If you really want to take your guitar playing to the highest level – I can help with that in my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons. If you practice guitar consistently and have specific goas you want to achieve, I want to help you reach them.

See how hundreds of guitarists are improving their guitar skills right now: https://tomhess.net/Guitar