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Playing over Changes Pt 2 - Lydian Dominant Chords

Tom Quayle 164 lessons

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Our next chord type is dominant 7th chord with a sharpened 11th interval. This gives us a lydian dominant chord also known as the chord symbol 7#11. From the root note G this would give us G7#11 for example.

The scale associated with this chord is the lydian dominant scale which is a mixolydian scale with a sharpened 11th. Over the G7#11 we'd play the G lydian dominant scale.

There are other chord associations we can make in a modal context. For example, any dominant 7th chord which contains no alterations of the 5th or 9th interval can take a lydian dominant scale. In other words, so long as the chord doesn't have a b5, #5, b9 or #9 in it we can play the lydian dominant scale from its root. The only exception to this is in a functional context where the chord resolves up a 4th or down a 5th to it's related I chord as in a V-I cadence. Any other resolution will allow us to use this lydian dominant scale! Nice!

Here's the chart,

Chord Scale
7#11 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
9#11 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
13#11 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
7 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
9 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
13 Lydian Dominant (from the root of chord)
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