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Old 06-10-2019, 01:13 AM
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Doug Young Doug Young is offline
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Originally Posted by sirwhale View Post
Thanks

Can a mode begin on any note? Or is this lydian because it begins on D?
Modes are a rat-hole. It's best to read a few good articles about how they work - actually, you can read whole books, tho maybe others will pitch in to try to explain it all. It's not what note anything begins on, it's the tonal center. If a song is centered on "D", but has three sharps, then the tonality is D Lydian. It's the same as why a song is in D major or D minor. You could have a melody in the key of D major that doesn't start on D - and many do not. But if the tonal center is D major and the chords and scale notes are D major, then it's D Major, no matter what note the melody starts on.

Similarly, you can have a song that is D Lydian that doesn't start on D. But if the tonal center is D and you have a raised 4th, along with a major 3rd and 7th, it's the sound of Lydian. In spite of the focus on scales, modes are really about the harmony that is created by the notes being used.

As FWL noted, this tune doesn't sound like Lydian to me - at least at the beginning - I didn't listen to the whole thing (tho it's very nice.. bookmarked for later) I just answered your question about the key signature. Where are you seeing a score that shows three sharps?

Last edited by Doug Young; 06-10-2019 at 01:20 AM.
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