"That's Earl, Brother"/Lydian Diminished

[chespernevins]

Hi ML,

It's really great how much information you have generated and shared to date. Thanks.

So, this is a very good example. To find this usage of the scale in this context (meaning with these chords) in an actual composition is very interesting.

I wonder if we might consider the BbLyd Dim on the last 2 beats of m.3 and the first 2 beats of m.4 to be a "horizontal-ized vertical melody" since it relates to the tonic station of Bb. Anyway, whatever it's called, I agree with your take on the Bb Lyd Dim.

I am curious to get your thoughts on a couple of questions.

1) You say:

> "That's Earl, Brother" (Diz) makes use of the LydDim in particularly telling way. The first phrase is two and a half bars then
the second phrase...Bb LydDim (red).

This is totally nitpicky, but it did make me go back and forth a few times trying to figure it out: You mention Bb Lyd Dim, but the last 2 beats of m.4 stray from being BbLD. In your "alt" version, you notate Gb Lydian as the parent Lydian for these 2 beats.

So, you DO see this phrase as starting with BbLD and then going to Gb Lyd Dim, correct? (And then I'll ask you about m.5 in the next question).

I'm curious as to why you choose Gb Lyd Dim there instead of, for example, Eb Lyd Dim. Is it just taste, or is there a more specific reason? I also notice that you voice the Bb as Bb dim MA7 but keep the pure Gb Lyd Maj chord. Perhaps just taste?

2) Part of the reason I get interested in the details of the above question is that you seem to do something very specific with regards to m.5, the first 1.5 beats. You name this as F Lyd, which is very interesting. Most people might just lump this in to Bb Lydian, given the Bb chord. However, I have heard what you say about the scales coming first - and scales being a repository for intervals - and not just using the scales to "color by numbers" based on the chord symbols. The more I understand about the intervals of tonal gravity, the more I think I understand (at least some of) your viewpoint. D F A C are the most basic minor thirds in F Lyd; they are closer to F Lyd than they are to Bb Lyd.

Put that together with what you say about a Maj 6 chord being a Min7, and I think I see why you say F Lyd. The arpeggio, D F A C, is equivalent to F Maj 6, which is closer to F Lyd than to Bb Lyd.

Am I on track with this? These things don't have to be absolute. I am just interested in your thought process.

[chespernevins]

Great! I get it - all of it!

Very nice. Thanks for indulging my questions.

I thought *I* was going to get paid, for asking clarifying questions and acting as "advisory editor", LOL!

Let's get together, and we'll go down to the payment office together...