October 11, 2006
The Virtues of the D Minor Tuned Treble Kalimba: Playing in B Flat Lydian Mode

I continue to explain why I tune my Treble in D minor: because it is very natural to play in five different modes. If you don't understand what modes are, look back to last week's Advanced Tip. This week's mode on the D minor tuned Treble is the Lydian mode, which you get when you start on B flat.

Listen to me goofing around in the B flat Lydian mode

The Lydian mode has a raised 4th, which gives this scale a somewhat unsettled, flighty sound. I think of this mode as angelic, or even happier than the major scale.

In its normal tuning, the lowest note of the Treble kalimba is B natural, or the major third. I've always found that to be a bit odd. However, in this tuning the lowest note is B flat, and it is the root of the B flat Lydian mode, a perfectly good scale. You've got two octaves plus two more notes, taking you up to the major third, so that's great.

In addition, you can use that raised 4th to do all sorts of cool Beatles-esque songs like "You Won't See Me" (from Rubber Soul) i.e., if you start on the B flat major chord, you can then go over to the C major chord, which is used in the first line of that song.

If that last statement has left you confused, maybe I should show you exactly what I mean next week when we explore the C Mixolydian mode of the D minor-tuned Treble kalimba.