I

THE LYDIAN CHROMATIC CONCEPT OF

TONAL ORGANIZATION: My Way

INTRODUCTION

In 1976, I purchased one of the early

editions of George Russells famous (some
might say infamous) book about tonal
gravity. I was immediately taken by it and
have worked with it ever since, sometimes
more than at other times, but continuously
for over 40 years now. I have some hard-
earned insights into what seemed to be a
complex subject when I began. This series
of articles is about those insights and about
what the LCCTO is and what it is not, and
about how I have utilized it to help me to
create the music I wanted to create.

First and foremost, the LCCTO is a map. As

with any map, it is most useful when you
know where you want to go.

Second and just as important, the LCCTO is

NOT a system. I am fairly certain that
looking at the LCCTO as a system is at the
root of much of the despair Ive seen in
musicians trying to deal with the LCCTO.

I also believe that George Russell himself is

somewhat responsible for the fact that so
many people have the sense that the LCCTO
is a system, because Russell presents his
Concept in that way, in my opinion.

But the point is not to debate this issue. The

point is that when I discovered the map at
the heart of the LCCTO, light was shed on
many, many things that were hidden before.
So, let me begin with the map.

THE MAP

The early editions of the LCCTO book

included an insert, in a pocket at the back of
the book, not bound into the book but
placed loosely in a pocket. It was called THE
TONAL GRAVITY CHART OF A LYDIAN
CHROMATIC SCALE.

(Note: a copy of the chart can be found on

the Lydian Chromatic Concept page on
Facebook . Find it and copy it )
The chart is rarely mentioned in the text of
the early editions. Later editions of the book
are completely different than the early
editions. The later editions, including the
current one, are so different as to be a
completely different book. And missing from
those editions is THE TONAL GRAVITY
CHART OF A LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE.
That is a big loss, in my opinion, and here is
why.

The name of that chart says a lot. First,

TONAL GRAVITY. That is the raison detre
for the book and the entire LCCTO. Here,
then is a complete chart of tonal gravity.

But the rest of the title tells us something

just as important, even if it seems obvious.
The remainder of the title is OF A
LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE. Of course, a
Lydian chromatic scale is nothing more than
a chromatic scale. 12 notes, moving in
minor 2nds through an octave. Simple.

But the other important word is the most

over looked : A Lydian Chromatic Scale.

Just one chromatic scale.

But of course all chromatic scales are the

same, so what does it matter? It matters for
this reason:

THE TONAL GRAVITY CHART OF A LYDIAN

CHROMATIC SCALE is a map of just ONE
chromatic scale. There are, of course 12 of
them. But THE TONAL GRAVITY CHART OF A
LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE describes just
one of them at a time. You need to name
that chromatic scale before the chart has
any meaning at all. The map is featureless
until the chromatic scale is named.
Everything of value in the chart is only
revealed when the chromatic scale is
named. When we name it, we determine the
TONIC, the FUNDAMENTAL, the CENTER of
our chromatic universe. For the moment.

I say for the moment because we can

change the name of the chromatic scale to
something else and then THAT becomes the
TONIC, the FUNDAMENTAL, the CENTER of
our chromatic universe then.

For now, we will choose a name and we will

make the chart become

THE TONAL GRAVITY CHART OF AN F

LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE.

Now, we can use the chart as the map of

tonal gravity that it is. It will now reveal
EVERY ASPECT of TONAL GRAVITY that
exists in that F LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE.

And, when we know what that means, we

then have the tools we need to use the
LCCTO. However, there is more to being
able to use a tool than merely possessing it

But first, we need to grasp the tool and

understand how it works.

UNDERSTANDING THE TONAL GRAVITY

CHART OF A LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE.

Ok. We are in an F Lydian Chromatic

Universe now, meaning F is our tonic, our
fundamental, our center. It is the key of the
music perhaps. Everything we do now starts
from the F. get it? Good.

Look at the chart.

Across the top, reading from left to right we

see THE TWELVE INTERVAL CATEGORIES OF
A LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE, then PRIME,
then, -2, then 2, then -3, then 3, then 4,
then +4, then 5, then +5, then 6, then -7,
then 7.
Those headings name all the intervals
possible in a chromatic scale. PRIME just
indicates a unison, not exactly what we call
an interval, but all the rest are known
intervals that can occur. Those columns
under those titles are a map of the tonal
gravity of that particular interval.

Repeat: THOSE COLUMNS, UNDER THOSE

HEADINGS, ARE A MAP OF THE TONAL
GRAVITY OF THAT INTERVAL.

Reading down any one of those columns will

map out the entire tonal gravity of every
one of thos intervals contained in that
LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE. All of them.

Lets pick one interval and see what it

shows. I will pick 3, the Major 3rd
interval,

In that column, which is about dead center

on the page, we see a series of Roman
Numerals which proceed down the column
to the bottom of the page. If you count
those Roman Numerals in that column, you
will find there are 12 of them. The same
number of pitches in a chromatic scale.

The Roman Numerals signify this: the

LOCATION of the NOTE in THE CHROMATIC
SCALE from which we will create the
required interval. In our example, major
3rd, we look at the first Roman Numeral in
that column. It is I. That tells us we make
a Maj 3rd interval STARTING FROM the
FIRST note in our chromatic scale, which is
F. To make that Maj 3rd, we go from F to
A.

No we have the first Maj 3rd and, according

to the LCCTO, it is the most consonant Maj
3r we can create in an F Lydian Chromatic
world.

I will NOT go into WHY that is so. Suffice it

to say that it is the very soul of the LCCTO
that the overtone series creates the basis
for tonal gravity. You SHOULD know this but
you dont NEED to know it to proceed.

rd
So, we created the first Maj 3 by using the
information on our tonal gravity map. If
we continue down that column, we get this:

I= F and A

V= C ( the name of the note in the V

position of an F Lydian Chromatic Scale)
and an E.
II = G and B

III= A and C#

+V=C# and F

VII= E and G#

-III= G# and C

IV= Bb and D

+IV= B and D#

-VII= D# and G

VI= D and F#

-II= F# and A#

rd
And there you have every Major 3 interval
contained in an F chromatic scale, listed in
an outward bound sequence, meaning
each one is progressively moving AWAY
from the tonal center of F. In other words,
the ones closer to the top have a stronger
tonal gravity (pull) to F than the ones closer
to the bottom.

Make sure you understand that. It is not

complicated but it may be new to you.
Understanding just that bit will help you
read this map in many different ways.
For instance: If F to A is the most consonant
rd
maj 3 interval in an F tonic world, it
rd
makes perfect sense that the maj 3 at the
bottom of the list F# to A# would be the
least consonant BECAUSE, all by itself, the
F# to A# would occupy the TOP spot on
WHICH map (THE TONAL GRAVITY CHART
OF A LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE)? Its
simple.

We know the top spot is held by the pair

which is built on the I scale position.
rd
Therefore, a Maj 3 interval starting on F#
will reside at the top of a map of an F#
chromatic scale.

Make sure you understand that.

If we, for just a moment, name our chart an

F# chart, then the I Roman Numeral
belongs to F#, and the top Maj 3rd is F# to
A#.

We are out of F# and back to our original F

Lydian Chromatic Scale.

Now, do the same for each column. When

you have completed all that, you have the
entire map of the Tonal Gravity of the F
Chromatic Scale.
SO WHAT?

Good question. Now, what good is that

information? How is it useful?

Here is where you come to realize that the

LCCTO is NOT a system. It does not tell you
how to use it.

George Russell has, in early editions and in

late editions, given examples of how it can
be used. Those examples may be helpful or
may be confusing. Before we get into those,
Id like to stay with our new map for a
minute.

It is a map of a sound world; an F sound

world. In my opinion, it should be HEARD
before it can be understood as being useful
for mere mortals. Geniuses and those with
perfect pitch may be able to look at the
page and get it, but not me. So, I sat at a
piano and listened to them. Using a F in the
left hand, I then payed the intervals as
named earlier, sometimes spelling each
pitch individual, sometimes sounding them
together against the F fundamental.

I did that for each interval, many time, until

I could hear a lot of what was happening. I
then took it to my saxophone and flute, and
played them, wrote etudes for practice. I
wrote them as described earlier: outward
bound, top to bottom on the chart. Then I
did it bottom to top (inward bound, toward
the F tonal center). I did that for each
interval, again and again.

I heard many things, discovered things I

liked and didnt like about different
intervals in different relationships to the
tonic. Over time, I concentrated on the
intervals ( my vocabulary ) that fit with
my own aesthetic. Of course, that
developed over time, but it has remained
quite consistent as well. It became my
language and my vocabulary for my music.

This chart is the basis for everything that is

in the LCCTO. It is the raw material and it is
worth its weight in gold.

THE LCCTO SCALES

George Russell organized the information in

the map into scales. If you look down the
left hand side of THE TONAL GRAVITY
CHART OF A LYDIAN CHROMATIC SCALE you
will see them named, with dotted lines
running left to right across the page to
show where the various intervals fall inside
his scale system. And, in his scale system,
when you wish to introduce a new interval
pair, one that is outside the scale you are
using, you must change scales. You must
change scales each time, although you are
still in the same tonal universe.

In other words, you have to reorient

yourself in order to pursue various degrees
of consonance or, more accurately, tonal
gravity.

This is the aspect of the scale system that I

think makes it cumbersome for anything
more than playing notes that sound
correct. Tonal gravity, the whole point of
the LCCTO, is not known, only
approximated.

Is it more difficult to work within ONE scale

of 12 tones (The Lydian Chromatic Scale of
the moment) or within the 8 scales as
shown on the chart?

For me, the answer is simple: one scale in

which I am completely in control of all
possibilities and paths, according to my
taste, my ideas, the people I am playing
with and the meaning of the music I am
making.

Lets do the math. 8 scales per tonic, 12

tonics equals 96 scales.
One scale per tonic, 12 tonics equals 12
scales.

You tell me which way is more complex.

It took me hours to put the above together.

I will post another article on what can be
learned in the LCCTO in the future. But
everything that you need to know is in that
chart already.
George Russell, LCCTO, Lydian Chromatic
Concept