Lydian mode: notes, sound and examples

Lydian is the fourth mode of the major scale. It is major in sound, since its third is major, but its fourth degree is raised by a half step, and that single note gives the mode a floating, wondering and slightly unreal quality. It is the brightest of the seven modes.

The Lydian formula

In steps, Lydian is whole, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half: W-W-W-H-W-W-H. As scale degrees it is 1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7. It is the major scale with the fourth degree raised. The first four notes make three whole steps in a row, so the span from the tonic to the raised fourth is a tritone.

The characteristic note is the raised fourth. It sits a tritone above the tonic, which is why Lydian has a slightly unresolved, floating feel.

How to build Lydian in any key

1. Write the major scale of the tonic.
2. Raise the fourth note by a half step.
3. Or: find the major scale a perfect fifth above your tonic, and play its notes starting from your tonic.

The second route gives the key signature: F Lydian uses the notes of C major. C Lydian uses the notes of G major, and G Lydian uses the notes of D major. In other words, the tonic is the fourth note of the major key, counting up.

How it sounds

The raised fourth has a strong tendency to move up to the fifth, but in Lydian the tonic chord does not need to resolve it. The sound is open, dreamy and a little magical. Film and game composers use it for wonder, flight, space and fantasy, and jazz players choose it over major seventh chords on the fourth degree.

Where you hear Lydian

• Film and television music for a feeling of awe or wonder.
• Jazz, as the scale over major seventh chords.
• Progressive rock and some pop, as a bright alternative to plain major.
• Classical music, where composers used a raised fourth for color.

Listen for the raised fourth in a melody: it often appears as a leap or a held note that sounds bright and a little surprising, because the ear expects the plain fourth of the major scale.

Using Lydian over chords

Lydian fits over a major chord or a major seventh chord whenever the raised fourth does not clash with the harmony. If the chord is Fmaj7 (F A C E), the raised fourth B is the ♯11 of the chord, and it sounds bright and clear. A progression that has a major chord on the tonic and a major chord a whole step above (F and G, in the key of F) is a typical Lydian sound.

Lydian in practice

To hear Lydian, hold a major chord, such as F major, as a drone, and play the notes of F Lydian above it, ending on the B natural. Then play the same notes with B♭, which is F major, and compare the two. The raised fourth makes the sound feel lighter, as if it is floating above the chord.

If you want to write in Lydian, keep the raised fourth in the melody and avoid chords that contain the plain fourth. The major chord on the second degree (G major in F Lydian) is a good one to use, since it contains the raised fourth note, B, as its third.

One more thing to try

Play a major chord on F, then play only the notes F G A B C D E over it, and finish by landing on the B for a moment. Then move the B up to C, as if resolving it. You will hear the floating feeling of the raised fourth and its natural pull upward, which together describe the Lydian sound.

Compare it with Mixolydian, which changes the seventh instead, and see all the modes for the full ladder from bright to dark. The parent scale is the major scale.

Lydian scale in every key

Check yourself

Related pages

• Music modes: the seven modes explained
• Mixolydian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Major scales: how they work in all 12 keys
• Dorian mode: notes, sound and examples
• Tritone: the interval of six half steps
• Circle of fifths: how it works and its uses