Lydian Mode

The Lydian mode is the white keys from F to F: F G A B C D E F. It has a major 3rd, so it sounds major, but its 4th degree (B) is a half step higher than in the F major scale, where the 4th is B♭. That raised 4th, a tritone above the tonic, is what makes Lydian sound the way it does.

▶F Lydian (white keys)0:07▶C Lydian0:07

The step pattern

W – W – W – H – W – W – H

Three whole steps in a row open the scale, which is why the 4th lands so high. Measured against the major scale, Lydian is 1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7: major with one note raised. Of the seven modes it is the brightest.

The Lydian sound

In ordinary major, the 4th degree wants to fall to the 3rd (B♭ to A in F). The raised 4th has no such pull; it hovers above the 3rd and leans up toward the 5th instead. The chord that shows it best is the major triad on the 2nd degree: in F Lydian, G major (G B D). Alternating the tonic chord with that major II, F to G and back, gives the floating, lifted sound the mode is known for.

▶Listen0:09

Where you hear it

Film and television composers often use Lydian for a sense of wonder, flight or magic. It is common in jazz, where it is the usual chord-scale for a major seventh chord with a ♯11 (Fmaj7♯11), and you will hear it in some rock and pop songs that want a bright, unresolved major color.

In medieval chant, the mode on F was common, but singers often sang B♭ instead of B to avoid the tritone above F, which made the music sound much like F major. Lydian with its raised 4th intact came into its own much later.

Finding Lydian in any key

Lydian starts on the 4th degree of a major scale. To find any Lydian mode, go down a perfect fourth (five half steps) to its parent major key: F Lydian uses the notes of C major, C Lydian those of G major (one sharp), C D E F♯ G A B C, and D Lydian those of A major (three sharps). Or take the major scale on the same note and raise its 4th.