F lydian
F major with one note raised: B. Seven notes: F G A B C D E. The same notes as C major, centred on F.
- Parent key
- C major Same notes
- Colour note
- B The raised 4th
- Repeating chords
- F – G I – II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| IVampFF · A · C | ||||
| IIVampGG · B · D | ||||
| iiiAmA · C · E | ||||
| ♯iv°B°B · D · F | ||||
| VCC · E · G | ||||
| viDmD · F · A | ||||
| viiEmE · G · B |
Light up
What makes it lydian
Major, with the 4th raised
One note separates F lydian from F major: B♭ becomes B. Over the same root, that turns F – Gm into F – G.
F major
- F
- G
- A
- B♭
- C
- D
- E
F lydian
- F
- G
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
Hear the difference
One chord that says lydian
G holds B, the colour note. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on F
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Lydian is row 1 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- F lydianFGABCDE♯4
- F ionian (major)FGAB♭CDE—
- F mixolydianFGAB♭CDE♭♭7
- F dorianFGA♭B♭CDE♭♭3 ♭7
- F aeolian (natural minor)FGA♭B♭CD♭E♭♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F phrygianFG♭A♭B♭CD♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F locrianFG♭A♭B♭C♭D♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating F – G chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with B ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickF – G, two bars each, in frets 1–5. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while F – G sounds. Stay in frets 1–5.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver G, aim for B. It is the note that makes it lydian.80 bpmLevel 2