Modes & Scales
F Lydian
Major, lifted — the dreamy sharp fourth.
F G A B C D E · 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
Lydian is the brightest mode: a major scale with a raised 4th. That #4 gives it a floating, cinematic, dreamlike quality.
Every 3-notes-per-string position
The idea
Major with a #4
F Lydian is F G A B C D E. It is major (major 3rd, A), but the 4th is raised: B natural instead of B♭. That #4 is the whole Lydian magic.
- The major 3 (A) keeps it bright.
- The #4 (B) is what makes it Lydian.
- It is the only mode brighter than the major scale.
The color tone
The #4 that floats
Play F, then the B (the #4). It doesn't want to resolve — it hovers. That is the sound of film scores and dreamy, suspended major music.
- The #4 (B) is the floating, cinematic tone.
- It removes the pull the natural 4 has toward the 3.
- Great over a major or maj7 chord that stays put.
Use it
Where Lydian lives
Lydian shines over a static major or maj7 chord — a I–II vamp (Fmaj7 to G) keeps that #4 ringing. Think soundtracks, not quick changes.
- Use it over static major/maj7 vamps.
- Fmaj7–G keeps the #4 alive in the harmony.
- F Lydian = C major from F (the 4th mode).
Raise the 4th of a major scale and it stops resolving and starts floating — that is the dreamlike Lydian sound.
Practice it in the app
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