Scales
D Lydian Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#
The fourth mode — major with a raised fourth, and the brightest scale in common use.
D Lydian Scale
D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 | D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C# · D | |
| Left hand | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 | D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C# · D |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
D Lydian is made of the notes D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern W W W H W W H.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · the seven modes
Modes
A mode is the same set of notes started from another degree. Each card is one rotation of D Lydian: choose it to re-order the degrees from its tonic and hear it, or open its own page. The seven modes of the major scale are the ones most players learn first.
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of D Lydian gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Related scales
The scales D Lydian shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
A MajorA · B · C# · D · E · F# · G#
Parent scale: the major scale this is a rotation of
Scales inside it
D Major PentatonicD · E · F# · A · B
Every note of this scale is in D Lydian.
D Lydian PentatonicD · F# · G# · A · C#
Every note of this scale is in D Lydian.
Scales that contain it
D IchikosuchoD · E · F# · G · Ab · A · B · C#
Contains every note of D Lydian.
D ChromaticD · Eb · E · F · F# · G · Ab · A · Bb · B · C · C#
Contains every note of D Lydian.
Understanding D Lydian
Names and spellings
A mode is named by the note it starts on, not by the major scale it comes from: D Dorian uses the notes of C major, but its tonic is D and its chords are built from D. The same mode name on another tonic is a different scale with the same pattern.
How it is built
On D the mode is D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#, following the step pattern W W W H W W H. Against the major scale on the same tonic, only the fourth degree differs: lydian raises it.
The raised fourth removes the one note in a major scale that clashes with the tonic chord, so lydian is in a real sense more consonant with its own tonic than the major scale is.
How it is used
It floats. Nothing in it pulls anywhere, which is why it carries so much film scoring for wonder and scale — and why it is the sound of the maj7♯11 chord.
Because it differs from major by one note, the easiest way to hear it is to hold a major chord and move only the fourth degree up a semitone.
Learn this properly
Chapter 9: ModesCommon questions
- What notes are in D Lydian?
- D Lydian contains D · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- What is the difference between lydian and major?
- One note: lydian raises the fourth degree.
- What chord does lydian fit over?
- Major seventh, and especially maj7♯11, which spells out the raised fourth.
- How do I play D Lydian?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of D Lydian?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of D Lydian gives D (I), E (II), F#m (iii), G#dim (iv°), A (V), Bm (vi), C#m (vii). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.