Lydian Mode
Major with the fourth raised, and the brightest of the seven modes. That one raised note refuses to fall back the way an ordinary fourth does, and the result is a major scale that hovers instead of settling.
- 7 notes
- 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
- the raised fourth
which styles use it
- Film music
- Jazz
- Prog
- Game music
How it is built
Take the major scale and raise the fourth degree by a half step. In C that means F sharp instead of F. On the white keys, Lydian runs from F to F. The raised fourth is a tritone above the root, which is what gives the mode its lift and its slight unease.
Bright, open and weightless. It is the sound most people associate with wonder in film music, and it comes almost entirely from that one note.
Where to use it
In film and game scoring, for anything that should feel expansive. In jazz, over major seventh chords, where the raised eleventh is a standard colour. In prog and post-rock, where the hovering quality suits long sections that do not resolve.
The chords that go with it
The giveaway is the major II chord, a major chord a whole step above the tonic, which contains the raised fourth. A I to II pendulum is Lydian in two chords.
What it gets confused with
With major, which differs by one note. The moment a chord containing the natural fourth appears, the mode falls back into ordinary major.