Db Lydian
The Db Lydian mode (also written C#) — Db Eb F G Ab Bb C — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written C# Lydian. C# and Db are the same pitch, though spelling it from C# would need double accidentals (C# D# E# F## G# A# B#), which is why Db is the name in use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
Db Lydian is the major scale with one note changed — the #4, G. That single note is what gives the mode its sound: lean on it and the colour is obvious. Leave it out and the melody alone could pass for plain major — then it is the chords underneath that keep the mode.
What is Db Lydian?
Db Lydian is the seven notes Db Eb F G Ab Bb C — the notes of Ab major started from its 4th degree, Db. Same seven notes as the parent, but with Db as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
Db Lydian vs Db major
6 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is one note, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- #4 is G in Lydian, where Db major has 4, Gb.
Play Db major and Db Lydian back to back over a Db chord and listen for G — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in Db Lydian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Db; the rest are the chords of Ab major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Db and Eb and the mode is unmistakable.
Db Lydian on the guitar neck
Because Db Lydian is Ab major from its 4th note, its natural fingering is position 4 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of Ab major — the shape whose lowest note is Db. Learn that shape with Db as home — start and end on it, over a drone on Db or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with Ab as home and you hear Ab major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice Db Lydian on guitar
- Loop position 4 of Ab major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on Db so your ear hears Db as home rather than Ab.
- Hold a Db chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on G on the strong beats — that is the sound of Lydian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws Db Lydian from its own root: the orange dots are on Db and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, Ab major; to hear Lydian, start and end on Db.
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