E Lydian
The E Lydian mode — E F# G# A# B C# D# — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
E Lydian is the major scale with one note changed — the #4, A#. 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 E Lydian?
E Lydian is the seven notes E F# G# A# B C# D# — the notes of B major started from its 4th degree, E. Same seven notes as the parent, but with E as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
E Lydian vs E 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 A# in Lydian, where E major has 4, A.
Play E major and E Lydian back to back over a E chord and listen for A# — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in E Lydian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is E; the rest are the chords of B major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between E and F# and the mode is unmistakable.
E Lydian on the guitar neck
Because E Lydian is B major from its 4th note, its natural fingering is position 4 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of B major — the shape whose lowest note is E. Learn that shape with E as home — start and end on it, over a drone on E or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with B as home and you hear B major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice E Lydian on guitar
- Loop position 4 of B major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on E so your ear hears E as home rather than B.
- Hold a E chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on A# 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 E Lydian from its own root: the orange dots are on E and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, B major; to hear Lydian, start and end on E.
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