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