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