F Lydian Mode Scale Diagram

Guitar Lesson Summary & Chart Explanation

F Lydian Mode:

Notes:

• F G A B C D E

Scale Degrees:

• 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7

Alternative Names:

• F Lydian Major

Mode of Major: IV

Mode of Minor: bVI

Jay Skyler's Series 2 guitar neck fretboard diagram of Lydian Mode. The only mode with a sharp in it (the sharp 4), Lydian Mode is the fourth mode of Major (Ionian) and the 6th mode of Minor (Aeolian). It is in the Major family of chord and scale qualities.

The O.G. Diatonic Mode

The Lydian Mode is the original mode used by Catholic Monks (hence the name Church Mode), and is responsible for the bulk of the Gregorian Chant #1 hits and double platinum albums in the pre-Renaissance Era.

More importantly it is the master mode from which the other modes derive.

The Devils Tone

Many websites and even some method books claim the Ionian mode (Major Scale) was the original master scale and all the other modes are derived from it. This is not true. The original mode was the Lydian mode (aka Lydian Major Scale), the Major scale was formed by flatting the fourth note of the Lydian, because it was difficult to harmonize (so frustrating they nicknamed it 'the devils tone').

In terms of modern music theory, however, the numbering system of scale degrees and chords is based, by convention, on the Major Scale.