E Lydian on Guitar

Lydian is the major scale with the 4th raised a semitone — major, but floating instead of grounded. The notes of E Lydian are E, F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#. Its characteristic note is A# — the sharp 4th — the one note that gives this major-type scale its colour.

It is the dreamy, weightless sound of film scores, "The Simpsons" theme, and Joe Satriani ballads ("Flying in a Blue Dream" is a Lydian tutorial with a record deal). The sharp 4th refuses to resolve downward the way a normal 4th does, so the whole scale hovers.

E Lydian across the whole neck

Standard tuning, frets 0–12. The gold notes are the root (E); every colour marks an interval, the same palette the app uses.

Practice E Lydian over a drone →Free, in your browser. It listens through your mic and lights up what you play.

Over the drone, hold the sharp 4th and let it ring — in any other major context it would be a wrong note; here it is the point.

Formula and intervals

R - 2 - 3 - b5 - 5 - 6 - 7 — 7 notes. The natural 3rd makes it a major-family scale.

Chords in E Lydian

These are the diatonic chords — the harmony built from only the notes above. Vamping between any of them keeps you inside the mode.

Degree	Chord	Quality
I	E	Major
II	F#	Major
iii	G#m	Minor
iv°	A#dim	Diminished
V	B	Major
vi	C#m	Minor
vii	D#m	Minor

Same notes, different home

E Lydian contains exactly the same notes as B Major. Nothing about the notes changes — what changes is which one feels like home, and that changes everything about the sound.

Other modes on E