The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the major scale in modern music, the Lydian mode is often described as the scale that begins on the fourth scale degree of the major scale, or alternatively, as the major scale with the fourth scale degree raised half a step. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the scale underlying the fifth of the eight Gregorian (church) modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in practice more commonly featuring B. The use of the B as opposed to B would have made such piece in the modern-day F major scale.

Ancient Greek Lydian

The name Lydian refers to the ancient kingdom of

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. In Greek music theory, there was a Lydian scale or " octave species" extending from ''parhypate hypaton'' to ''trite diezeugmenon'', equivalent in the diatonic genus to the modern Ionian mode (the major scale). : In the chromatic and enharmonic genera, the Lydian scale was equivalent to C D E F G A B C, and C C E F F A B C, respectively, where signifies raising the pitch by approximately a quarter tone. : :

Medieval Lydian mode

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, this mode was described in two ways. The first way is the diatonic octave species from F up to F an octave above, divided at C to produce two segments: : The second is as a mode with a final on F and an ambitus extending to F an octave higher and in which the note C was regarded as having an important melodic function. Many theorists of the period observed that B is used more typically than B in compositions in Lydian mode.

Modern Lydian mode

The Lydian scale can be described as a major scale with the fourth scale degree raised a semitone, making it an augmented fourth above the tonic; e.g., an F-major scale with a B rather than B. That is, the Lydian mode has the following formula: :1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 This mode's augmented fourth and the Locrian mode's diminished fifth are the only modes to have a tritone above the tonic. : In Lydian mode, the tonic, dominant, and supertonic triads are all major. The

subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

is diminished. The triads built on the remaining three scale degrees are minor. Alternatively, it can be written as the pattern : whole, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half or (W-W-W-H-W-W-H)

List of Modern Lydian scales

Notable compositions in the Lydian mode

Classical (Ancient Greek)

The ''Paean and Prosodion to the God'', familiarly known as the Second Delphic Hymn, composed in 128 BC by Athénaios Athenaíou is predominantly in the Lydian ''tonos'', both diatonic and chromatic, with sections also in Hypolydian.

Medieval

The 12th-century "Hymn to St. Magnus" from the Orkney Islands, referencing Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, is in Gregorian mode or church mode V (F white notes), extending from the E below to the octave above, with B's throughout, in two-part harmony of mostly parallel thirds. The Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Ite, missa est of Guillaume de Machaut's '' Messe de Nostre Dame'' feature extensive use of F and B, as well as F and B.

Romantic

A rare, extended use of the Lydian mode in the Classical repertoire is Simon Sechter's 1822 ''Messe in der lydischen Tonart'' (Mass in the Lydian Mode). A more famous example from around the same time is the third movement of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 (1825), titled by the composer "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart" ("Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode"). The alternating passages in F use the Lydian scale with sharp fourth scale degree exclusively. Charles-Valentin Alkan's ''Allegro barbaro'' (Étude Op. 35, No. 5, published in 1848) is written strictly in F Lydian, with no B's present at all. Anton Bruckner employed the sharpened fourth of the Lydian scale in his motet '' Os justi'' (1879) more strictly than Renaissance composers ever did when writing in this mode. Gabriel Faure's song Lydia from "2 Melodies" Op 4 ?1872. This ode to Lydia - by Parnassian poet Leconte de Lisle - starts, appropriately, in the Lydian mode and, in F, has a raised 4th (B natural) in the first line of the melody.

Modern

In the 20th century, composers began once again to exploit modal scales with some frequency. George Enescu, for example, includes Lydian-mode passages in the second and third movements of his 1906 Decet for Winds, Op. 14. An example from the middle of the century is the scherzo movement of Carlos Chávez's Symphony No. 3 (1951–54). The movement opens with a

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

subject, featuring extremely wide leaps, in C Lydian with following entries in F and G Lydian. Alexei Stanchinsky wrote a Prelude in Lydian mode earlier in the 20th century.

Jazz

In '' Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization'', George Russell developed a theory that became highly influential in the jazz world, inspiring the works of people such as

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Ornette Coleman, and Woody Shaw.

*"Waltz #1" (1998) by Elliott Smith (D Lydian) *" The Simpsons Theme" by Danny Elfman * Cut the Rope theme by Alexander Falinski *"Yoda's Theme" by John Williams from ''The Empire Strikes Back'' *"Flying Theme" by John Williams from ''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'' *"Theme from ''Back to the Future''" by Alan Silvestri *" Annie's Song" by

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

Folk

* Many Polish folksongs, including the mazurka, are in the Lydian mode; the first six notes of this mode were sometimes known as the "Polish mode".

Notes

Sources

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External links

* ttp://gosk.com/scales/lydian-scale-for-guitar.php Lydian mode in six positions for guitarat GOSK.com
Lydian Mode – AnalysisLydian mode theory and improvisation application
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lydian Mode Modes (music) Lydia Heptatonic scales