The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three

whole tones In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more detai ...

, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...

in modern music, the Lydian mode is often described as the scale that begins on the fourth

scale degree In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals a ...

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 Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

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

Ancient Greek Lydian

The name Lydian refers to the ancient kingdom of

Lydia Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish pro ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. In Greek music theory, there was a Lydian scale or "

octave species In the musical system of ancient Greece, an octave species (εἶδος τοῦ διὰ πασῶν, or σχῆμα τοῦ διὰ πασῶν) is a specific sequence of intervals within an octave. In '' Elementa harmonica'', Aristoxenus clas ...

" extending from ''parhypate hypaton'' to ''trite diezeugmenon'', equivalent in the diatonic genus to the modern Ionian mode (the

). : In the

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a p ...

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 A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each ...

. : :

Medieval Lydian mode

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, this mode was described in two ways. The first way is the diatonic

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

with the fourth

raised a semitone, making it an

augmented fourth Augment or augmentation may refer to: Language *Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages *Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns i ...

above the tonic, e.g., an F-major scale with a B rather than B. 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 Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

. The subdominant is diminished. The triads built on the remaining three scale degrees are minor.

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 A Gregorian mode (or church mode) is one of the eight systems of pitch organization used in Gregorian chant. History The name of Pope Gregory I was attached to the variety of chant that was to become the dominant variety in medieval western a ...

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 Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death t ...

's ''

Messe de Nostre Dame ''Messe de Nostre Dame'' (''Mass of Our Lady'') is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377). Widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of medieval music and of all religious mus ...

'' 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 Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

'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. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

'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 Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Li ...

'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 Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

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.

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 music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

subject, featuring extremely wide leaps, in C Lydian with following entries in F and G Lydian.

Alexei Stanchinsky Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky (russian: Алексей Владимирович Станчинский; 9 March (OS) / 21 March 1888 – 25 September (OS) / 6 October 1914), was a composer from the Russian Empire. From a young age Stanchin ...

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 trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

, John Coltrane,

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Coll ...

, and

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...

Folk

* Many Polish folksongs, including the

mazurka The mazurka ( Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character ...

, are in the Lydian mode; the first six notes of this mode were sometimes known as the "Polish mode".

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

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
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