The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone

musical scale In music theory, a scale is "any consecutive series of notes that form a progression between one note and its octave", typically by order of pitch or fundamental frequency. The word "scale" originates from the Latin ''scala'', which literal ...

formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a

semitone A semitone, also called a minor second, half step, or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between ...

, 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 doubl ...

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 ...

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 ( 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 the setting fo ...

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

" extending from ''parhypate hypaton'' to ''trite diezeugmenon'', equivalent in the

diatonic genus In the musical system of ancient Greece, genus (Greek: γένος 'genos'' grammatical number, pl. γένη 'genē'' Latin: ''genus'', pl. ''genera'' "type, kind") is a term used to describe certain classes of Intonation (music), intonation ...

to the modern

Ionian mode The Ionian mode is a Mode (music), musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the major scale. It is named after the Ionians, Ionian Greeks. It is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new Gregorian mode#Authent ...

(the

). : In the

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

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 (orally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

. : :

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 In ancient Roman law, ''ambitus'' was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power. The Latin word ''ambitus'' is the origin of ...

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 ...

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 The Locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. It is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. On the piano, it is the scale that starts with B and only uses the white keys from there on up to the next higher B. Its ascending form ...

's diminished fifth are the only modes to have a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be ...

above the tonic. : In Lydian mode, the tonic, dominant, and

supertonic In music, the supertonic is the second degree () of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as ''re''. The triad built on the supertonic note is called the supertonic ...

triads are all

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. 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 Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

. 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 Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

, referencing

Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was Earl of Orkney from 1106 to about 1117. Magnus's grandparents, Thorfinn the Mighty, Jarl of Orkney and his wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, had two sons, Erlend an ...

, 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 and ...

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 to ...

'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 music, ...

'' 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, composer, conductor, and organist. He is best known as a strict music teacher, whose many students included Anton Bruckner, Sigismond Thalberg, and Henri ...

'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 Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French 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 Liszt, amon ...

'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 Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

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 George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

, 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 Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...

'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 The ''Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization'' is a 1953 jazz music theory book written by George Russell. The book is the founding text of the Lydian Chromatic Concept (LCC), or Lydian Chromatic Theory (LCT). Russell's work postulate ...

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

, 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 20th century's most important and influentia ...

Folk

* Many Polish folksongs, including the

mazurka The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...

, 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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lydian Mode Modes (music) Lydia Heptatonic scales