My Guitar Notes

Ab lydian scale

The fourth mode of the major scale: a major scale with a raised fourth. Everything else matches the major scale.

Root
Ab (also written G#)
Scale
Lydian
Type
mode, mode 4 of seven
Notes
Ab Bb C D Eb F G
Notes in the scale
7
Degree formula
1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
Semitones from the root
0 2 4 6 7 9 11
Step pattern
W W W H W W H
Parent major scale
Eb major
Key signature of this root
Ab major / F minor · Bb Eb Ab Db
Written use
Named 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. Its tonic triad is major, and the chord on the second degree is major rather than minor.

Notes and degrees

Each degree of the scale, its note name in this key, and its distance from the root in semitones.

DegreeNoteSemitonesInterval from the root
1Ab0Perfect unisontonic
2Bb2Major second
3C4Major third
#4D6Tritone
5Eb7Perfect fifth
6F9Major sixth
7G11Major seventh

Positions on the guitar

The five windows below are computed, not copied from a shape chart. The script locates the lowest occurrence of Ab on each of the five upper strings within the first twelve frets and takes a five-fret window centred on it. Because a scale repeats every twelve frets, these five windows cover the whole neck; the same sequence returns an octave higher. The positions are numbered from the lowest fret upwards, so position 1 is always the window nearest the nut and position 5 the window nearest the twelfth fret.

Position 1

Root on the 3rd string G3 at fret 1. 14 notes of the scale inside this window.

String0123
1st (highest) string E4FG
2nd string B3CD
3rd string G3GAbBb
4th string D3DEbF
5th string A2BbC
6th string E2FG

Position 2

Root on the 6th string E2 at fret 4. 17 notes of the scale inside this window.

String23456
1st (highest) string E4GAbBb
2nd string B3DEbF
3rd string G3BbC
4th string D3FGAb
5th string A2CDEb
6th string E2GAbBb

Position 3

Root on the 4th string D3 at fret 6. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String45678
1st (highest) string E4AbBbC
2nd string B3EbFG
3rd string G3CDEb
4th string D3GAbBb
5th string A2DEbF
6th string E2AbBbC

Position 4

Root on the 2nd string B3 at fret 9. 17 notes of the scale inside this window.

String7891011
1st (highest) string E4CDEb
2nd string B3GAbBb
3rd string G3DEbF
4th string D3BbC
5th string A2FGAb
6th string E2CDEb

Position 5

Root on the 5th string A2 at fret 11. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String910111213
1st (highest) string E4DEbF
2nd string B3AbBbC
3rd string G3FGAb
4th string D3CDEb
5th string A2GAbBb
6th string E2DEbF

Read the grid as a chord diagram: the top row is the first string. Degrees appear in the notes and degrees table above; a filled cell is a note of the scale, and the shaded cell is the tonic.

Related keys and modes

Related