My Guitar Notes

C lydian scale

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

Root
C
Scale
Lydian
Type
mode, mode 4 of seven
Notes
C D E F# G A B
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
G major
Key signature of this root
C major / A minor · no sharps or flats
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
1C0Perfect unisontonic
2D2Major second
3E4Major third
#4F#6Tritone
5G7Perfect fifth
6A9Major sixth
7B11Major seventh

Positions on the guitar

The five windows below are computed, not copied from a shape chart. The script locates the lowest occurrence of C 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 2nd string B3 at fret 1. 16 notes of the scale inside this window.

String0123
1st (highest) string E4EF#G
2nd string B3BCD
3rd string G3GA
4th string D3DE
5th string A2ABC
6th string E2EF#G

Position 2

Root on the 5th string A2 at fret 3. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String12345
1st (highest) string E4F#GA
2nd string B3CDE
3rd string G3ABC
4th string D3EF#G
5th string A2BCD
6th string E2F#GA

Position 3

Root on the 3rd string G3 at fret 5. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String34567
1st (highest) string E4GAB
2nd string B3DEF#
3rd string G3BCD
4th string D3F#GA
5th string A2CDE
6th string E2GAB

Position 4

Root on the 6th string E2 at fret 8. 17 notes of the scale inside this window.

String678910
1st (highest) string E4BCD
2nd string B3F#GA
3rd string G3DE
4th string D3ABC
5th string A2EF#G
6th string E2BCD

Position 5

Root on the 4th string D3 at fret 10. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String89101112
1st (highest) string E4CDE
2nd string B3GAB
3rd string G3EF#G
4th string D3BCD
5th string A2F#GA
6th string E2CDE

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