E Lydian Mode: The E Major Scale With One Note Lifted

E Lydian is the E major scale with a single change: the fourth note, A, is raised to A#. That one shift turns a bright, settled scale into something that seems to hover a few inches off the ground. Its notes are E, F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, and every one of them except A# is already in E major. That makes it one of the easiest modes to learn, because most of the work is already done.

Starting From E Major

A scale is a set of notes played in order from a starting note, called the root, up to the same note an octave higher. E major runs E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#. Sing or play it and you'll hear the familiar do-re-mi sound.

Now replace that A with A#. Nothing else moves. The root is still E, the third is still G#, the fifth is still B, so the scale still sounds major and happy. But the fourth note now sits a half step higher. A half step is the smallest step in Western music, like moving from one piano key to the very next one, black or white.

On a keyboard, E major uses four black keys: F#, G#, C# and D#. E Lydian uses five, adding A#. Try playing both scales back to back and listen to the moment you reach the fourth note. In major, A feels like a step you lean on. In Lydian, A# feels like a door opening upward.

Why A# and Not Bb

A# and Bb are the same piano key, so why the sharp? Scales follow a simple spelling rule: each letter name, A through G, appears exactly once. E Lydian needs an A of some kind between G# and B. Calling it Bb would give us two B notes and no A at all, which would make the scale confusing to read and to talk about. So it's A#.

The same rule explains every other sharp. F#, G#, C# and D# each fill their own letter slot, and the whole scale spells cleanly as E, F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#.

You may see Fb Lydian mentioned somewhere. It sounds identical, but spelled from Fb it needs seven flats, including double-flat territory in its chords. Nobody writes it that way in practice. E Lydian is the friendly spelling, and it's the one you'll meet on real charts.

The Pattern, the Formula and the Family

A whole step is two half steps, like skipping one piano key. The Lydian step pattern is W - W - W - H - W - W - H. Walk it from E:

• E to F# (W)
• F# to G# (W)
• G# to A# (W)
• A# to B (H)
• B to C# (W)
• C# to D# (W)
• D# to E (H)

Notice the three whole steps in a row at the start. Major has only two before its first half step. That extra whole step is the raised fourth showing up in the pattern.

Musicians also describe scales by formula, measuring each note against major: 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7. The distance from E up to A# is an augmented 4th, also called a tritone, three whole steps wide. On its own it's a tense, restless interval. Inside Lydian, cushioned by a major chord, it becomes shimmer rather than tension.

Here's a useful shortcut. E Lydian contains exactly the same notes as B major (B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#). It just starts and comes to rest on E instead of B. So the key signature, the set of sharps or flats written at the start of each line of sheet music, is B major's: five sharps. That family also includes G# minor, the relative minor of B major, which shares the same five sharps.

The Chords It Gives You

Stack every other note of the scale and you get seven chords:

• I: E (E-G#-B) / Emaj7
• II: F# (F#-A#-C#) / F#7
• iii: G#m (G#-B-D#) / G#m7
• #iv°: A#dim (A#-C#-E) / A#m7b5
• V: B (B-D#-F#) / Bmaj7
• vi: C#m (C#-E-G#) / C#m7
• vii: D#m (D#-F#-A#) / D#m7

The one to notice is II: F# major. In plain E major the second chord is minor. Here it's major, because it contains A#. Moving between E and F# is the classic Lydian sound, and you'll hear that two-chord sway all over film scores whenever a scene needs wonder or wide-open sky.

Try this on piano or any instrument: Emaj7 – F# – Emaj7 – F#, two beats or a full bar each. Then add a little color with Emaj7 – F# – C#m7 – B. Keep coming home to E so the ear knows where the root is. If you drift onto B too often, the music starts to sound like plain B major.

How a Melody Behaves

Lydian melodies love the A#. Land on it over the E chord and let it hang; that's the floating quality people call dreamy. A# also sits a half step under B, so it naturally wants to rise there, and singers will feel that lift.

What A# doesn't do is settle. Treat it as color, not as a resting place. End your phrases on E, G# or B, and use A# as the note that makes the listener lean forward. Hum a phrase like G#, A#, B, then fall back to G# and E, and you'll hear the whole personality of the mode in five notes.

For guitarists

The open low E string is your root, which makes this an easy mode to vamp on. The root also sits at the 12th fret (and 24th, if your guitar reaches) of the 6th string, and at frets 7 and 19 on the A string. Let the open E drone while you play the scale up the high strings, and keep an ear on every A# as it rubs against that drone.

Something to Try

Hold down an E in the bass, on any instrument or just by humming it. Over that drone, sing or play E, F#, G#, A#, then stop and sustain the A# for four slow counts. Now do the same with A natural in its place. Go back and forth three times. The difference you hear between those two notes is E Lydian.

For the bigger picture, read The Lydian Mode.