Welcome back to the modes, today we’re focusing on Lydian, the fourth mode of the Major scale.

Lydian is essentially a major scale so we’ll start off with that formula, this time in F.

R   2    3    4    5    6    7

F   G    A    Bb   C    D    E

Now we sharpen that 4th.

R   2    3   #4    5    6    7

F   G    A    B    C    D    E

And it becomes F Lydian.

This is the tablature for playing F Lydian.

Now for some ear training. The following songs are written in the Lydian mode:
Man On The Moon by R.E.M.
For The Love Of God by Steve Vai
Dancing Days by Led Zeppelin

Now onto the chords.

As a general rule you’re unlikely to write music in a given mode as they can be a bit weird sounding, but if you’re into virtuoso or complicated-for-the-sake-of-complicated music you can go right ahead. So, while it’s unusual to have modal chord progressions, practising them will be a good exercise to get to grips with the sound of this particular mode.

So here, have some chords.
   I                                     IV                                    V
   C                                 F#dim                                 G
CMaj7                            F#m7b5                           GMaj7