How to write amazing Lydian melodies is something we all want to know. So is the Lydian scale the most beautiful scale in music? I’m not sure. But it is one of my favourites. You can write emotional music and happy music with it. Let’s dive in and let’s get creative!
A Lydian mode melody is something beautiful. It can sound happy and emotional at the same time. That is what makes it so special. It has a lovely balance between tension and release. You should consider Lydian whenever you are tired of writing music with the major scale. What is a Lydian scale and how do you
Video Tutorial: How To Make a Lydian Melody
I advise you to play these Lydian melodic figures yourself. Because then you ‘feel’ how it sounds. But if you want to hear all the examples with real
In the video, you can hear how I transformed my voice and vocals into professional singers by using the A.I. tool from Audimee. It’s quite awesome!
Easy Approach to Modes
Each mode is a separate scale or key. This is the easiest way to approach modes. Many people see the musical modes as being part of a bigger mode or parent scale. Often this is the major scale. But many times I don’t approach it this way. I don’t see it as being part of some different scale. A Lydian melody is what it is and not some kind of scale degree from the major.
I will explain how you make a Lydian scale and what makes a Lydian mode.
How to write music using the Lydian scale:
- Take a major scale and raise the 4th note half a step
- Create a chord/triad on each scale degree
- Focus with your melody and chords on the root, major third, augmented 4th and major 7th scale degree
How Do You Make a Lydian Scale?
When we refer to the notes that can be used in your music piece we are talking about what key it is in. These notes often, if not always, form a scale. To start our journey we have to make some scales and find out what music steps formula they use.
A Major: To start we have to make a major scale. And I hear you thinking “But you just said Lydian is a separate scale?”. It is, but I like to refer to the major scale because it’s easier.
All the musical modes or church modes as they’re called can be referred to as being major or minor-oriented. This means that the 3rd note in the scale is major or minor. A major third has two whole steps and a minor third has 1,5 steps.
We use the major scale to make the major-oriented modes. For the minor-oriented modes, we use the natural minor scale.
Making an Ionian scale
The Major scale consists of 7 unique tones. When you follow this blueprint of whole and half steps you can make a major scale in any key. Whole step – Whole step – Half step – Whole step – Whole step – Whole step – Half step
When we name the notes each step needs to be a different letter from the alphabet. You cannot have C and Cb or A and A#. It should be C and B or A and Bb.
Making a Lydian Scale
Now that you have the A major scale you only have to raise the fourth note with half a step. This will turn it into an A Lydian scale. To be clear, the rest of the notes stay the same!
The formula for making a Lydian scale is Whole Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step.
How do you write a Lydian melody?
Lydian scale on guitar: A technique that I like for using the Lydian scale on guitar is taking the A major pentatonic scale and adding the note that is unique to the Lydian scale. Which is the raised 4th scale degree. For example, in A Lydian this note is D# instead of D.
On a Chord Vamp: if you want to hear the Lydian sound together with chords then record a loop of you playing a major chord. This major chord is the tonic chord. Then improvise by playing the corresponding Lydian scale. Once you get the hang of it, you can try to make a more elaborate Lydian chord progression.
On a pedal point: if you want to practise and get familiar with the Lydian sound, then try to improvise on a bass note that doesn’t change. For example, hold the note E in the bass to play the E Lydian scale on top. Focus on the notes that are important for the Lydian sound.
Melody Technique no.1 in C Lydian
The first example that I made is in the mode C Lydian. This means that the C Lydian scale has the notes C – D – E – F# – G – A – B. The F# is the raised 4th scale degree. This is one of the most important notes.
Melodic figure
The melodic figure that I will use in this example goes from the perfect fifth down to the raised fourth, down to the major 7 and resolves up to the root note. It is easy to play and it sounds great. It has a lot of tension and a strong resolution. And since you know the scale degrees you can apply this to music in any key you like!
Full melody
Below is the full melody. It uses some natural tensions to spice things up. Together with the chords, this melody keeps the bright sound of Lydian. But it also has a touch of melancholy. The recognizable Lydian melodic figure sounds in the last bars with the Bm chords.
In my video tutorial, you can hear that I used the A.I. tool from Audimee to transform my voice into a professional female singer.
Melody Technique no.2 in A Lydian
The second melodic figure is amazing. It has so many different possibilities. The melody and figure are in A Lydian. You already saw a picture of the scale above. The notes are A – B – C# – D# – E – F# – G#. The raised fourth scale the degree is D#.
You go from the root note down to the augmented 4th. Then you go half a step up to the perfect fifth and back to the root note. Either a fifth down or a fourth up. You can play this in many ways. For example, from the root note, you can walk down to the augmented 4th. In this case, you fill-up the interval.
Full melody
This melody sounds special to me. Especially when you play it together with the chords and vocals from Audimee. It has this emotional and sad sound to it. But without getting too much drama.
The first 4 bars play the melodic figure like it is shown above. The last 4 bars play a variation of the filled-up version. Also, notice how the 2nd part of the melody ends on the unstable augmented 4th scale degree. It keeps the tension!
Melody Technique no.3 in C Lydian
The last example is more harmony-oriented. But I want to include it because it’s so useful! It is in C Lydian. This means that the F# is the raised 4th scale degree.
What happens in this example is that you embellish the tonic chord by playing the F# in the melody. This means you can get the Lydian sound with one melody and only one chord. The melody adds a lot of colour to a stable tonic chord.
Of course, you can also play this progression without the chord inversions. Then you should ignore what is written behind the slashes.
Conclusion
With these Lydian melody formulas under your belt, you can start to experiment and explore the Lydian mode. You can also use them as a quick fix or as an easy starting point. In any case, I guarantee that these melodic techniques will inspire you to write some new
Interested in more videos about the musical modes? Check out my other videos on the Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Dorian modes.
If you want to learn more about modal melodies, check out my video about Phrygian melodies.
