Built from the fourth degree of the major scale, this mysterious-sounding mode is often used to convey hope and expectation, and has found favour with everyone from film and tv composers to instrumental rock legends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
The structure of the Lydian mode is quite easy to understand – it's the same as the major scale but with a sharpened 'augmented' 4th degree. Compare the notes and intervals of the two scales (in the key of A here) and you'll see what we mean:
