Scales › Lydian ♯2

Lydian ♯2 scale

crystalline Lydian ♯2

Lydian ♯2 on the guitar: the fretboard diagram

Here is the Lydian ♯2 scale laid out across the whole neck, from fret 0 to fret 15. The guide tones (3rd and 7th) are highlighted — they're what makes the scale's color sing. Use the key selector above to shift the shape along the neck and find the positions in your key.

What color?

Lydian whose second is augmented (#9), combining #9 and #11 over a major seventh: a bright, crystalline color crossed by an augmented second. Drawn from harmonic minor, it adds exotic spice to a maj7.

Origin & history

The sixth mode of the harmonic minor. A theoretical mode with a very tense color (a Lydian with an augmented second), used mostly as material for exploration.

Which chords to play it on?

The jazz consensus (Aebersold) recommends it on:

Sibling modes

The Lydian ♯2 scale is one of the modes of the harmonic minor : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (harmonic minor).

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →