Pentania — Explore the harmonies

Scales › Lydian ♯2

Lydian ♯2 scale

crystalline Lydian ♯2

7 notes

guide tones (3rd & 7th — the heart of the sound) avoid (strong clash)

C · D# · E · F# · G · A · B

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:

major seventh chord

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).

harmonic minor classical minor, augmented second Locrian ♮6 half-diminished with major thirteenth Ionian ♯5 (augmented major) major with augmented fifth Dorian ♯4 (Romanian) Romanian Dorian ♯4 Phrygian dominant (Spanish) Spanish flamenco ♭9 super-Locrian ♭♭7 (ultralocrian) diminished Locrian, bb7

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 →