(MED. SWING ♩=80)
79

Jazz Piano · The maj7♯11 Scale

Lydian Mode

1 – 2 – 3 – ♯4 – 5 – 6 – 7 — major with raised 4, twelve keys

Lydian is the 4th mode of major — the major scale with a ♯4. C lydian: C D E F♯ G A B C. The raised 4th creates a brighter, more "floating" quality than plain major; the tritone between root and ♯4 keeps the scale from feeling fully resolved.

Used over maj7 chords when you want the modern jazz colour rather than the vanilla major sound. Especially natural over IV maj7 chords (where lydian is automatically the chord scale) and over any maj7 that's a tonic in a non-functional context. The Wayne Shorter / late Coltrane / mid-Hancock palette is lydian-saturated.

Now 2 octaves, both hands — the same pattern extended up and back with fingering marked above every note in each hand.

Intervals

1 – 2 – 3 – ♯4 – 5 – 6 – 7. Major with raised 4.

Use

Over maj7, especially IVmaj7 or non-functional Imaj7.

01

C major

3 2 X O O O C C 3 2 X O O O
02

F major

F 3 2 1 X X O F 3 2 1 X X O
03

B♭ major

1 3 2 4 X X B B 1 3 2 4 X X
04

E♭ major

1 2 3 4 X X E E 1 2 3 4 X X
05

A♭ major

A 1 1 1 3 X X A 1 1 1 3 X X
06

D♭ major

D 4 3 1 1 1 X 4 3 1 1 1 X D
07

G♭ major

G 4 3 2 1 X X 4 3 2 1 X X G
08

B major

B 1 3 2 4 X X 1 3 2 4 X X B
09

E major

E 3 1 2 O O X 3 1 2 O O X E
10

A major

A 2 1 3 X O O 2 1 3 X O O A
11

D major

1 2 3 X X O D 1 2 3 X X O D
12

G major

4 3 2 1 X X 2fr G G 4 3 2 1 X X 2fr

Major with one bright sharpened note. The mode that defines modern jazz maj7.

80 bpm
Sound