Lydian chord
In jazz music, the lydian chord is the major 7♯11 chord,[1] or ♯11 chord, the chord built on the first degree of the Lydian mode, the sharp eleventh being a compound augmented fourth. This chord, built on C, is shown below.
This is described as "beautiful" and "modern sounding."[1] The notes that make up the Lydian chord represent five of the seven notes of the Lydian mode, and the ♯11 at the top of the chord is the ♯4 (one octave higher) that distinguishes the Lydian mode from the major scale.
Major 7♯11 may also refer to the Lydian augmented chord, an augmented seventh chord with augmented fourth appearing in the Lydian augmented scale.[2]
In a chord chart, the notation "Lydian" indicates a major family chord with an added augmented eleventh, including maj7♯11, add9♯11, and 6♯11.[1]
Harmonic function
Lydian chords may function as subdominants or substitutes for the tonic in major keys.[3] The compound interval of the augmented eleventh (enharmonically equivalent to ♯4, the characteristic interval of the Lydian mode) is used since the simple fourth usually only appears in suspended chords (which replace the third with a natural fourth, for example Csus4). The fifth can be omitted to avoid creating dissonance with the ♯4; this is usually not specified in chord naming.
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\time 4/4
<c' e' b' fis''>1
<c' e' g' b' fis''>1
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/7/n/7n5yum3wmsxxkfminj8f5d1qpvbs271/7n5yum3w.png)
The dominant 7♯11 or Lydian dominant (C7♯11) comprises the notes:
- r, 3, (5), ♭7, (9), ♯11, (13)
(Note that in jazz lead sheet notation, upper extensions (intervals beyond the 7th) aren't named unless they are altered; alternatively, when including the 9th and 13th this chord could be called a C13♯11.)
Basing this chord on the pitch C results in the pitches:
- C, E, (G), B♭, (D), F♯, (A)
![{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\time 4/4
<c e bes fis' a' d' fis''>1
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/k/h/khnctbob6cve03jujufm8rujnsttheb/khnctbob.png)
The same chord may also be voiced:
- C, E, B♭, F♯, A, D, F♯
This voicing omits the perfect fifth (G) and raises the major ninth (D) by an octave. The augmented eleventh (F♯) is also played twice in two different registers. This is known as "doubling".
References
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![P8-M7-m7-M6-m6-P5-TT-P4-M3-m3-M2-m2](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Pyramid_chord.png/60px-Pyramid_chord.png)
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