Chord Colors

F♯ Lydian Diminished scale

357912

About the F sharp Lydian Diminished scale

F sharp Lydian Diminished is used for jazz solos and film cues that want tension. Think of it as a Lydian scale with a minor third, another raised-fourth minor color. It is F Lydian with the third lowered.

Its notes are F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The formula is W H 1½ H W W H. It is the fourth mode of C Harmonic Major.

Also called Lydian 3 and Lydian Minor.

An unfretted guitar already sounds A from the scale. A guitarist finds the lowest F at the 2nd fret of the low E string. A capo at the second fret brings F Lydian Diminished within reach of E-shape fingerings.

Positions

Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.

CAGED

Five shapes, each anchored to a chord form you already know, the pop and rock default that ties your scales to your chords. The outlined notes are that chord, so you can see the C, A, G, E, and D shapes inside the scale.

E shapefr 1
D shapefr 3
C shapefr 6
A shapefr 8
G shapefr 11
3NPS

3NPS stands for 3 notes per string. It lays the scale out in seven even shapes for rock and metal lead, and favors speed because the picking pattern stays consistent across every string.

Shape 1open
Shape 2fr 2
Shape 3fr 4
Shape 4fr 5
Shape 5fr 7
Shape 6fr 9
Shape 7fr 11
7-position system

7 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.

Position 1fr 1
Position 2fr 2
Position 3fr 4
Position 4fr 5
Position 5fr 8
Position 6fr 9
Position 7fr 11

Chords in the key of F sharp Lydian Diminished

Expand a chord to see how to play it.

i F sharp minor
Position 1 of 4
II G sharp
Position 1 of 4
III+ A augmented
Position 1 of 4
iv° B sharp diminished
Position 1 of 4
V C sharp
Position 1 of 4
vi° D sharp diminished
Position 1 of 4
vii E sharp minor
Position 1 of 4

Seventh chords in F sharp Lydian Diminished

The four-note version of each chord, richer and jazzier.

i F sharp minor major seven
Position 1 of 4
II G sharp seven
Position 1 of 4
III+ A major seven sharp five
Position 1 of 4
iv° B sharp diminished seven
Position 1 of 4
V C sharp major seven
Position 1 of 4
vi° D sharp minor seven flat five
Position 1 of 4
vii E sharp minor seven
Position 1 of 4

Progressions in F sharp Lydian Diminished

Tap any chord to hear it, or play the whole progression.

Notes and intervals

1F#F♯Root
2G#G♯Major 2nd
3AAMinor 3rd
4B#B♯Augmented 4th
5C#C♯Perfect 5th
6D#D♯Major 6th
7E#E♯Major 7th
StepsW H 1½ H W W H
Semitones2-1-3-1-2-2-1
Degrees1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Shapes

Chromatic

CC♯D♭DD♯E♭EFF♯G♭GG♯A♭AA♯B♭B

Circle of Fifths

CGDAEBF♯G♭C♯D♭G♯A♭D♯E♭A♯B♭F

Related scales

Lydian Diminished in other keys

Modes

The same notes, starting on a different note.

Embed this scale

Paste the snippet into a lesson page, a blog or a forum post. The card links back here.

Gb Lydian Diminished scale on guitar shown as colored note dots
Chord Colors

There's so much more to explore

Explore on the go. Over 150 chord progressions, modal mixture, build your own progressions, and more!

Try web version iOS app
Chord Colors on iPhone showing chords, guitar voicings, progressions, and scales