Chords in B♭ lydian

B♭ · C · Dm · E° · F · Gm · Am

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 19 · Harmonising the scale.

The chords in B♭ lydian

  1. IB♭B♭maj7
  2. IICC7
  3. iiiDmDm7
  4. iv°E°Em7♭5
  5. VFFmaj7
  6. viGmGm7
  7. viiAmAm7

The chords of B♭ lydian are B♭, C, Dm, E°, F, Gm and Am. With a seventh added they become B♭maj7, C7, Dm7, Em7♭5, Fmaj7, Gm7 and Am7.

If you stack every other note of B♭ lydian, starting from each degree in turn, these are the chords you get. Nobody chose them: each one is built from the scale's own notes, arranged in thirds.

Every chord, where it lives

IB♭IICiiiDmiv°E°VFviGmviiAm
Open13151♭31♭511135151♭3
Fret 1151351315151351
Fret 22fr131352fr1♭51♭32fr1513
Fret 33fr151353fr1♭3153fr1515133fr151♭351
Fret 55fr151♭355fr1♭31♭55fr15151♭35fr151♭351
Fret 66fr1513516fr1♭5♭3♭56fr1315
Fret 77fr15137fr1♭51♭37fr131357fr15151♭3
Fret 88fr1515138fr1513518fr151358fr1♭315
Fret 99fr1513
Fret 1010fr15151310fr151♭35110fr151♭3510fr1♭315
Fret 1111fr1315

The grid places seven chords across eleven home frets on drop D guitar.

Read down a column to find one chord all over the neck. Each shape appears once, in the row for the fret it starts on. No single position puts every chord of this key within reach, so no rows are marked in the margin.

Shapes for each chord

B♭ I
1513515136fr151351135
C II
13113153fr1513513
Dm iii
51♭3♭351♭3♭3515♭3
E° iv°
1♭511♭511♭51♭31♭5
F V
11351151351113515135
Gm vi
3fr151♭3513fr151♭353fr151♭35♭33fr1♭351
Am vii
51♭351♭35fr151♭3511♭3

These are the most playable shapes for each chord, starting from the lowest position. Every shape fits within the reach of one hand, so none of them needs a finger you do not have.

Progressions in B♭ lydian

Three chord
  1. IB♭
  2. iv°E°
  3. VF
B♭IE°iv°FVDEFFGAB♭B♭C+2+1+2+2+2

One of the six lines between these chords is flat: that note belongs to both chords, so it stays where it is. No voice moves more than two semitones.

Every one of these chords comes from B♭ lydian.

Axis
  1. IB♭
  2. VF
  3. viGm
  4. iv°E°
B♭IFVGmviE°iv°DCDEFFGGB♭AB♭B♭−2+2+2+2−1+1

Three of the nine lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones.

Every one of these chords comes from B♭ lydian.

Doo-wop
  1. IB♭
  2. viGm
  3. iv°E°
  4. VF
B♭IGmviE°iv°FVDDEFFGGAB♭B♭B♭C+2+1+2+2+2

Four of the nine lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones.

Every one of these chords comes from B♭ lydian.

ii–V–I
  1. II7C7
  2. Vmaj7Fmaj7
  3. Imaj7B♭maj7
C7II7Fmaj7Vmaj7B♭maj7Imaj7CCB♭EEDGFFB♭AA−2−2−2−1

Four of the eight lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones.

These are the third and the seventh of each chord on their own. Together they decide whether a chord is major, minor or dominant, which is why they are called guide tones. If you play only these two notes, you can still hear the chords change. If you play only the root and the fifth, you cannot. Two of the four lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones.

C7II7Fmaj7Vmaj7B♭maj7Imaj7EEDB♭AA−2−1

Every one of these chords comes from B♭ lydian.

Rhythm changes
  1. Imaj7B♭maj7
  2. vi7Gm7
  3. II7C7
  4. Vmaj7Fmaj7
B♭maj7Imaj7Gm7vi7C7II7Fmaj7Vmaj7DDCCFFEEAGGFB♭B♭B♭A−2−1−2−2−1

Seven of the twelve lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones.

This diagram again follows only the guide tones, the third and seventh of each chord. Two of the six lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than three semitones.

B♭maj7Imaj7Gm7vi7C7II7Fmaj7Vmaj7DFEEAB♭B♭A+3−1+1−1

Every one of these chords comes from B♭ lydian.

Twelve-bar blues
  1. I7B♭7
  2. I7B♭7
  3. I7B♭7
  4. I7B♭7
  5. IV7E7
  6. IV7E7
  7. I7B♭7
  8. I7B♭7
  9. V7F7
  10. IV7E7
  11. I7B♭7
  12. V7F7
B♭7I7E7IV7B♭7I7F7V7E7IV7B♭7I7F7V7DDDE♭DDE♭FEFFEFFA♭G♯A♭AG♯A♭AB♭BB♭CBB♭C+1−1+1−1+1−1+1+1−1+1+1−1+2−1−1+2

Eight of the 24 lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than two semitones. The progression lasts twelve bars, but a repeated chord is not a change, so the ladder shows only the six places where the harmony moves.

This diagram again follows only the guide tones, the third and seventh of each chord. Six of the twelve lines between these chords are flat: those notes belong to both chords, so they stay where they are. No voice moves more than one semitone. The progression lasts twelve bars, but a repeated chord is not a change, so the ladder shows only the six places where the harmony moves.

B♭7I7E7IV7B♭7I7F7V7E7IV7B♭7I7F7V7DDDE♭DDE♭A♭G♯A♭AG♯A♭A+1−1+1+1−1+1

None of these chords belongs entirely to B♭ lydian: all three of them use notes the key does not contain (A♭, G♯, B and E♭). No single key contains all of them. Every one is a dominant seventh, and a dominant seventh pulls towards the chord whose root is a fifth below its own, one step anticlockwise on the circle (B♭7 → E♭, E7 → A, F7 → B♭). A chord drawn dashed, here and on the circle, goes outside the key.

There are six progressions in B♭ lydian, including Three chord (B♭ E° F) and Axis (B♭ F Gm E°).

Each row is one progression. It is written first in roman numerals, which name each chord by the degree of the scale it is built on, and then as the chords those numerals stand for in this key. A dashed outline means the chord borrows a note that B♭ lydian does not contain. Under each progression, a diagram follows every note from one chord to the next. A flat line is a note that stays where it is, and a sloped line is labelled with the number of semitones the note moves.

B♭ lydian on the circle of fifths

—1♯2♯3♯4♯5♯6♯5♭4♭3♭2♭1♭CIIAmviiGEmDBmAF♯mE°iv°C♯mBG♯mF♯D♯mD♭B♭mA♭FmE♭CmB♭IGmviFVDmiiiB♭ Lydian1♭

Each step clockwise around the wheel moves up a perfect fifth and adds a sharp to the key signature, or takes a flat away. The small numbers around the rim show each key's signature. B♭ lydian has one flat in its key signature.

Why the chords land where they do

The two rings work in pairs. Each minor key on the inner ring is the relative minor of the major key just outside it: the two are built from the same seven notes and share a key signature. C major and A minor are one such pair.

This pairing is why a key's chords gather in one place. Its three major chords, B♭, C and F (the I, II and V), sit next to each other on the outer ring, each a fifth from its neighbour. Its three minor chords, Dm, Gm and Am (the iii, vi and vii), are the relative minors of those same three, so they sit directly beneath them. Together, six of the seven chords form a block three wedges wide.

The remaining chord, E° (the iv°), is diminished. It sits four steps away from the block and is outlined on its own. Every major key, and every mode of the major scale, has exactly one diminished chord, and it is always the one that sits apart.

In this way the wheel works as a map of harmonic distance. Chords inside the block sound as though they belong to one key, and the further a chord sits from the block, the more it sounds like a departure. That is why progressions such as I–IV–V and ii–V–I move between neighbours rather than leaping across the wheel.

One step, on the neck

On the guitar, a perfect fifth is a shape you already know: the power chord, a root followed by the note two frets higher on the next string up, wherever the two strings are a fourth apart. Here it starts on B♭. The first step lands on the same fret, because the pair D–A is a fifth apart.

DADGBE891011B♭FC

Now think of it as a chain. The F you are already fretting is the fifth of B♭, and it is also the root of the next chord clockwise. Play the same shape starting from F and you reach C. B♭ → F → C is two steps around the wheel, and the same movement repeated up the neck.

The pair A–D is a fourth apart, so that step uses the usual two-fret shape. Higher up, the G–B pair breaks the pattern again. To work out any pair, count the semitones between the two strings and subtract that from seven. A fourth gives two frets, a fifth gives none, and a major third gives three.

B♭ lydian has one flat in its key signature. Six of its seven chords form one block on the circle of fifths.

Six of B♭ lydian's seven chords sit together in one block on the wheel. The seventh, E°, sits apart.