Chords in D lydian

D · E · F♯m · G♯° · A · Bm · C♯m

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

The chords in D lydian

  1. IDDmaj7
  2. IIEE7
  3. iiiF♯mF♯m7
  4. iv°G♯°G♯m7♭5
  5. VAAmaj7
  6. viBmBm7
  7. viiC♯mC♯m7

The chords of D lydian are D, E, F♯m, G♯°, A, Bm and C♯m. With a seventh added they become Dmaj7, E7, F♯m7, G♯m7♭5, Amaj7, Bm7 and C♯m7.

If you stack every other note of D 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

IDIIEiiiF♯miv°G♯°VAviBmviiC♯m
Open13515131♭35513511♭351
Fret 1151♭351♭31♭5151♭351
Fret 22fr1313512fr1351512fr151♭32fr1♭3♭3♭52fr135152fr151♭32fr151♭3
Fret 33fr1513
Fret 44fr1313514fr1♭351514fr1♭51♭34fr131354fr1♭35154fr151♭3
Fret 55fr15135fr15135fr1♭3♭3515fr15135fr1♭3♭35
Fret 66fr151♭3516fr1♭31♭56fr151♭356fr1♭3515
Fret 77fr135157fr15137fr151♭37fr1♭3♭3♭517fr1351517fr151♭37fr1♭3♭35
Fret 88fr1♭5♭318fr151♭35
Fret 99fr131359fr135159fr151♭39fr1♭51♭39fr1313519fr1♭351519fr151♭3
Fret 1010fr151310fr151310fr1♭3♭351
Fret 1111fr1313511fr1♭351511fr1♭51♭311fr151♭35111fr1♭35151

The grid places seven chords across twelve home frets on 6-string bass. Every chord is within reach from fret 2 and fret 4 and fret 7 and fret 9.

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. The line in the margin marks the rows your hand covers from a position where every chord of the key is within reach. In this key those positions are fret 2 and fret 4 and fret 7 and fret 9.

Shapes for each chord

D I
135113513131
E II
5132fr1351514fr1313514fr151351
F♯m iii
2fr151♭31♭35151♭354fr1♭35151
G♯° iv°
4fr1♭51♭32fr1♭3♭3♭51♭31♭54fr1♭5♭3
A V
5132fr13515537fr135151
Bm vi
5151♭355♭3
C♯m vii
1♭351151♭3512fr151♭31♭35

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 D lydian

Three chord
  1. ID
  2. iv°G♯°
  3. VA
DIG♯°iv°AVDDEF♯G♯AABC♯+2+2+1+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 D lydian.

Axis
  1. ID
  2. VA
  3. viBm
  4. iv°G♯°
DIAVBmviG♯°iv°DC♯DDF♯EF♯G♯AABB−1+1−2+2+2+2

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 D lydian.

Doo-wop
  1. ID
  2. viBm
  3. iv°G♯°
  4. VA
DIBmviG♯°iv°AVDDDEF♯F♯G♯AABBC♯+2+2+1+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 D lydian.

ii–V–I
  1. II7E7
  2. Vmaj7Amaj7
  3. Imaj7Dmaj7
E7II7Amaj7Vmaj7Dmaj7Imaj7DC♯C♯EEDG♯G♯F♯BAA−1−2−2−2

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.

E7II7Amaj7Vmaj7Dmaj7Imaj7DC♯C♯G♯G♯F♯−1−2

Every one of these chords comes from D lydian.

Rhythm changes
  1. Imaj7Dmaj7
  2. vi7Bm7
  3. II7E7
  4. Vmaj7Amaj7
Dmaj7Imaj7Bm7vi7E7II7Amaj7Vmaj7C♯BBADDDC♯F♯F♯EEAAG♯G♯−2−2−1−2−1

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.

Dmaj7Imaj7Bm7vi7E7II7Amaj7Vmaj7C♯DDC♯F♯AG♯G♯+1−1+3−1

Every one of these chords comes from D lydian.

Twelve-bar blues
  1. I7D7
  2. I7D7
  3. I7D7
  4. I7D7
  5. IV7G♯7
  6. IV7G♯7
  7. I7D7
  8. I7D7
  9. V7A7
  10. IV7G♯7
  11. I7D7
  12. V7A7
D7I7G♯7IV7D7I7A7V7G♯7IV7D7I7A7V7CB♯CC♯B♯CC♯DD♯DED♯DEF♯F♯F♯GF♯F♯GAG♯AAG♯AA+1−1+1+1−1+2−1−1+2+1−1+1−1+1−1+1

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.

D7I7G♯7IV7D7I7A7V7G♯7IV7D7I7A7V7CB♯CC♯B♯CC♯F♯F♯F♯GF♯F♯G+1−1+1+1−1+1

None of these chords belongs entirely to D lydian: all three of them use notes the key does not contain (C, B♯, D♯ and G). 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 (D7 → G, G♯7 → C♯, A7 → D). A chord drawn dashed, here and on the circle, goes outside the key.

There are six progressions in D lydian, including Three chord (D G♯° A) and Axis (D A Bm G♯°).

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 D 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.

D lydian on the circle of fifths

—1♯2♯3♯4♯5♯6♯5♭4♭3♭2♭1♭CAmGEmDIBmviAVF♯miiiEIIC♯mviiBG♯mF♯D♯mD♭B♭mG♯°iv°FmE♭CmB♭GmFDmD Lydian3♯

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. D lydian has three sharps 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, D, E and A (the I, II and V), sit next to each other on the outer ring, each a fifth from its neighbour. Its three minor chords, F♯m, Bm and C♯m (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, G♯° (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. Play a root, then the note two frets higher on the next string up. Here it starts on D.

BEADGC345678DAE

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

Every pair of strings in this tuning is a fourth apart, so the shape stays the same wherever you play it.

D lydian has three sharps in its key signature. Six of its seven chords form one block on the circle of fifths.

Six of D lydian's seven chords sit together in one block on the wheel. The seventh, G♯°, sits apart.