Mixolydian Mode- What It Is & How To Use It

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Start Using the Mixolydian Mode…

Today!

 

 

 


 

 

The mixolydian mode is used extensively in blues, rock, jazz, funk and pop music. But what is it? And what is a mode? This lesson will answer most of your questions about how to play and use the mixolydian mode on guitar in a clear and easy to understand fashion.

Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:

0:15 Hear me demonstrate guitar soloing using the mixolydian mode. Notice it has a bright but bluesy sound. Here I am soloing with E mixolydian over an E7 chord.We’ll be looking at why this works so well in just a moment.

0:54 Lots of guitar players get very confused by the word ‘mode’. But simply think of it as another name for a scale. So the ‘mixolydian mode’ is simply a name for a particular type of scale which will work in a particular musical situation.

1:08 Here you’ll learn a mixolydian scale pattern you can use. Fingerings and description included. Get this down and you can start experimenting with using it in your playing straight away.

2:18 What do we use the scale for? If we examine the notes in the C mixolydian mode we see it contains the 4 notes which make up a c dominant7 (C7) chord. These notes are the ‘skeleton’ of the mode, giving it it’s basic sound. So it is used for soloing and improvising over dominant 7 chords. C mixolydian will work great over a C7 chord groove because the scale ‘outlines’ the sound of this chord.

3:55 It also works over other more colourful dominant type chords such as 9th, 11th and 13th chords. This is because these are basically just decorated versions of the basic C7 chord anyway. Find or record yourself playing a groove on a C7 or C9 chord and then start experimenting with using the notes in the scale over it.

4:35 It’s a great idea to learn the dominant 7 arpeggio which is hiding inside the scale pattern. This will really help you to make your mixolydian improvising and soloing sound more melodic. Here you’ll learn a fingering for a C7 arpeggio which goes with the C mixolydian scale pattern we just saw.

6:43 The scale and arpeggio shapes are totally moveable and have their root note on the low E string. Use this to move them to other keys.

 

 



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