Episode 9 : An Introduction to Mixolydian Scales

An Introduction to Mixolydian ScalesPodcast #9 - Additional notes

© Copyright Darren Dutson Bromley 2012

Mixolydian scales.

The mixolydian scale is commonly used in many styles of music and is an effective scale when played over a dominant chord.

Let's take Bb as an example. A Bb major scale consists of the notes

Bb C D Eb F G A Bb

Bbma7 consists of the notes Bb D F and A

These notes are contained within a Bb major scale and this would be an ideal scale for improvising with over the Bbma7 chord.

Bb major scale Bb C D Eb F G A

Bbma7 Bb D F A

If the chord was Bb7 it would contain the notes Bb, D, F and Ab. Here the Bb major scale wouldn't be the most ideal scale, whilst Bb, D and F would fit Ab would clash with the A found in the scale.

Bb major scale Bb C D Eb F G A

Bb7 Bb D F Ab

The A (which is the seventh note) could be flattened to correspond with Ab in the chord giving a scale which looks like this:

Bb C D Eb F G Ab Bb

This is called Bb Mixolydian. It can be thought of as a Bb major scale with a flattened seventh note and is an ideal scale to play over a Bb7 chord.

Over a progression which uses a number of 7th chords such as a blues or middle sections of tunes such as I Got Rhythm which use cyclic dominant progressions, it would be necessary to change to the appropriate scale to correspond with the chord.

For example.

Over Bb7 we could use Bb Mixolydian, however we'd have to change to Eb Mixolydian over the Eb7 chord. This can be thought of as an Eb major scale with a flattened 7th note to correspond to the chord tone found in Eb7.

Eb7 chord Eb G Bb DbEb major scale Eb F G Ab Bb C D

Eb Mixolydian scale

Eb F G Ab Bb C Db

Root 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Here is a solo using these two scales which fits over this progression. Take any phrases you like and incorporate them into your own playing. Try playing the scales in lots of keys and try using them to solo over different progressions. It would also be useful to try working out other Mixolydian scale shapes.

This week served as an introduction to the mixolydian scale. The next step is to incorporate this scale into a blues sequence.

See you next time.