Mixolydian Scale - Guitar Chords, Patterns, and Licks PDF

18/09/2018 Mixolydian Scale - Guitar Chords, Patterns, and Licks
M ixoly dian Scale – G uitar Ch or ds, Patter n s, an d

Licks
Mixolydian Scale – Guitar

Chords, Patterns, and Licks
 PUBLISHED IN BEGINNER, JAZZ GUITAR LESSONS, JAZZ GUITAR SCALES
One of the most important scales in modern music, Mixolydian is used by rock, blues,
jazz, funk, soul, R&B, pop, and country guitarists in their riffs and solos.
The fth mode of the major scale, Mixolydian is used to solo over dominant family chords
such as the I7, IV7 and V7 chords of a blues progression.
In this lesson, you learn how to build Mixolydian, how to use it in your solos, and study
ngerings, patterns and Mixolydian licks in the style of Joe Pass and others.
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Mixolydian Construction
Mixolydian is the 5th mode of the major scale and is used to solo over dominant 7th and
related chords on guitar.
It also has no sharps or ats when played from the root G, as this is the same as playing
the C major scale from G to G.
This means that if you play G Mixolydian on the piano, you play the white keys, no black
keys, on the keyboard.
These seven notes can be written a number of ways such as intervals:
R-2-3-4-5-6-b7
Or you can think of them as speci c intervals such as:
P1-M2-M3-P4-P5-M6-m7
In this case, the legend for each symbol would be:
P = Perfect Interval
M = Major Interval
m = Minor Interval
While these intervals are commonly used, you can also think of the upper notes as
extensions rather than lower notes.
This means that you think of Mixolydian with this pattern:
R-9-3-11-5-13-b7
I prefer this way of thinking as it allows you to visualize the upper chord extensions for
any chord you’re soloing over.
Here’s how G Mixolydian looks on the fretboard with both notes and intervals.
You can use either system, 2-4-6, 9-11-13, or a mixture of both depending on the musical
situation.
Try both out and see which ts better for you, then go forward in your studies with that
interval system.
Either way, Mixolydian has a b7, which is the characteristic note of the scale and
distinguishes it from Ionian, which has a natural 7.
When soloing, highlighting the b7 note brings out the Mixolydian sound over that chord
change, which you’ll hear and see in the licks below.
Mixolydian Application
Now that you know how to build Mixolydian, take a look at how you can apply this
important scale to a guitar soloing situation.
Mixolydian is be used to solo over a number of chords in the dominant family.
These chords include:
7th
9th
13th
7sus4
These dominant family chords are all built from Mixolydian, and therefore Mixolydian
can be used to solo over these chords.
Here’s an example of a Mixolydian ngering and three chords derived from that scale to
see how the two relate on paper and the fretboard.
To begin using this theory, put on backing track and solo over those changes whenever
you learn a new Mixolydian ngering.
You can also solo over a jazz blues progression, using Mixolydian to outline the I7, IV7
and V7 chords.
To help you practice Mixolydian, here’s a G7 backing track that you can use with any
ngering, lick, or exercise in this lesson.
Vm
P
Mixolydian Chords
Next, here are four Mixolydian chords with the root on the 5th string that you can learn
and add to your rhythm guitar playing.
Mixolydian One Octave Fingerings

To help you take these must-know scales onto the fretboard, here are common one-
octave Mixolydian shapes.
One-octave shapes come in handy when soloing over fast moving chord changes or at fast
tempos.
There are three main groups of one-octave ngerings for Mixolydian, starting with
shapes that use your index nger on the rst note.
When learning these shapes, work them in 12 keys and solo over dominant chords using
these shapes as the basis for your improvised lines.
This ensures that you’re working Mixolydian from both a technical and improvisational
standpoint.
You can also learn Mixolydian with your middle nger on the rst note of each one-octave
shape.
Once you have these four shapes under your ngers, move between the rst four and
these four in both your practice routine.
Lastly, here are four Mixolydian shapes that begin with your pinky nger on the rst note.
Again, work these shapes in 12 keys as well as solo over backing tracks in order to be
creative with these scales in the woodshed.
Once you have these shapes under your ngers, move between these scales in your
technical and improvisational practice routine.
Over time you might explore all 12 ngerings, but that doesn’t mean you always have
these Mixolydian shapes under your ngers.
Over time you pick your favorites and they work their way into your playing, while others
you might not use very much.
This is ne and is part of the learning process as you work through many technical items,
picking ones that suit you and ditching ones that don’t suit your style.
Mixolydian Two Octave Fingerings

As well as learning one-octave Mixolydian shapes, you can take these patterns a step
further by learning two-octave shapes.
Two-octave Mixolydian shapes come in handy when you’re soloing over longer chord
changes or tunes that don’t change keys very often.
There are a number of ways that you can build two-octave Mixolydian shapes, here are
four of my favorites to get you started.
Learn one of these shapes at a time, and then combine two or more in your guitar practice
routine as you dig further into these important scales.
Mixolydian Scale Patterns

You’ll now check out scale patterns over any or all of the Mixolydian shapes you learned
so far.
To begin, here’s an ascending pattern that you can use to expand your technique.
The pattern is built by playing descending 3rds and repeating this pattern from each note
in the scale, in this case ascending.
This means that you play 31, 42, 53, etc. as you work your way up the scale.
Go slow with this pattern, work it through both one and two-octave shapes and in
different keys as you take this pattern around the fretboard.
Vm
Click to hear
P
You can also work this pattern descending, such as down the G Mixolydian scale below.
Again, you’re playing every second note to create the pattern, 68, 57, 46, etc. as you work
your way down the ngering.
Vm
Click to hear
P
Once you have these patterns under your ngers, put on a backing track and add them to
your solos.
You don’t have to play them in every line, but adding these patterns here and there spices
up your improvised phrases.
3 Mixolydian Licks
As well as learning Mixolydian patterns, you can study Mixolydian licks to build your
understanding of this scale in a soloing context.
Let’s begin with a classic Joe Pass lick that outlines a G7 chord with a repeated-note
pattern from G Mixolydian.
Vm
Click to hear
P
The next lick outlines a Dm7 arpeggio in the rst 4 notes of the phrase, followed by a
descending 3rds run down G Mixolydian.
When doing so, you’re using a concept that Wes Montgomery loved to use in his solos,
called the minor conversion concept.
This is where you see a V7 chord, but you play it’s related iim7 chord. In this case you’re
playing Dm7 (iim7) over G7 (V7).
When doing so, you create a modal sound over the V7 chord, and bring a Wes vibe to your
lines at the same time.
Vm
Click to hear
P
The last lick is a bluesy double stop line over G7, reminiscent of jazz organ players such as
Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith.
Vm
Click to hear
P
Once you have these licks down, write 3 Mixolydian lines of your own to build your
soloing vocabulary further with this important scale.
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18/09/2018 Mixolydian Scale - Guitar Chords, Patterns, and Licks

M ixoly dian Scale – G uitar Ch or ds, Patter n s, an d

Mixolydian Scale – Guitar

Download Your FREE 84-Page PDF

Send Me the PDF

100% privacy. Your email will never be shared

These seven notes can be written a number of ways such as intervals:

Or you can think of them as speci c intervals such as:

In this case, the legend for each symbol would be:

This means that you think of Mixolydian with this pattern:

Mixolydian is be used to solo over a number of chords in the dominant family.

These chords include:

Mixolydian One Octave Fingerings

Mixolydian Two Octave Fingerings

Mixolydian Scale Patterns

 Matt's site is an amazing resource when

Send Me Free Lessons

100% privacy. Your email will never be shared

Download or Share this Lesson:

 Print or Download PDF  Email  Facebook 79  Twitter  Google

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