The Mighty Mixolydian

Does the term ‘modal improvisation’ put you in a cold sweat? If so, let Phil Capone demystify the indispensible Mixolydian and offer a unique multi-genre approach to getting it into your playing style.

- Phil Capone

The Mixolydian mode dates back to around 700BC and the music of the ancient Greeks. In its modern-day form Mixolydian is the perfect scale or mode for creating beautiful melodies, lush chords, and harmonically sophisticated solos. But what exactly is the Mixolydian mode and where does it come from?

The starting point for any Major mode is the Major scale itself. Ascend one octave from C to C (corresponding to the white keys on a piano) and you will produce the familiar sound of the C Major scale (the ‘do-re-me-fa so-la-ti-do’ scale). But what if you were to ascend an octave, still using the notes of the C Major scale, but this time starting and ending on a different note? This results in a different structure of tones and semitones so create an entirely new scale form. The six intervals of C Major produce six different modes, in the order, they are D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian and B Locrian. We’re focusing on the fifth mode in this lesson, which is our Mighty Mixolydian. So let’s take a look under the hood and examine the engine: the DNA of what is arguably the most important of all the Major modes.