Modal RunsA Mixolydian on Guitar
Mixolydian is the major scale with the 7th lowered — bright on top, bluesy underneath. The notes of A Mixolydian are A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G. Its characteristic note is G — the flat 7th — the one note that gives this major-type scale its colour.
It is the default scale of rock and roll: AC/DC riffs, the Grateful Dead, Celtic fiddle tunes, and every 12-bar solo that sounds happy but not naive. The flat 7th is what lets a major key swagger instead of beam.
A Mixolydian across the whole neck
Over the drone, compare the flat 7th against where your ear expects a leading tone — that relaxed "no need to resolve" feel is the whole mode.
Formula and intervals
R - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - b7 — 7 notes. The natural 3rd makes it a major-family scale.
Chords in A Mixolydian
These are the diatonic chords — the harmony built from only the notes above. Vamping between any of them keeps you inside the mode.
| Degree | Chord | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| I | A | Major |
| ii | Bm | Minor |
| iii° | C#dim | Diminished |
| IV | D | Major |
| v | Em | Minor |
| vi | F#m | Minor |
| VII | G | Major |
Same notes, different home
A Mixolydian contains exactly the same notes as D Major. Nothing about the notes changes — what changes is which one feels like home, and that changes everything about the sound.
Other modes on A
Keep the same root and swap the scale — the fastest way to hear what each mode actually does.