Mixolydian Mode...

[Lovestrats]

Hello All

Wonder if anyone out there can assist with the above mode.

Currently working through a recent course that was published in Guitar Techniques (maybe someone else is also working on this) which is how to use the Mixoldian Mode.The Guitar examples provided are to work over a G7 Chord.But Im wondering if it is for only a G7 Chord? , could it work over a G9 for example? it would appear to me to be a little limited if it were only good for a G7.I.e Pentatonic works over a number of Chords.

Any info to support would be good.

[JaseMorris]

Wonder if anyone out there can assist with the above mode.

...in the drummers' section, unlikely.

The answer is "Yes" BTW, G mixolydian will work fine and dandy over a G9 chord.

[clarky]

the reasono that G Mix will work over G9 [and G11 and G13] is because all of those chords are extensions of G7

[SamG]

It took me ages to 'get' the whole mode thing. It finally clicked when I found a Wikipedia page with loads of songs in different modes. Listen to Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles or Transmission by Joy Division, as songs in this mode usually begin on the root major chord, then go a whole tone down (not a semitone, like in major) - so C-Bb. It's basically exploiting what's unique about that mode compared to a major/minor scale. As you have noticed, a dominant7 chord is related to this scale.

By the same token, many Phrygian tunes start on a minor chord, then go a semitone up to a major (White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane, Hunter - Bjork being two examples).

I find Mixolydian tunes to have an 'Indian-ish' sound.

As another *ahem* example, listen to my tune Myxolyd (in D, see signature link) - although the end bit is in F# Locrian technically (even though the woodwind still has a characteristically Mixolydian melody).

As for the Wiki pages, some prick butchered them because they weren't 'verifiable' (i.e. there wasn't some article in some journal somewhere that said "The verse to Man On The Moon is in Lydian mode"), so ho hum...

[sfocata]

But Im wondering if it is for only a G7 Chord? , could it work over a G9 for example?

Yes. Take G mixolydian... G A B C D E F

Now, that's definitely going to work over G major and G7, because they're the tonic chords (ie the chords built on the root note). GBD = G major; GBDF = G7.

So by using other notes from the scale, you can get (for example)...

GBDFA = G9, GAD = Gsus2, GBDA = G add9, GCD = Gsus4

And don't forget, the mixolydian is more than just a scale - it's a complete tonality. You could build a progression in G mixolydian using any of those G chords and then a whole range of C chords, D chords, F chords... if they use notes from the scale, the scale will work over the top.

[SamG]

And don't forget, the mixolydian is more than just a scale - it's a complete tonality. You could build a progression in G mixolydian using any of those G chords and then a whole range of C chords, D chords, F chords... if they use notes from the scale, the scale will work over the top.

That's what I was getting at in my own muddled way. I've never understood it as "You're playing Lydian when you go to the fourth chord, Dorian when you go to the second chord, etc".

Take Tomorrow Never Knows: It's Mixolydian because it starts on C major, then goes down a whole tone to Bb major - something that you won't see in a pure major piece. It's not like it alternates between C Mixolydian and Bb Lydian - as you say, it's a complete tonality.

Basically you can use the same set of chords as C major, but if you establish the tonality as being on G it's Mixolydian.

[SamG]

The music from the advert for that Tractors & the World of Farming magazine is in mixolydian.