A Mixolydian
The A Mixolydian mode — A B C# D E F# G — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
A Mixolydian is the major scale with one note changed — the b7, G. That single note is what gives the mode its sound: lean on it and the colour is obvious. Leave it out and the melody alone could pass for plain major — then it is the chords underneath that keep the mode.
What is A Mixolydian?
A Mixolydian is the seven notes A B C# D E F# G — the notes of D major started from its 5th degree, A. Same seven notes as the parent, but with A as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
A Mixolydian vs A major
6 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is one note, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- b7 is G in Mixolydian, where A major has 7, G#.
Play A major and A Mixolydian back to back over a A chord and listen for G — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in A Mixolydian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is A; the rest are the chords of D major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between A and G and the mode is unmistakable.
A Mixolydian on the guitar neck
Because A Mixolydian is D major from its 5th note, its natural fingering is position 5 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of D major — the shape whose lowest note is A. Learn that shape with A as home — start and end on it, over a drone on A or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with D as home and you hear D major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice A Mixolydian on guitar
- Loop position 5 of D major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on A so your ear hears A as home rather than D.
- Hold a A chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on G on the strong beats — that is the sound of Mixolydian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws A Mixolydian from its own root: the orange dots are on A and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, D major; to hear Mixolydian, start and end on A.
Find out what you should learn next. Five questions and Guitar Theory Studio builds you a four-week plan through the fretboard, chords, scales, arpeggios and ear training — week one free.
Build my free plan →