F# Mixolydian
The F# Mixolydian mode (also written Gb) — F# G# A# B C# D# E — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written Gb Mixolydian. Gb and F# are the same pitch — F# is the spelling in common use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
F# Mixolydian is the major scale with one note changed — the b7, E. 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 F# Mixolydian?
F# Mixolydian is the seven notes F# G# A# B C# D# E — the notes of B major started from its 5th degree, F#. Same seven notes as the parent, but with F# as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
F# Mixolydian vs F# 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 E in Mixolydian, where F# major has 7, E#.
Play F# major and F# Mixolydian back to back over a F# chord and listen for E — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in F# Mixolydian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is F#; the rest are the chords of B major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between F# and E and the mode is unmistakable.
F# Mixolydian on the guitar neck
Because F# Mixolydian is B major from its 5th note, its natural fingering is position 5 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of B major — the shape whose lowest note is F#. Learn that shape with F# as home — start and end on it, over a drone on F# or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with B as home and you hear B major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice F# Mixolydian on guitar
- Loop position 5 of B major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on F# so your ear hears F# as home rather than B.
- Hold a F# chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on E 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 F# Mixolydian from its own root: the orange dots are on F# and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, B major; to hear Mixolydian, start and end on F#.
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