Mixolydian scale- when to play?

Captain_Coconut · 05-01-2021, 06:48 AM

Currently I'm learning blues guitar and I've been learning the essential scales, pentatonic and blues. I'm looking to expand my guitar vocabulary for improvisations.

My basic question is- Do you have to play the Mixolydian scale over the root chord of the song progression or can it be played at any time? The good thing about the minor pentatonic and blues scales is that they can be played at any time and still sound good. The major pentatonic however should only be played over the root chord, that is only play the A major pentatonic over the A chord part of the song. It sounds awful if you play the A major pentatonic scale over the D chord for example. (I'd give a link but I need more posts here to do that. Search Youtube for "Are you guilty of hitting this awful note? Learn how to use the Major Pentatonic In A Blues!" for an audible example)

So that's the major pentatonic understood. But what about the Mixolydian scale, can it be played anytime like the minor pentatonic scale, or is a strictly "root chord only" scale like the major pentatonic? I'm hoping to inject a brighter sounding scale into my impovs, and the Mixolydian will hopefully do that for me.

I've asked the question before on another website but just got a couple of long winded answers that didn't really answer my question and mainly seemed to be about showing off the answerer's music knowledge. I'm hoping for a fairly basic "yes you can" or "no you can't" type answer!

Captain_Coconut · 05-02-2021, 09:19 AM

The answer I found seems to be that, like the major pentatonic, only play mixolydian over the root chord. Play A Mixolydian over the A chord and nowhere else. Play D Mixolydian over the D chord etc.

LiftingShadowsOffADream · 05-03-2021, 11:16 PM

Mixolydian can't be played at any time, but it can be played if the chord you're playing over has an ambiguous quality regarding the 7th.. If you have just an A chord that can be played as an A7 then the mixolydian scale would work..

Mixolydian = Major scale with a flatted 7th so if that applies to your situation then you're good to use it.

TheBig3 · 05-04-2021, 10:06 PM

Can't help but maybe this would:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmzVHRAo94

05-01-2021, 06:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
Captain_Coconut Groupie Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 3	Mixolydian scale- when to play? Currently I'm learning blues guitar and I've been learning the essential scales, pentatonic and blues. I'm looking to expand my guitar vocabulary for improvisations. My basic question is- Do you have to play the Mixolydian scale over the root chord of the song progression or can it be played at any time? The good thing about the minor pentatonic and blues scales is that they can be played at any time and still sound good. The major pentatonic however should only be played over the root chord, that is only play the A major pentatonic over the A chord part of the song. It sounds awful if you play the A major pentatonic scale over the D chord for example. (I'd give a link but I need more posts here to do that. Search Youtube for "Are you guilty of hitting this awful note? Learn how to use the Major Pentatonic In A Blues!" for an audible example) So that's the major pentatonic understood. But what about the Mixolydian scale, can it be played anytime like the minor pentatonic scale, or is a strictly "root chord only" scale like the major pentatonic? I'm hoping to inject a brighter sounding scale into my impovs, and the Mixolydian will hopefully do that for me. I've asked the question before on another website but just got a couple of long winded answers that didn't really answer my question and mainly seemed to be about showing off the answerer's music knowledge. I'm hoping for a fairly basic "yes you can" or "no you can't" type answer!

05-04-2021, 10:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheBig3 killedmyraindog Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 11,172	Can't help but maybe this would: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmzVHRAo94 __________________ I've moved to a new address

05-02-2021, 09:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
Captain_Coconut Groupie Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 3	The answer I found seems to be that, like the major pentatonic, only play mixolydian over the root chord. Play A Mixolydian over the A chord and nowhere else. Play D Mixolydian over the D chord etc.

05-03-2021, 11:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
LiftingShadowsOffADream Groupie Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 15	Mixolydian can't be played at any time, but it can be played if the chord you're playing over has an ambiguous quality regarding the 7th.. If you have just an A chord that can be played as an A7 then the mixolydian scale would work.. Mixolydian = Major scale with a flatted 7th so if that applies to your situation then you're good to use it.