Stadium Lights
Driving rock on an A–D–G vamp — crunchy major chords, arena energy.
Jam this track with live chords →The Mixolydian Mode
Mixolydian is major with a flat 7th — formula 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7 — and its character is major, but bluesy. In G, the notes are G, A, B, C, D, E, F.
The sound
The rock-and-roll major scale. Flattening the 7th turns polite major into the sound of dominant chords: "Sweet Home Alabama", "Norwegian Wood", every blues-rock riff over a 7th chord. It's what you play when the chord says 7 — G Mixolydian over G7 is a perfect fit, note for note.
G Mixolydian on the fretboard
G Mixolydian uses only natural notes — the classic way to first find it — and the shape moves to any key like every guitar scale:
Practice G Mixolydian on the interactive fretboard →
When to use it
Dominant 7th chords and vamps, I–bVII–IV rock progressions, blues where the major pentatonic feels too clean, funk one-chord grooves. The blues scale and Mixolydian mixed together is most of electric blues vocabulary.
Hear it in one minute: loop a G7 vamp — the F natural against the band’s G is the Mixolydian signature.
Mixolydian in every key
| Key | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | b7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G |
| Bb | Bb | C | D | Eb | F | G | Ab |
| B | B | C# | D# | E | F# | G# | A |
| C | C | D | E | F | G | A | Bb |
| C# | C# | D# | E# | F# | G# | A# | B |
| D | D | E | F# | G | A | B | C |
| Eb | Eb | F | G | Ab | Bb | C | Db |
| E | E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D |
| F | F | G | A | Bb | C | D | Eb |
| F# | F# | G# | A# | B | C# | D# | E |
| G | G | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| Ab | Ab | Bb | C | Db | Eb | F | Gb |
Jam it over a real track
The fastest way to own Mixolydian is a matching vamp. These free tracks fit it — play them here or open JamLab to see the mode on a live fretboard: