Riffin’ is a free weekly video guitar lesson series by Nashville guitar guru Dave Isaacs focusing on the construction and development of killer guitar riffs. There’s a lot to learn in this series, so be sure to subscribe!
Video Guitar Lesson
The mixolydian mode is one of the most commonly used scales in many genres of music, but it’s probably most familiar to you from a place you might not expect. Many rock & roll, rockabilly and country bass-string riffs are built off this scale. Let’s take a look.
Modes, as you may know, are created when we take the notes of a major scale and start on a different note than the root. For example, in the key of C (all the natural notes) when we play a major scale we start and end on C. But when we start and end on G (still using only the natural notes of C major) we get a mixolydian mode, also called a dominant scale.
To my ear, the best way to approach modes is to learn each one as a distinct scale with specific alterations to the major. In the example above, we would end up with this sequence:
G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G
It looks and sounds a lot like a G major scale, but the key of G uses F# as the seventh tone. So this scale could be said to be a G major with a lowered 7th or b7, since the seventh tone is a half-step (one fret) lower in pitch.
This tiny change creates a whole new sound. We have a combination of the major quality in the first 6 notes but a touch of blues in that flatted seventh. The b7 is also present in dominant 7th chords (A7, B7, C7 etc), which is why we can also refer to the mixolydian as a dominant scale.
Play with taking your familiar major scale forms (you DO know your major scale forms, right?) and lowering the seventh tone. Start in open position, as the mixolydian falls easily under the fingers in the open-string-friendly keys of G, A, C, D, E:
G: G A B C D E F G
A: A B C# D E F# G A
C: C D E F G A Bb C
D: D E F# G A B C D
E: E F# G# A B C# D E
Watch the video for the fingerings if you have trouble finding the notes…and if you don’t know your note location, or even if you do, it’s helpful to speak or sing the name of each note. Singing is preferable, to the best of your ability – just try to match to notes with your voice as you play them. This helps train the fingers, ears, and brain all at once.
Now try a pattern like this in G, using straight eighth notes (da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da):
G – G – B – B – D – D – E – E – F – F – E- E- D- D – B – B -G
Sound familiar? It’s a very common blues and rockabilly bass pattern and you’ve probably heard patterns like it many times. For a little extra blues flavor, slide, hammer, or bend into note 3 from the b3 a half-step below it. This is very effective and adds another flavor to the riff.
Start listening for this sound and you will start to hear it everywhere…then when the sound is solidly in you ear, invent your own mixolydian riffs.
Riffin’ is a free weekly video guitar lesson series by Nashville guitar guru Dave Isaacs focusing on the construction and development of killer guitar riffs. There’s a lot to learn in this series, so be sure to subscribe!