Soloing Over a Mixolydian Progression
Mixolydian, along with Dorian, is one of my favorite modes to improvise over. It’s rather straightforward and gives you room to experiment and intermix several approaches. In this lesson we’re going to take a look at a three simple options for improvising a guitar solo in the Mixolydian mode. Let’s get started.
The Mixolydian Mode
The Mixolydian mode is built off the 5th degree of the major scale. It features almost the exact same interval structure of the major scale, with the exception being the 7th degree. Where the major scale contains a major 7th, Mixolydian contains a minor 7th.
Mixolydian Chord Progression
Before we get started, we need a chord progression to work with. For this lesson, we’re going to use the D Mixolydian progression. D Mixolydian is built from the 5th degree of the G major scale. Essentially we’re just taking the G major scale and centering it around the fifth degree, D. Reordering the scale from the 5th degree we get the following chords.
| Degree | I | ii | iii° | IV | v | vi | VII |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chord | D | Em | F#dim | G | Am | Bm | C |
The progression we’re going to use is I-VII-IV-I in which we’ll be utilizing the following chords : D major, Cadd9, and G major.
As you work through the examples, you can practice applying them and coming up with your own lead lines with the backing track below.
Now let’s explore some options for soloing over this Mixolydian progression.
Major Pentatonic Scale Over Mixolydian
Probably the most simple choice for playing over a Mixolydian progression is the major pentatonic scale of the tonic, which would be the D major pentatonic. While it misses out on the ♭7 that is the unique characteristic of Mixolydian, it still sounds really good and is easy to apply. In the example below I’m applying the D major pentatonic scale over the whole progression.
D Mixolydian Scale
The obvious choice for soloing over a Mixolydian chord progression is to simply use the Mixolydian scale. Using the Mixolydian scale allows us to tap into the ♭7, which is the characteristic note of the Mixolydian mode. Apply this scale over the progression over the backing track to hear the flavor this scale adds that’s missing from the major pentatonic lines above.
Minor Pentatonic Over Mixolydian
Perhaps the least obvious choice, but personally one of my favorites, is the minor pentatonic scale. In this case it’s the D minor pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic brings back the ♭7 that is characteristic of the Mixolydian mode, and also incorporates the ♭3 to bring about a tasty blues vibe.
Mixing Major and Minor Over Mixolydian
One thing I love about Mixolydian, and this progression in particular, is the ease with which you can mix major and minor. In the lines below, we start with using the Mixolydian scale in the first three bars. In the fourth bar, we switch up and put in a minor pentatonic lick.
Notice at the end of the minor pentatonic lick, and the start of bar 5, we land on the major 3rd of D major to bring it back into the major tonality. Pretty neat trick!
Wrap Up
In this lesson we covered three approaches to improvising a solo over a Mixolydian progression. Mixolydian is a lot of fun in that you can explore some unique sounds from upbeat and happy energy of the major scale to something more bluesy in the minor pentatonic, and even go back and forth between different vibes. Spend some time with the backing track exploring the approaches outlined in this lesson to get a feel for the sounds you can utilize over Mixolydian.
Get notified of new lessons!
Get The Book of Scales when you sign up for lesson updates.
The Improvisation Framework
Unlock Your Improvisation Skills!
The Improvisation Framework is a powerful method to simplify the improvisation process and easily improvise anywhere on the guitar.
