G Mixolydian
Major, but with a bluesy flat seventh.
Mixolydian is the dominant sound — a major scale with a flat 7. It is the backbone of blues, rock and funk over 7th chords.
Major with a ♭7
G Mixolydian is G A B C D E F. It has the major 3rd (B) so it sounds bright, but the 7th is flat (F, not F#). That ♭7 is what makes it a dominant scale.
- The major 3 (B) keeps it bright, not minor.
- The ♭7 (F) gives it the bluesy, unresolved pull.
- It is the scale of the G7 chord.
The ♭7 over a dominant chord
Play G Mixolydian over a G7 vamp and every note belongs. The ♭7 (F) is the tension inside G7 itself — the scale and the chord are the same family.
- The ♭7 matches the b7 in the dominant chord.
- It sounds resolved over G7 but restless over G major.
- Mix in the major 3 and ♭7 together for the dominant color.
Where Mixolydian lives
Any time a song sits on a dominant 7 chord — a blues, a funk vamp, a rock riff on G7 — Mixolydian is home. Think static G7 grooves, not changing keys.
- Use it over static dominant 7 vamps.
- It is the sound of blues and funk over 7 chords.
- G Mixolydian = C major from G (the 5th mode).
Change one note of the major scale — flatten the 7th — and you get the dominant sound that drives blues, funk and rock.
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