STRINGSCALES

D mixolydian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

A string: A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, A at frets 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12

D string: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C, D at frets 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12

G string: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G at frets 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12

B string: B, C, D, E, F#, G, A, B at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

High E string: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E at frets 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

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D mixolydian

The mixolydian mode is a major scale with a flat 7th, the mode of the fifth degree. It is the sound of the dominant 7th chord stretched into a scale, which makes it the working scale of blues rock, country twang and jam band vamps. Anywhere a song sits on a 7th chord without resolving, mixolydian is home base.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

D

I

Dmaj
E

ii

Em
F♯

iii°

F♯dim
G

IV

Gmaj
A

v

Am
B

vi

Bm
C

bVII

Cmaj

Characteristic note: C (b7), the flat seventh that makes mixolydian the go-to scale over dominant chords.

Same notes, different mode

D mixolydian uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

E minor · relative minorF# locrianG major · relative majorA dorianB phrygianC lydian

mixolydian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Aim at the flat 7th (C) over a dominant chord: it is the note that makes D7 sound at rest instead of leading anywhere.
  • Bluesify it: bend the 3rd (F#), add the flat 3rd as a passing note, and D mixolydian becomes roots rock vocabulary immediately.
  • Vamp I to bVII (C) major chords (both in the scale) for the classic rock and jam-band mixolydian groove in D.
  • Over a static 7th chord, alternate mixolydian runs with the D major pentatonic to lighten the dominant color.

How to play D mixolydian on guitar

Every open string belongs to this scale, with open D the root and open A the fifth, so full-neck ringing shapes cost nothing. Lowest root is fret 10. Box one from there ends at fret 14, which puts the whole first shape in the upper half of the neck. Roots also sit at fret 3 on the B string, fret 5 on the A and fret 7 on the G, giving low-position options well beneath the lowest root. Chord IV is GM.

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