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Tomus

Mode reference

Mixolydian mode

The major scale with a flattened seventh · C Mixolydian = C – D – E – F – G – A – B♭

Mixolydian is the fifth mode of the major scale, which means C Mixolydian uses the notes of F major but treats C as home. The table below keeps that relationship on every root: the same step pattern, started somewhere new.

Major without a leading tone. Nothing strains upward to the tonic, so it sounds major but relaxed. The sound of a great deal of rock and blues-derived music.

C Mixolydian

  1. C1
    tone
  2. D2
    tone
  3. E3
    semi
  4. F4
    tone
  5. G5
    tone
  6. A6
    semi
  7. B♭7
    tone
  8. C8
C Mixolydian, with the step between each pair of degrees. T is a tone, S a semitone.
CDEFGAB♭C
C Mixolydian ascending, with each accidental written on its note.
CDEFGABCB♭
C Mixolydian on the keyboard, from C up to C. The tonic is the darker key.

Every degree

DegreeNoteInterval from the tonicSemitones
1CUnison0
2DMajor second2
3EMajor third4
4FPerfect fourth5
5GPerfect fifth7
6AMajor sixth9
7B♭Minor seventh10

Hear what makes it Mixolydian

The explorer marks the flattened seventh — the note that separates Mixolydian from major on the same tonic. Flip between the two and play each; that one note is the whole difference.

Mixolydian on every root

Each row is the same step pattern started somewhere new. The last column is the major scale that contains the same notes — useful when you want to find the mode by thinking in a key you already know.

TonicNotesSame notes as
CC – D – E – F – G – A – B♭F major
D♭D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭G♭ major
DD – E – F♯ – G – A – B – CG major
E♭E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭A♭ major
EE – F♯ – G♯ – A – B – C♯ – DA major
FF – G – A – B♭ – C – D – E♭B♭ major
F♯F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – EB major
GG – A – B – C – D – E – FC major
A♭A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭D♭ major
AA – B – C♯ – D – E – F♯ – GD major
B♭B♭ – C – D – E♭ – F – G – A♭E♭ major
BB – C♯ – D♯ – E – F♯ – G♯ – AE major

Hearing it rather than spelling it

A mode is only a mode while the music keeps treating its tonic as home. Played over an F bass, C Mixolydian is just F major. Played over a C drone, the flattened seventh — what sets it apart from C major — becomes unmistakable. That is why modal writing tends to stay on one chord for a long time.

Keep going

Nearby modes

All seven modes

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