C7 guitar chord — root mapping, fingerings, arpeggios, triads, pentatonic, scales

Mixolydian is a major mode with a minor 7th. Its tonic chord is a dominant 7th, but in modal music that chord can act as a stable center without resolving up a fourth. Characteristic movements include I – bVII – IV and long vamps on I7. The mode underlies countless blues, rock, funk and folk melodies.

Mixolydian is a major mode with a lowered 7th degree. It differs from Ionian, or the ordinary major scale, by one note: it uses the minor 7th b7 instead of the major 7th 7. The major 3rd preserves its major quality, while b7 provides the defining modal color and turns the tonic seventh chord into a dominant seventh, I7. Degrees 3 and b7 form a tritone, but in modal harmony I7 may remain the tonic center rather than resolving as a functional dominant. The defining degree of the mode is b7.

1 — tonic: the modal center and the root of the major I and I7 chords.

2 — major 2nd / 9th: the root of the minor ii chord; over the tonic I7 it functions as a 9.

3 — major 3rd: establishes the mode’s major quality, belongs to I and I7, and serves as the root of the diminished iii° chord.

4 — perfect 4th / 11th: the root of the major IV chord. Over I7 it functions as an 11, but forms a semitone clash with the major 3rd.

5 — perfect 5th: a stable tone of the tonic major chord and the root of the minor v chord.

6 — major 6th / 13th: the root of the minor vi chord; over I7 it functions as a natural 13.

b7—minor 7th: the defining degree of the mode. It belongs to I7, serves as the root of the major bVII chord, and lies a whole tone below the tonic, so it does not function as a conventional leading tone.

Harmonizing the scale in triads produces:

I—major; ii — minor; iii° — diminished; IV — major; v — minor; vi — minor; bVII — major.

The diatonic seventh chords are I7, ii7, iiiø7, IVmaj7, v7, vi7, and bVIImaj7.

The principal harmonic markers are the tonic dominant seventh chord I7, the minor v chord, and the major bVII. The characteristic motion bVII–I emphasizes the whole-step return from b7 to the tonic. Progressions such as I–bVII, I–bVII–IV, and I–v help distinguish Mixolydian from ordinary major.

Unlike Ionian, the mode has no major 7th, Imaj7 chord, or major V chord. The I chord has the structure of a dominant seventh chord, but in independent Mixolydian harmony it has tonic rather than dominant function.

In C Mixolydian, the triads are C Dm Edim F Gm Am Bb; the seventh chords are C7 Dm7 Em7b5 Fmaj7 Gm7 Am7 Bbmaj7.

In jazz chord-scale theory, Mixolydian is the basic choice for an unaltered dominant seventh chord when the harmony supports natural 9, 11, and 13. For example, G Mixolydian is used over G7 in the key of C major, where it is the fifth mode of C major. In a functional ii7–V7–Imaj7 progression, it corresponds to the V7 chord.

Mixolydian is also used as an independent mode over a major tonic with a minor 7th. In this setting, I7 does not have to resolve upward by a perfect 4th: it may remain the stable center, surrounded by bVII, IV, v, and other diatonic chords of the mode.

The mode is common in rock, funk, folk, modal jazz, and music built around major riffs with a lowered 7th. It is also compatible with many blues harmonies, although blues melodies often add notes outside pure Mixolydian, particularly b3 and b5.

Mixolydian does not fit every dominant seventh chord. When the chord or melody explicitly requires b9, #9, #11, or b13, another dominant scale is normally chosen.

Mixolydian is the fifth mode of the major scale. Its relative parent major scale begins a perfect 4th above the Mixolydian tonic. For example, C Mixolydian and F major contain the same notes, C D E F G A Bb, but C is the center in C Mixolydian rather than F.

Its closest parallel mode is Ionian, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. It differs only in the 7th degree: Mixolydian uses b7. Dorian has the formula 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 and uses a minor 3rd instead of a major 3rd. Lydian Dominant has the formula 1 2 3 #4 5 6 b7 and differs through its raised 4th. Mixolydian b6 has the formula 1 2 3 4 5 b6 b7 and differs through its lowered 6th.

Over a dominant seventh chord, begin with the chord tones 1 3 5 b7. The major 3rd and minor 7th form a tritone and identify the chord quality most clearly. To make the line sound specifically Mixolydian, emphasize b7 through motions such as 1–b7, b7–1, 6–b7–1, and 5–6–b7. Without b7, the melody can easily sound like ordinary major.

Degree 2 functions as a natural 9, while 6 functions as a natural 13. Degree 4 is the natural 11, but over an ordinary I7 or V7 chord it forms a minor 2nd against the major 3rd. It is therefore often used as a passing tone, a brief suspension resolving to 3, or part of a 7sus4 chord.

Over modal I–bVII motion, follow the notes of both chords. Degree b7, which is the 7th of the tonic I7, becomes the root of the bVII chord. On the return to I, the motion b7–1 reinforces the Mixolydian center, although it moves by a whole tone rather than resolving as a leading tone.

In a functional V7–I progression, target the 3rd and 7th of the dominant chord. Degree 3 of V7 normally rises by semitone to the root of the following tonic chord, while b7 falls by semitone to its 3rd. The remaining scale degrees can be used as passing tones and extensions.

Do not sustain the natural 9 or 13 when the dominant chord explicitly contains altered versions of those tensions. In that situation, Mixolydian does not reflect the actual harmony.

Mixolydian is a major mode with a lowered 7th degree. Its foundation is a major tonic, I, or a tonic dominant seventh chord, I7, while its defining sound is b7. This degree produces the major bVII chord, the minor v chord, and the characteristic bVII–I motion. In functional harmony, Mixolydian corresponds to an unaltered V7 chord; in modal music, I7 itself may remain the stable center.