My Guitar Notes

C mixolydian scale

The fifth mode of the major scale: a major scale with a flattened seventh. It supplies the pitch set for a dominant seventh chord and its extensions.

Root
C
Scale
Mixolydian
Type
mode, mode 5 of seven
Notes
C D E F G A Bb
Notes in the scale
7
Degree formula
1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
Semitones from the root
0 2 4 5 7 9 10
Step pattern
W W H W W H W
Parent major scale
F major
Key signature of this root
C major / A minor · no sharps or flats
Written use
Named 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7. Its tonic triad is major and the chord on the flat seventh degree is major.

Notes and degrees

Each degree of the scale, its note name in this key, and its distance from the root in semitones.

DegreeNoteSemitonesInterval from the root
1C0Perfect unisontonic
2D2Major second
3E4Major third
4F5Perfect fourth
5G7Perfect fifth
6A9Major sixth
b7Bb10Minor seventh

Positions on the guitar

The five windows below are computed, not copied from a shape chart. The script locates the lowest occurrence of C on each of the five upper strings within the first twelve frets and takes a five-fret window centred on it. Because a scale repeats every twelve frets, these five windows cover the whole neck; the same sequence returns an octave higher. The positions are numbered from the lowest fret upwards, so position 1 is always the window nearest the nut and position 5 the window nearest the twelfth fret.

Position 1

Root on the 2nd string B3 at fret 1. 17 notes of the scale inside this window.

String0123
1st (highest) string E4EFG
2nd string B3CD
3rd string G3GAA#
4th string D3DEF
5th string A2AA#C
6th string E2EFG

Position 2

Root on the 5th string A2 at fret 3. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String12345
1st (highest) string E4FGA
2nd string B3CDE
3rd string G3AA#C
4th string D3EFG
5th string A2A#CD
6th string E2FGA

Position 3

Root on the 3rd string G3 at fret 5. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String34567
1st (highest) string E4GAA#
2nd string B3DEF
3rd string G3A#CD
4th string D3FGA
5th string A2CDE
6th string E2GAA#

Position 4

Root on the 6th string E2 at fret 8. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String678910
1st (highest) string E4A#CD
2nd string B3FGA
3rd string G3DEF
4th string D3AA#C
5th string A2EFG
6th string E2A#CD

Position 5

Root on the 4th string D3 at fret 10. 18 notes of the scale inside this window.

String89101112
1st (highest) string E4CDE
2nd string B3GAA#
3rd string G3EFG
4th string D3A#CD
5th string A2FGA
6th string E2CDE

Read the grid as a chord diagram: the top row is the first string. Degrees appear in the notes and degrees table above; a filled cell is a note of the scale, and the shaded cell is the tonic.

Related keys and modes

Related