C# mixolydian scale

7 notes · the ♭7 · the 5th mode of the major scale

The major scale with a flat seventh, which is exactly the scale of a dominant chord. That is why it sits under a I7 without any of the pull that a V7 has -- the ♭7 is the home note here, not a tension.

Heard in: Blues, country, the Grateful Dead, every rock riff over a I-♭VII-IV.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of C# mixolydian

The whole scale. Choose a chord below and this row will show which of these notes it uses.

C#
1
D#
2
E#
3
F#
4
G#
5
A#
6
B
♭7
357912153, E string fret 134, E string fret 245, E string fret 456, E string fret 66♭7, E string fret 7♭71, E string fret 912, E string fret 1123, E string fret 1334, E string fret 1446, A string fret 16♭7, A string fret 2♭71, A string fret 412, A string fret 623, A string fret 834, A string fret 945, A string fret 1156, A string fret 136♭7, A string fret 14♭72, D string fret 123, D string fret 334, D string fret 445, D string fret 656, D string fret 86♭7, D string fret 9♭71, D string fret 1112, D string fret 1323, D string fret 1535, G string fret 156, G string fret 36♭7, G string fret 4♭71, G string fret 612, G string fret 823, G string fret 1034, G string fret 1145, G string fret 1356, G string fret 156♭7, B string fret 0♭71, B string fret 212, B string fret 423, B string fret 634, B string fret 745, B string fret 956, B string fret 116♭7, B string fret 12♭71, B string fret 1413, e string fret 134, e string fret 245, e string fret 456, e string fret 66♭7, e string fret 7♭71, e string fret 912, e string fret 1123, e string fret 1334, e string fret 144
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

The chords in C# mixolydian

Take every other note of the scale and you have a chord. Do it from each degree in turn and you have the key. Each row below is that stack, and the letters in it say what each scale note becomes in that chord — so the E# of the scale is the 3rd of one chord, the 5th of another and the root of a third. Choose a row to see it on the neck.

Each chord of C# mixolydian, and which notes of the scale it takes
DegreeChord
C#
1
D#
2
E#
3
F#
4
G#
5
A#
6
B
♭7
IR·3·5·7
ii7R·3·5·
iii°·7R·3·5
IV5·7R·3·
v·5·7R·3
vi3·5·7R·
♭VII·3·5·7R

Every note of the scale appears in four of these chords, and every chord shares three of its four notes with the chord a third away from it. That overlap is why one can be substituted for another.

What to play C# mixolydian over

The chords on C# whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over C#13 there is nothing in C# mixolydian that can sound wrong.

C#13C#69C#9C#11C#sus2sus4C#add9C#6C#7C#7sus4C#C#sus2C#sus4

The other modes of the same notes

Same notes, different home. Which one you are in is decided by the chord underneath, not by the notes.

C# majorC# natural minorC# dorianC# lydianC# phrygianC# locrian

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode