Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular

octave species In the musical system of ancient Greece, an octave species (εἶδος τοῦ διὰ πασῶν, or σχῆμα τοῦ διὰ πασῶν) is a specific sequence of interval (music), intervals within an octave. In ''Elementa harmonica'', Ar ...

or scale; one of the medieval

church modes A Gregorian mode (or church mode) is one of the eight systems of pitch organization used in Gregorian chant. History The name of Pope Gregory I was attached to the variety of chant that was to become the dominant variety in medieval western and ...

; or a modern

musical mode In music theory, the term mode or ''modus'' is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context. Its most common use may be described as a type of musical scale coupled with a set of characteristic melodic and harmonic behaviors. It ...

diatonic scale In music theory a diatonic scale is a heptatonic scale, heptatonic (seven-note) scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by eith ...

, related to the medieval mode. (The Hypomixolydian mode of medieval music, by contrast, has no modern counterpart.) The modern diatonic mode is the scale forming the basis of both the rising and falling forms of

Harikambhoji Harikambhoji (pronounced harikāmbhōji) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 28th ''Melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. One of the first scales employed ...

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

, the classical music form of southern India, or Khamaj in

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

, the classical music form of northern India.

Greek Mixolydian

The idea of a Mixolydian mode comes from the music theory of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. The invention of the ancient Greek Mixolydian mode was attributed to

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

, the poet and musician. However, what the ancient Greeks thought of as Mixolydian is very different from the modern interpretation of the mode. The prefix ''mixo''- (-) means "mixed", referring to its resemblance to the

Lydian mode The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the major scale in modern m ...

. In Greek theory, the Mixolydian ''tonos'' (the term "mode" is a later Latin term) employs a scale (or "

") corresponding to the Greek

Hypolydian mode The Hypolydian mode, literally meaning "below Lydian", is the common name for the sixth of the eight church modes of medieval music theory. The name is taken from Ptolemy of Alexandria's term for one of his seven ''tonoi'', or transposition ke ...

inverted. In its

diatonic genus In the musical system of ancient Greece, genus (Greek: γένος 'genos'' grammatical number, pl. γένη 'genē'' Latin: ''genus'', pl. ''genera'' "type, kind") is a term used to describe certain classes of Intonation (music), intonation ...

, this is a scale descending from ''paramese'' to ''hypate hypaton'': in the diatonic genus, a

whole tone In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more deta ...

(''paramese'' to ''mese'') followed by two conjunct inverted Lydian tetrachords (each being two whole tones followed by a

semitone A semitone, also called a minor second, half step, or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between ...

descending). This diatonic genus of the scale is roughly the equivalent of playing all the

white notes A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. ...

of a piano from B to B, which is also known as modern

Locrian mode The Locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. It is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. On the piano, it is the scale that starts with B and only uses the white keys from there on up to the next higher B. Its ascending form ...

. In the

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

and

enharmonic In music, two written notes have enharmonic equivalence if they produce the same pitch but are notated differently. Similarly, written intervals, chords, or key signatures are considered enharmonic if they represent identical pitches that ar ...

genera, each tetrachord consists of a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a interval (music), musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval (music)#Number, interval numb ...

plus two semitones, and a

major third In music theory, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four Semitone, half steps or two ...

plus two

quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (orally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

s, respectively.

Medieval Mixolydian and Hypomixolydian

The term ''Mixolydian'' was originally used to designate one of the traditional ''harmoniai'' of Greek theory. It was appropriated later (along with six other names) by 2nd-century theorist

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

to designate his seven ''tonoi'' or transposition keys. Four centuries later,

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

interpreted Ptolemy in Latin, still with the meaning of transposition keys, not scales. When chant theory was first being formulated in the 9th century, these seven names plus an eighth, Hypermixolydian (later changed to Hypomixolydian), were again re-appropriated in the anonymous treatise ''Alia Musica''. A commentary on that treatise, called the ''Nova expositio'', first gave it a new sense as one of a set of eight diatonic species of the octave, or scales. The name ''Mixolydian'' came to be applied to one of the eight modes of medieval church music: the seventh mode. This mode does not run from B to B on white notes, as the Greek mode, but was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from G up one octave to the G above, or as a mode whose final was G and whose

ambitus In ancient Roman law, ''ambitus'' was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome (or direction) of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power. The Latin word ''ambitus'' is the origin of ...

runs from the F below the final to the G above, with possible extensions "by licence" up to A above and even down to E below, and in which the note D (the tenor of the corresponding seventh psalm tone) had an important melodic function. This medieval theoretical construction led to the modern use of the term for the natural scale from G to G. The seventh mode of western church music is an authentic mode based on and encompassing the natural scale from G to G, with the

perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval f ...

(the D in a G to G scale) as the dominant, reciting note or ''tenor''. The plagal eighth mode was termed ''Hypomixolydian'' (or "lower Mixolydian") and, like the Mixolydian, was defined in two ways: as the diatonic octave species from D to the D an octave higher, divided at the mode final, G (thus D–E–F–G + G–A–B–C–D); or as a mode with a final of G and an ambitus from C below the final to E above it, in which the note C (the tenor of the corresponding eighth psalm tone) had an important melodic function.

Modern Mixolydian

The modern Mixolydian scale is the fifth

mode Mode ( meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * MO''D''E (magazine), a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is the setting fo ...

of the

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doubl ...

(

Ionian mode The Ionian mode is a Mode (music), musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the major scale. It is named after the Ionians, Ionian Greeks. It is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new Gregorian mode#Authent ...

). That is, it can be constructed by starting on the fifth scale degree (the dominant) of the major scale. Because of this, the Mixolydian mode is sometimes called the ''dominant scale''. The Mixolydian scale has the formula :1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 That is, the scale has the same series of tones and

semitones A semitone, also called a minor second, half step, or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between t ...

as the major scale, but with a

minor seventh In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval ...

. As a result, the seventh scale degree is a

subtonic In music, the subtonic is the degree of a musical scale which is a major second, whole step below the tonic (music), tonic note. In a major key, it is a lowered, or flattened, seventh Degree (music), scale degree (). It appears as the seventh scal ...

, rather than a

leading-tone In music theory, a leading tone (also called subsemitone or leading note in the UK) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading tone, respectively. Typically, leading to ...

. The flattened seventh of the scale is a tritone away from the

mediant In music, the mediant (''Latin'': "being in the middle") is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant no ...

(

major-third In music theory, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four half steps or two whole steps. Along with the minor third, the majo ...

degree) of the key. The order of whole tones and semitones in a Mixolydian scale is :whole, whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole In the Mixolydian mode, the tonic,

subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

, and

triads are all

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, the

is diminished, and the remaining triads are

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

. A classic Mixolydian chord progression is I-VII-IV-V. The Mixolydian mode is common in non-classical harmony, such as

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and rock music. It is often prominently heard in music played on the

Great Highland bagpipe The great Highland bagpipe ( 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British Armed Forces, British mili ...

s. As with natural and harmonic minor, Mixolydian is often used with a major seventh degree as a part of the dominant and

perfect cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999). ''The Harvard Concise Dicti ...

s. " Wild Thing" by

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire, in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", al ...

is a, "perfect example," while others include " Tangled Up in Blue" by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, "

Shooting Star A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

" by

Bad Company Bad Company were an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex- Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex- Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson). Kirke was the only m ...

, and " Bold as Love" by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

.Serena, Desi (2021). ''Guitar Theory For Dummies with Online Practice''M, p.168. Wiley. .

Klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

musicians refer to the Mixolydian scale as the Adonai malakh mode. In Klezmer, it is usually transposed to C, where the main chords used are C, F, and G7 (sometimes Gm). To hear a modern Mixolydian scale, one can play a G-major scale on the piano, but change the F# to F natural.

List of Modern Mixolydian scales

Notable music in Mixolydian mode

Traditional

Old Joe Clark "Old Joe Clark" is a US folk song, a mountain ballad that was popular among soldiers from eastern Kentucky during World War I and afterwards. Its lyrics refer to a real person named Joseph Clark, a Kentucky mountaineer who was born in 1839 and murd ...

"Ted Eschliman,
Something Old. Something New
", ''Mandolin Sessions'' webzine (November 2009) (Accessed 2 February 2010). *" Gleanntáin Ghlas' Ghaoth Dobhair" (English:

Gweedore Gweedore ( , officially known by its Irish language name, ) is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district, and parish, located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. It stretches some from Glasserchoo and Bloody For ...

's Green Glens), also called "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shores" – A traditional Irish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, composed by

Francie Mooney Francie is a given name, often a shortened form of Francis (disambiguation), Francis (male) or Frances (female). The name may refer to: People *Francie Barrett (born 1977), Irish boxer *Francie Bellew (born 1976), Irish Gaelic footballer *Francie ...

(Proinsias Ó Maonaigh). Recorded by the band

Altan Altan may refer to: * Altan (name) * Altan (company), a software company. * Altan (band), a folk music group from Donegal * ''Altan'' (album), a 1987 album by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy * Altan Jalab, a village in Afghanistan * A ...

, with Mooney's daughter Mairéad on lead vocals, on their album '' Runaway Sunday'' (1997). Recorded by

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...

as "Erin Shore" on their album Forgiven Not Forgotten (1995). *" She Moved Through the Fair" – A traditional Irish folk song. Sometimes called "Our Wedding Day" and sung with different lyrics, such as by vocalist Anne Buckley in

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an American former professional performer and choreographer of Irish dance. Flatley is credited with reinventing traditional Irish dance by incorporating new rhythms, syncopation, and upper body movem ...

's '' Lord of the Dance'' (1996). *"The Wexford Carol" * " Green Bushes" * And countless Irish,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

jigs The jig (, ) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles, and was adopted on mainland Eu ...

reels A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

and other dance tunes recorded in the mode.

Classical

*"Fughetta super: Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot" in G major from ''Clavier-Übung III'', BWV 679 by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter ...

. ''Harmony'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 1941): pp. 29–30. * Piano Concerto in A minor, third movement, by

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

*'' Concerto in modo misolidio'', P 145 (1925) by

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

* Et resurrexit from Beethoven's

Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...

*''Surgam et circuibo civitatem'' by

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

References

External links

*
Mixolydian scale on guitar
{{Authority control Modes (music)