Mixolydian Solo With Pentatonic Scales

More useful five-note scales that exist within Mixolydian with Shaun Baxter. This time creating Pentatonic scales from the 2nd note.

- Shaun Baxter

Our recent lessons have been devoted to various Pentatonic scales stemming from the root of Mixolydian. As all Pentatonics are five-note scales, it’s a question of leaving two notes out of the seven-note Mixolydian each time. So, if you leave the 4th and 6th notes of Mixolydian (1-2-3-4-5-6-b7), you get Dominant Pentatonic (1-2-3-5-b7), whereas, leave out 2nd and 6th and you get Indian Pentatonic(1-3-4, 5-b7).

This lesson is the first in a series where we look at how the root of various Pentatonic scales can stem from other notes of Mixolydian rather than the root. Let’s start with the 2nd. First, if we leave out the 3rd and b7th of A Mixolydian, we get a Bm Pentatonic:

A Mixolydian: A B (C#) D E F# (G) 1 2 (3) 4 5 6 (b7)

B Minor Pentatonic: B D E F# A 1 b3 4 5 b7

Secondly, if we leave out the 5th and b7th, we get a Bm9 arpeggio, which, because, it has five notes, also acts like a Pentatonic scale: A Mixolydian: