The EASIEST Way to play this ESSENTIAL Scale - Learn in Minutes

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[@robindavis726]

Mark, You may be the best guitar teacher on the internet. I love music theory, and feel like I understand the first couple of levels of it well (which is really all guitarists need). Here you provide a simple, conceptual explanation of using intervals (steps/degrees) from the underlying root (Ionian) scale to create its associated modal scales that is straightforward and easy to understand. You consistently do that with theory and technique. It is a super power. You do a great service to guitarists. You da man!

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you so much!!

[@garys1092]

Awesome.. Great song selections to demonstrate hearing the chord progressions with the Myxolidian mode. I've long recognized the reverse 5-4-1 in Sweet Home. Took me a long time to understand why it was D myx vs G major, and linking the modes. You're the best for us Rock-n-Roll wannabes.

[@user-xg8fr6qk9b]

Another even easier way to think of mixolydian is to keep it in A major but start from the E note as your new starting point in the scale. Same way minor scales relate to their major scales when playing in Aeolian mode.

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, but that only works if you know the major scale. Many players do not.

[@ComputerScienceLessons]

Fabulous lesson. Dare I say, I'm starting to feel like a musician. Thanks a million. ❤

[@MarkZabel]

That is awesome! Thank you!

[@rustysguitar1]

Great video, Mark! I love that sound! And thanks so much for the shout out to my channel! Means a lot brother✌️

[@paxchristi2014]

Hi Rusty! You're awesome 👌

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Rusty. Any time! Talk soon.

[@rustysguitar1]

@@paxchristi2014 Thank you! Really good to see you here 👍

[@paxchristi2014]

@rustysguitar1 Thanks Rusty. You and Mark have taught me so much on the fretboard. I appreciate you both. My name is Mark also.

[@timetraveller1702]

Great lesson, thanks

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you!

[@dmbar1953]

Thanks once again Mark. Clear teaching and great playing.

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks so much!

[@chrisburzenski2317]

nice demonstration at the end!

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks!

[@sisuriffs]

Again, a brilliant, clear, and useful lesson. Lots of fine players out there, but not many gifted teachers too! Thanks.

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you so much!

[@bensicovit6674]

that last little lead over the chord progression was fantastic. That is what I call feel good music

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! Yes, I like "feel good". Fits!

[@JohnScime]

That Mick Taylor riff is a direct rip of Jesse Ed Davis on Everybody's Gotta Change Some Time on Taj Mahal's eponymous first LP. So.many famous players lifted riffs directly from Jesse Ed. Pity he isn't recognized as he should be.

[@dmbar1953]

Agree. I saw Jesse Ed live with Taj in the early years and was SO impressed with his amazing talent that I agree many have not recognized. Thanks for pointing this out.

[@MarkZabel]

Interesting. I played Taj's version of Statesboro Blues on my blues radio show last week (Blues Progressions on WICB.org), and I talked at lenth about Jesse Ed Davis. Great player and quite influential among certain circles (E.g., Walter Trout).

[@JohnScime]

@MarkZabel going to see Taj in March. Can't wait! Glad you're profiling JED . SWEET player. This conversation prompted me to.spin The Natch'l Blues today. Man, JED's feel and tone on Done Changed My Way of Living is so perfect. The whole album is unreal. Such a special player and time.

[@chesterproudfoot9864]

Color me jealous! The last time I saw Taj Mahal was in about 1981 with Tom Fogerty. Been way too long!

[@69lespauls]

Wow. you make it easy to understand. thanks Zabe!!! 🎉

[@MarkZabel]

You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Archtops]

Excellent tutorial! Thank you.

[@MarkZabel]

You're very welcome!

[@OkinInc]

Favourite teacher ever. Thanks Mark.

[@MarkZabel]

Wow, thanks!

[@OutsaneInBrain]

Another idea I struggled with which you've made easier. Thank you Mark!

[@MarkZabel]

Happy to help!

[@peterm3964]

Thank a bunch . You are the BOSS .

[@MarkZabel]

Glad to help ... and thanks!!

[@masterbuilder3166]

Excellent lesson Mark. Really appreciate the simplicity of how you presented this. Thanx 💯

[@MarkZabel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@brottiermarie-aimee2751]

An awesome lesson. Very enriching for the game. Thanks Mark

[@MarkZabel]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@user-cf7im2pj4o]

Wow that's was great thank you so much.

[@MarkZabel]

Glad you liked it!

[@planzed.2]

Another great lesson, really like how you teach man. Thank you!🙏

[@MarkZabel]

Glad you liked it!

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have a good weekend mark ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you!!

[@7775Kevin]

Great thanks

[@MarkZabel]

You bet!

[@calvincosby921]

Omg, thank you. It has been a WHILE since I tried Reeling In The Years.

[@MarkZabel]

Enjoy!

[@midnightrambler4580]

Marky Me ladd you’re hitting all the right notes Thanks

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks!

[@volkerschmoll4731]

Very good lesson. Thank you.

[@MarkZabel]

Glad you liked it!

[@crashdaddy261]

Well that sounds fun! Plus props for appreciating Rusty! 🤘🎸

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! Yes, Rusty is a good guy. Happy to support his channel.

[@Nobody_Important_Yea]

Outstanding!

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@JohnScime]

P.s. *really* enjoy your lessons. Thanks. J

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks!

[@montymason1647]

Brah! As always, you convey the essential lessons for intermediates -- and ain't-no-wastin'-time, cut-to-da-chase, on-point refreshers for long-time old hand, "slow-hand" players--with such brio that you make the tutorial/refresher FUN. And introducing the session with a view of the Mt. Rush-MORE Masters of the Mixolydian AND (not coincidentally) the bottleneck slide solo -- Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, and George Harrison? Brah!! ONCE AGAIN, you go so far beyond farkin' smart. You OWN the territory of diabolically inspired and aspirational. We who are ABOUT the rawk salute thee!

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you brother! Always great to get your endorsement Monty!

[@tesla-spectre]

The Mixolydian scale is just cool and indeed your approach is so intuitive. You are an amazing teacher, thanks. I was in a cover band for 10yrs and only discovered this approach way too late for that. But not too late for life 🎉

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you so much!

[@Dude_Slick]

Very sweet scale indeed.

[@bluearmy4228]

Great tip there! Will give it a go.

[@MarkZabel]

Have fun!

[@waynegram8907]

Instead of using Dom7 chords or bVII Major chord, I think Hendrix started using 6/9 chords as substitutions plus hendrix uses a different root note thumb note over the 6/9 chords which I'm guessing are considered slash chords. If the Hendrix song 6 was 9 he uses a G6/9 chord with an A as the root note then moves to a F6/9chord with a G as the root note. Try to make a lesson about this

[@MarkZabel]

Hi Wayne. I've done a few lessons on Hendrix's use of 6/9 chords. They're ambiguous chords, so give an open, "non-committed" sound to things. If you use them too much they give off a "going nowhere" vibe. Using them sparingly sounds cool though. As you point out, when you play them as slash chords they're also ambiguous in a similar way to Maj9 and 6th chords. (E.g., is an A6 really an A6 or is it a Dmaj9/A. It depends upon the context of the song.)

[@waynegram8907]

@@MarkZabel I typed in on youtube search nothing comes up with hendrix 6/9 chord lessons that you made. Maybe rename the video titles so I can watch and learn from them. Listen to a lot of beatles because they often will use modal interchange chords and also will use a V dominant chord but doesn't resolve to a chord a 5th below which is very unusual to use V dominant chords but don't resolve them, if you can make beatles lessons about these topics will help out a lot. I think Jimmy Page often would use the bVII chord in most of zeps chord progressions to give that mixolydian tonality. Each KEY has 20 or more Modal tonalities which Jazz uses modal tonalities within a KEY.

[@Dan-zq5wt]

Dude! This was eye opening! I’m going to sound like a noob, but there are some blues that I assume are I IV V but in that reverse order and the I minor pentatonic sounds way off. Now I understand what to play. Thanks!

[@MarkZabel]

Fantastic!

[@rmsavig2204]

The way you put it makes sense. That scale should work with D C G D songs.

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, exactly ... but D mixolydian, not E mixolydian.

[@Dan-zq5wt]

And what about D minor pentatonic? Or E minor pentatonic (because G major key). This is where I get confused!

[@owenbruce4120]

​@@Dan-zq5wtessentially the relative minor, so will work with an emphasis around the tonic...try and find "the you" amongst it all...most liberating, most important

[@michaelbarrett2855]

Thanks Man. Great info, even for a 71 year old used to be guitarist

[@MarkZabel]

Rock on!

[@castleanthrax1833]

Brilliant lesson. ✌️🇦🇺

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you!

[@ScoDiddley]

A hybrid blues/major pentatonic like many rock players learn already incorporates this.

[@krisstieghorst7415]

Thanks Mark ,perfect examples in this lesson! Agree on the half steps 💯 Well played💥🎸💥👋🖤🦋🖤

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks so much Kris!

[@krisstieghorst7415]

@@MarkZabel Love the STOP AVOIDING IT! 💥🐉💥💯

[@krisstieghorst7415]

Happy Valintines Day to you & Mrs . Zabel, yes you have 2 days Mark!! ❤

[@chesterproudfoot9864]

Good one, Mark. I'm laughing at myself because sometimes we can get intimidated and confused by all the theory, but in this case it really is simple. Several (if not all) of those added notes are used in Blue Sky, either in Dickey's intro or Duane's solo, which means I already know and use them (i.e., very similar to the Dickey Betts scale). 🤣

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you! Yes, the Dickey Betts Scale would add only the 4th. (For this example that's the A. But no harm in adding the D in there too!)

[@michaelcashner1573]

That was pretty cool... Isn't the pattern also the same as Pattern 3 of the major scale? And didn't the Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia) also frequently use mixolidian?

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! Yes, the pattern I showed is the same as the 3rd pattern of the major scale. But you can play Mixolydian in any of the major scale patterns. It's beyond the scope of this lesson. The key thing is the notes (intervals) used. Jerry definitely used the Mixolydian quite often.

[@mikeflood2588]

Smokin feel you got there. MAN.

[@MarkZabel]

Thank you!!

[@raoulduke344]

Can you add the Major Blue note into the Mixolydian?

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, absolutely. Sounds great too!

[@siriusfun]

Hi Mark - thanks for this one. Is that a new 70s reissue Deluxe Goldtop, by chance?

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks! No, it's a 1970s tribute. 2012.

[@jragonese]

Thanks Mark. Super lesson. It would be helpful if links for the detailed lesson were included for Rockstar Members. Is it there and I missed it?

[@MarkZabel]

Thanks Jim! You'll get an email once the tab is ready. (I don't actually use tab, so it takes me a while to do it after I improvise a solo.) I'll work on it while the rest of the US watches the superbowl!

[@embreesmith7613]

I gutted those Pups from my Deluxe and put in DiMatzio Super Distortions on 1977. 🙂

[@MarkZabel]

Ouch! Not something I would do. Maybe I would have done it around that time though. I was into high-gain sound at one point.

[@larrypower8659]

Jerry Garcia, Mixolydian Master.

[@MarkZabel]

He played it a bit ... definitely!

[@ronj420]

It's irrelevant to the point of this lesson but almost everybody plays the lick from Sweet Home Alabama incorrectly or, at least, not the way Ed King did. Everyone I have seen starts it off by playing open A and then hammering on to B. King played it A# then hammer on to B. Not trying to be a know-it-all because I was playing it wrong too until I watched a video King made before he died showing how it's played.

[@MarkZabel]

Interesting. Bluegrass run without the first 2 notes I guess.

[@markhill9275]

Who cares, unimportant song!

[@ykram57]

@@markhill9275And a totally unimportant comment

[@willwetherell7265]

​@@markhill9275Total Dick Weed.

[@davesikora8826]

A real clinic here for mixolydian with classic examples

[@jimburchett]

mark, that shape at 5:43 is my "phrygian" shape. are they calling it e mixolydian because they're starting by playing an e as their first note? and thanks again for another good video. still having fun with the tcb bto riff you shared last week - ha!

[@gtrdoc911]

I know I'm not Mark but I hope u don't mind my intrusion. You're right. If you play that pattern with e note as your tonal centre, it is e mixolydian. If you play it with d as your tonal centre, it is d lydian. And if u play it with c# as your tonal centre, it is c# phrygian. Changing tonal centres changes the half step/ whole steps order of the respective scales and THAT is what determines the mode.

[@MarkZabel]

Great question ... and Gtrdoc has it right. Here's a bit more detail ... if you want to wade in just a bit. It's the notes that define the scale, not the shape. BUT, you'll note that C# Phrygian has the same notes as E-Mixolydian. E-mixolydian has the notes E, F#, G#, A, B, C# and D. If you play it in a different place on the guitar neck you'll get different shapes. (C# Phrygian has the notes C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, and B ... same notes.). So if the chord progression was, say, C#m, Bm, A, C#m ... you could use the same scale and pattern if you wish. But you would resolve your lines on the notes C#, E, G# - the notes of the C#m chord.) Once you stop thinking about everything as a shape, life becomes much easier AND more musical, because you're relating more to the harmony rather than a pattern. That's my experience with my own play and that of my students. BTW, I hesitated showing the C# and D on the low E-string, but figured taking them out would confuse people who only played pentatonic scales.

[@gtrdoc911]

@@MarkZabel hey Mark , splittiing hairs here but in the C#m, Bm, A, C#m progression that u propose in the example do you not focus on each chord's individual tones (e.g. a, c#, e while soloing over the bar with the A chord) as you're improvising?

[@jimburchett]

@@gtrdoc911 thank you for wading in. appreciate you sharing!

[@jimburchett]

@@MarkZabel great insights mark! thanks for taking time to explain.

[@ElrondHubbard_1]

Kashmir definitely sounds exotic though. Like eastern European something something.

[@MarkZabel]

True. Well, Eastern in any event.

[@supergong2241]

Movable C major scale...easy stuff. Practice and listening are the keys to playing guitar.

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, but why use the C major scale pattern (or A major scale) over this particular progression? That's really the crux of it. Patterns are easy. Choosing them and understanding why the choice makes sense is more difficult for most.

[@future62]

Don't be scared of theory guys. It really makes things simpler.

[@embreesmith7613]

I discovered the Major sound by making a fretboard Position mistake to n 1070 something's. 😀🌈😀

[@papajay111]

Mix mode??? OH,, you mean the dominant 7th scale!! Yeah,, it's very cool alright but not minor enough for my taste to be my go-to lick machine. Aolean is much cooler,,, starting on the E or th A strings it makes the minor pent way more interesting!! And of course you can raise the minor 3rd any time for the mix sound.

[@marypetrie930]

Who came up with the word mixolidian! ...(Spelling?....is there a 'y' in there somewhere . )

[@MarkZabel]

Good question. Spelled "Mixolydian". It means "half-Lydian", where Lydia is an ancient country in Asia Minor. I don't think it's known who originally named them, but the modern modes have been around since the middle ages. The original modes are Greek in origin, which is why the modes today have Greek names. Fun stuff!

[@horsemanoftheapocalapse5837]

So start the major scale and start on the fifth,

[@MarkZabel]

If you're doing it from the major scale, E-mixolydian is the *A major scale* starting on the fifth note of the scale. This video is geared toward people who use pentatonic scales.

[@JonnyDank888]

But Kashmir is tuned to DADGAD

[@MarkZabel]

The tuning doesn't change the notes played. Also, on that main riff, only strings A, D, and G are played, so that's the same as standard tuning. It's on the rest of the song that DADGAD is needed. Again though, it's still mixolydian.

[@JonnyDank888]

@@MarkZabel Well then, unless you’re not going to play that part, have a good day with it

[@gojoe36]

DIATONIC is all that it is. Pentatonic=5 Notes DIATONIC=7 notes

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, Mixolydian is a diatonic scale, but not all 7-note scales are diatonic. The general term for a 7-note scale is "heptatonic".

[@unainverso2668]

Promo`SM 😜

[@MarkZabel]

??

[@MrThemortgage]

I call Mixolydian the Dom7 scale. Or if you are in E Mixolydian I use the AMaj scale but resolve to E, either way.

[@MarkZabel]

Yes, thinking of it as "the scale that fits a Dominant 7 chord" is good, as is "an A-major scale, but resolve to E7 or E. Many players only know pentatonics, so I like this way to initiate them to the sounds without intimidation. "Mixolydian", "flatted 7th", and "add the 4th" can be intimidating to some players. This also allows me to sneak in "don't just learn patterns" in a sneaky way, because I say to add A and D, so you need to find those notes, not just play a pattern.