THEM CHANGES
This month Andy G Jones demonstrates how to use the Mixolydian mode for Larry Carlton inspired G7 jazz-blues-rock action.
Studying the way that great players find musical shapes within a scale, will explode the possibilities of your playing
Mixolydian mode is a great scale to use over an unaltered Dominant 7th chord. Unaltered means a chord without altered extensions, such as flat or sharp 9ths, sharp 11ths, and sharp 5ths. Have you ever noticed how, when trying to shoehorn the Blues scale in over a Dominant 7 chord (in something other than a blues) that it clashes with the chord?
Mixolydian may well offer the solution.
G Mixolydian is the 5th mode of C Major. You may ask ‘why do I not just play C Major over the G7 chord?’. The answer lies in the use (or rather avoidance) of the 4th degree over a Dominant 7th. The 4th is an ‘avoid’ note on a Dominant 7th; you can pass through that note but holding it for too long is a displeasing sound. Here we start by showing the scale and examining some common practice patterns - ascending 3rds and triads. These patterns give you a deeper command of the scale by finding intervallic shapes within it. These shapes can be developed to generate more interesting lines. Some of these patterns are finger twisters - you may need to try a few different fingerings before you settle on the one that suits you best. The licks that I’ve written here are designed to flow up and down the neck in a more natural way than simply exploiting repeated patterns.
Studying the way that great players find musical shapes within a scale, will explode the possibilities of your playing. When you come across a great lick by one of your favourite players, make note of it. You could even record a video of yourself playing it into your phone. You’ll find that the licks you work out for yourself normally stick in your memory for much longer than ones that you learn from a book.
The licks here are intended to show how you can step beyond mechanical patterns to actually make music. Note that in the first example, I’m exploiting the use of the interval of a 3rd within the scale. You’ll see that in a few places I slide into the Major 3rd. First I slide into it from the 2nd, but in Example 5, I decided to slip out of the scale to have a bluesy Minor 3rd for a fraction of a second - which is just the sort of thing the great Larry Carlton will do.
NEXT MONTH Andy brings you another lesson in his series on the art of changes playing
Larry Carlton is one of a rare breed of players who uses Dumble amplifiers. Many Dumbles are designed to be super-duper Fender style amps and so a classic American sound is best. But no fear if you’re a lover of the British sound: any clean amp just on the verge of break-up, with a smooth drive added in front, and a nice warm reverb will put you right in the ball park.