How To Write Mixolydian Mode Songs : The Ultimate Guide

in this Ultimate Guide I'll show you how to write a mixolydian mode song I'll start by discussing chord progressions their Melodies and finally riffs you don't have to write a song in this order but it provides a logical framework for teaching and is easy to follow throughout the video I'll create an entire mixolydian mode song this will allow you to see how the parts of the song work together as a whole after watching this entire video you'll have everything you need to write a complete mixolydian mode song let's begin with chord progressions the mixolydian mode is one that is used widely in lots of different styles of music everything from pop to Jazz and Blues its distinctive major sound makes it very popular it could be described as mellow or relaxed listen to how it sounds here with the G mixolydian scale foreign the most important note in mixolydian is the a flat or minor seventh this is the only note that separates the scale from major slash ionian it provides the smooth open sound that mixolydian is known for here are the chords that are found in the G mixolydian key with the scale notes that go into each chord g major a minor B diminished C Major D Minor E minor and F major these are the diatonic chords in the G mixolydian key that is chords that are made purely with the notes from the G mixolydian scale G mixolydian is a good key for guitar players because it has lots of chords that can be played as simple open chords you can see that each of the diatonic chords has a Roman numeral above it lowercase indicates minor chords and uppercase major chords this helps you to understand chord progressions as the Roman numerals can apply to any mixolydian key and simply indicate the function of the chords let's start building some mixed lydian mode chord progressions now and look at how you can write your own arguably the most common mixolydian chord progression is one seven four one it uses all of the basic major Triads in the mixolydia in key foreign this is the best known mixolydian progression it is used extensively in classic rock songs and it is easy to see why the first reason is it uses all major chords which means on guitar it can easily be played by using open or bar chords therefore many guitarists will come across this progression by simply practicing playing Major chords from a theoretical level the progression also works well starting on the one major chord clearly defines that you're in a major mode moving to the seventh chord then strongly plays the flat 7 note as the root of this chord So within the first two chords we have defined our progression as clearly mixolydian The Descent from 7 to 4 and then to 1 contains root notes that are a perfect fourth interval apart from one another this provides a nice symmetrical resolution to the progression you may also see these three chords in a different order within a progression so feel free to experiment another popular mixed lydian chord progression is similar in structure as the first progression you saw but this time I introduced the minor 5 chord let's see how using a minor chord changes the feel of the progression this time foreign [Music] foreign progression as before the one chord anchors us in a major mode moving to the V chord introduces the flat 7 note again the basic Triads that have the flat 7 note in are three five and seven this separates us from major slash ionian let's look at two more common chord progressions now they use the minor two chord you'll see that it is replacing the IV chord from the first two progressions like four two is also in the major slash ionium mode so you need to pair it with the one chord and either five seven or three to complete the mixolydian sound pay attention to how swapping the major four chord with the minor two chord changes the feel of these progressions [Music] foreign the last remaining Minor triad is six this chord is the same in major and mixolydian keys so you will need to use a chord with the flat seven note in it to show that you are using mixolydian the sixth chord is also the relative minor of the one chord that means it shares two notes with the one chord and as such can be a useful substitution for the one chord in your progressions it also means that they sound nice played one after the other here's an example that brings this all together [Applause] foreign the final dartonic chord available in mixolydian is the diminished three chord diminished chords have a tense dark feeling that many songwriters seek to avoid but this doesn't mean that you have to forget it in order to create a more usable chord some songwriters will drop the root note of the three diminished chord by half a step and construct a major chord from this new root this is labeled as a flat 3 chord for example in the key of G mixolydian you take B diminished drop its root note to B flat and then use that to make a B flat major Triad in this next example I'll use both of these chords in a progression listen for the difference in sound they bring despite both having the flat 7 note within them foreign [Music] another term that applies here is modal mixture or modal interchange this is when you take a chord from a parallel key and use it in your progression you can usually feel and hear when this has happened as there is a sense that something has changed this is only a brief change too short to call it a modulation or key change we then go back to diatonic chords from the key a parallel key is any which has the same root or tonic note for example we're using G mixolydian so parallel Keys would include G Major G Dorian G phrygian Etc so the flat 3 chord can also be considered as a borrowed chord from the parallel minor Dorian and phrygian geese they don't have to be modes of the major scale you can also reach out to more exotic Keys like harmonic minor or phrygian dominant any chord that you like from the parallel key can be used although you'll see some used more commonly than others this is a hugely powerful technique for your chord progressions and songs the potential options for borrowed chords is huge providing you with almost infinite ways to color and alter your progressions my recommendation when dipping your toe into these Waters is to build up a mixolydian scaffold in your song first to establish the tonal Center this would focus primarily on chords 1 5 and 7. then bring in your borrowed chord for a short time before moving back to diatonic Accords another popular chord in mixolydian progressions is the Flat 6 borrowed from phrygian minor and locrian this opens up yet another major chord to use in your progressions this is a common approach to mixolydian creating entirely major song sections on guitar this allows you to play all bar chords which lends itself well to rock listen to this in the next example first up I'll play The Flat 6 to appreciate the sound of this chord then I'll play Flat 6 and flat 3 after each other listen to how bright and positive these all major sections sound [Music] foreign foreign so far I've only used basic Triads in our mixolydian progressions but you are of course free to use different chord types in your mixolydian songs you can experiment with this on any of the chords but where it is particularly interesting is in introducing or emphasizing the flat 7 note as you understand now this will reinforce the mixolydian sound there are many ways to do this so what I discuss here won't be exhaustive if you add a flat 7 note to the one chord it becomes a dominant seventh chord here's the first progression I showed you with a one dominant seventh chord in it this time playing the one chord as a dominant seventh chord is common in blues music foreign [Music] chord this removes the sixth note of the mode from the chord and replaces it with the flat seventh let's add this to our progression with the dominant seven [Music] another way you can emphasize a note is by using chord inversions we know that the V chord has the flat seven note in it if we play the first inversion of the five chord it puts that flat 7 note as the lowest or Bass note of the chord this makes it stand out more than the standard chord let's swap the seven chord for this inverted chord in the previous chord progression [Music] foreign [Music] you may have noticed that every progression has so far been using one chord per bar this is not typical for a whole song as it becomes quite predictable chords can be played for as long or as short as you like you can mix them up to create rhythmic riff-like sequences in a band setting you also have to consider what other instruments are playing and how your chord progression will complement them maybe there's a rhythm that runs through your song and your chord progressions match this I'll now put some of what we've discussed into a full song example there are a few things to note before we begin the song is in the key of G mixolydian has a tempo of 142 BPM and a rough aaba structure at its core it has an intro that sets the scene for the song it starts on the dominant seventh one chord to have that initial bluesy Edge it also utilizes Flat 6 and flat 3 chords to add some major tension the rate of chord changes set up here and features throughout the song it creates a syncopated feel by changing half a beat before the end of bar one then the offbeat chord changes continue which really moves the song along in an interesting way the a section or verse utility realizes some of this syncopated fill in the chord changes the first part uses minus seventh sus4 and first inversion chords to provide a smooth relaxed feel this is all repeated twice before the song goes into the B section or chorus this is a much more straightforward mixolydian section with one chord per bar for the most part the chords are all major or dominant seventh to separate it further from the other parts of the song then another a section is heard before the intro returns as an outro the first eight bars are the same as the start of the song but the final four bars are added on for the finish a rising bass line is created through the use of borrowed chords and inversions I used the borrowed major V chord at the end of the song to provide a jarring feeling of the G major key before ending on the one chord foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign foreign how to write a melody for your song the most important note in mixolydian is the flat or minor seventh this is the only note that separates the scale from major slash ionian it provides the smooth open sound that mixolydian is known for because the flat 7 note is further away from the tonic or one note than in major mixolydian has a more relaxed sound that doesn't feel like it wants to resolve as strongly as the major slash ionian scale here's a 2 bar G mixolydian Melody with the flat seventh note f in it I'll play it once so you can hear the relaxed flat 7. then in bars three and four I'll repeat the melody but I'll use the seventh note from the G major F sharp Listen to How it has a much stronger pull to the tonic slash root note [Music] foreign you want to focus on this flat seventh note to bring out the mixolydian flavor but what else can you do to achieve this if you play notes on a strong beat then they have felt more and stand out in a 4 4 time signature with four beats in a bar this would be beats one and three with the first beat being the strongest listen to the following example in bars one and two the flat 7th note f is played on weak beats in the second half it falls on strong beats one and three [Music] foreign [Applause] I want to give you a few basic Melody tips now these aren't exclusive to the mixolydian mode but can help you to think about Melodies generally the main tip would be to keep it simple in most styles of music vocal Melodies are repetitive simple and cover a limited range don't over complicate your Melodies and you won't go far wrong for example look at this basic melody in G mixolydian [Music] when creating Melodies it is important to consider the shape of the pattern Melodies can move downwards or upwards in small steps or big leaps balancing the movement or shape of the melody is another important part of creating and maintaining interest look out for the leaps and steps in this mixolydian example [Music] [Applause] [Music] I said that placing a note on strong beats can make it stand out another thing that could highlight a particular note is making it the highest note in a phrase this could be used to highlight a key note in your mixolydian melody or if you have lyrics it could be to Showcase an important word it's also important to experiment with and Vary the rhythm of your melodic phrases you can take inspiration from other songs you like copying the note lengths and fitting in your choice of notes in this next example I'll end each phrase with the flat seventh note F that was highlighted as being key to the mixolydian sound I'll also use a variety of note lengths to create sections that feel high paced and others that feel more relaxed consider mixing up note lengths in your own melody in a similar way [Applause] [Music] Melodies don't live in isolation they have a strong relationship with Harmony or in other words chord progressions let's now look at how this relationship Works a Melody can be written from two broad approaches you can write the melody first and then fit chords to the melody or you can write the chords first and then the melody the second approach is the most common probably because it's easy to strum chords on a guitar or play them on a piano and then sing along if you look at a lot of popular songs you'll see how the chords directly influence the melody with the choice of notes if you have an existing mixolydian key chord progression you can start with this and create a Melody for it you can of course use the tips and ideas already discussed but now there are a few more things to consider the easiest way to build a Melody from chords is just to use chord notes each chord will be constructed with several notes and whilst that chord is playing you can use these notes to create a Melody for example a basic mixolydian chord progression is one seven four one in the key of G mix lydian these chords would be G major F major and C Major G major has the notes g b and d f major F A and C and C major c e and G in the next example I'll construct a Melody using only these chord tones this is for how the C note sounds when it's held over the chord chain from F major to C major as they both contain the note this effect is also heard with the change from C major to G major using the G note [Music] now I'll use the same chord progression and melodic Rhythm but instead of chord notes I'll use the other notes from the g mixolydium mode foreign the chord note Melody feels really safe and if you place these notes on the strong beats in a bar it feels even safer notes from outside of the chord sound tensor and unsettled the level of tension depends on several factors if it's in the scale of the key then it will have some tension with different levels within this and then if you want great attention you can reach out for chromatic or alien notes that aren't in the scale writing a Melody is a balancing act building up tension and then resolving it by selecting these different notes something you may have seen in songs is the use of borrowed chords this is where chords from a parallel key are used in the current key a parallel key has the same root or tonic note so with our examples in the key of G mix lydian we could borrow from G Major G minor G Dorian Etc this introduces chromatic notes to the song that are outside of the existing key these tense alien notes can be very noticeable in your Melodies but as discussed earlier if you use chord notes then they feel safer look at the following example with the chords 1 4 flat 3 and 7. there is a single chromatic note B flat it is the the only chromatic note used it falls on beat two of the third bar so it is not prominent and it features in the underlying borrowed B-flat major chord have a listen to how something feels different with this chord and Note and yet it doesn't sound out of place foreign [Music] core can be borrowed from the parallel natural minor slash aeolian Dorian and phrygian modes if you compare gaolian with the key of G mixer lydian then you can see there are two notes that are different B flat and E flat using this you could expand on the phrase over the borrowed B-flat major chord to incorporate both of these notes here's the last chord progression example with both of these notes played over the flat 3 chord listen to the difference that E flat note brings and how it is tensor because it isn't in the underlying B-flat major chord foreign utilizing different core types can accommodate Melody notes and make them feel safer follow along listen to The Melody and then have a go at writing your own mixolydian Melody [Music] thank you thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] now it's time to talk about riffs a riff is a short repeated memorable musical phrase although strongly associated with rock music and the electric guitar a riff can feature in any genre and be played on any instrument the majority of riffs are between one and four bars in length any longer can sound like a melody or solo all riffs are repeated this is an essential part of the Riff and how they hook themselves into the listener's mind you could also call them a motif that is a musical idea that repeats a riff can define a song the first thing you hear in many songs is a riff and they are the core part of many massive hits riffs are like a whole song bundled up into a short repeatable package as such they are comprised of three main parts Rhythm Harmony and Melody I'll use the g mixolydian mode now to demonstrate some different riff ideas I'll present guitar tabs for the riffs remember that these ideas can apply to any instrument or midi G mixolydian is a guitar friendly key in standard tuning you can play any of the open strings without being out of key as such it can open up all sorts of easy to play riff ideas is almost anything can be a riff but for ease I'm going to break them into a few categories here to help you think about different riff approaches the sound or genre that you are aiming for May dictate the rift styles that you prefer as always trust your ear and go with it let's start with some interval-based riffs an interval is simply the distance between two notes intervals are the building blocks of chords and scales as such they are a great point to construct a riff rum the bulk of guitar riffs are played on the lower three strings the E A and D strings have power and authority associated with bass notes as the bass generally defines the harmony above it denser strings also produce more volume because of this I'll focus on these lower registers in the examples if you're working with a scale such as G mixolydian here you can experiment by playing two notes in the scale that create an interval you like the sound of once you find the interval you like then you can work on the rhythmic idea for your riff for example here is a simple riff using two notes in the G mixolydian scale f and g this interval is a distance of one whole step or two semitones this is known as a major second or play the interval and then develop the rhythm of the Riff so much of the Riff writing process is experimentation [Music] intervals can be played horizontally like you just saw this is what you would find in a melody or you can stack them vertically that is when both notes are played at the same time this is how chords are created in the next example I'll play notes from the g mixolydian mode at the same time listen to how this changes the sound each interval will have an open e note in it repeating a note like this in a riff is known as a pedal note I'll discuss this in more detail later look out again for the development of the Rhythm in this example you will have heard in the last example how important the rhythmic element was the rhythm of a riff is what really makes it unique a lot of riffs utilize syncopation to generate this rhythmic interest this is where the weak beats in a bar are accented rather than the usual strong beats for example in 4 4 time signatures there are four beats in a bar usually the strong beats are one and three and the weak beats two and four but if we turn this on its head then you create a syncope Rhythm and if you utilize notes that don't fall on any of these beats then it will feel even more syncopated you can put a rest and avoid notes where the strong beats fall to further create a syncopated fill we've looked at some of the notes in G mixolydian but what creates the mixolydian sound at the beginning of the video I showed you how the only point of difference between the major scale and the mixolydium mode is the flat 7 note so this note is critical to the relaxed mixolydian sound you also want to highlight that mixolydian is a major sounding scale this is heard through the use of the third note and also the root note of the scale so you know where the tonic or home is here's an example that highlights these notes g b and F it starts with these three Keynotes with a hammer on from F to G as the high point then it descends and mixes in a few more notes from the scale the root note G is the lowest in the Riff to highlight its role as the tonic [Applause] [Music] let's now talk about pedal note riffs a pedal note is one That Remains the Same usually low down in the arrangement whilst other notes or chords change above it this will usually use open EA and D strings on the guitar if the note doesn't sustain throughout the Riff it may also be referred to as a pedal point it will often be the root note of the relevant scale that is repeated to really anchor The Listener in the key of the song but it doesn't have to be so feel free to experiment if you've heard heavy metal riffs with palm muted e strings throughout they are an example of this this might be one reason to try a drop tuning like Drop D to get a suitable open note to Pedal throughout your riff you saw an example earlier that had a pedal note here's one in G mixolydian that again uses the E open string but also the f and g notes we want to Target now it's time for a classic riff component the power chord a favorite of rock and metal the power chord is a simple powerful element in many iconic riffs a power chord is actually just a perfect fifth interval so it relates back to the first two examples in this video power chords are often used with pedal notes that we discussed previously this is particularly prevalent in metal riffs on guitar they are usually played as two note chords with the first and fifth or as a three note chord with the octave added above the fifth if using a distorted guitar sound you might also find other techniques used with power chords such as palm muting and slides a simple starting point for generating power chord riffs is to use the notes in the relevant scale for your song and then using each note as a root note for a power chord as with the other riffs the rhythmic element is almost more important than the actual chords being played here's an example in G mixolydian using power chords and other single note lines foreign the power cord riff leads us nicely into the full-blown cord riff as the name suggests this is simply combining full chords into a riff this is where the lines between chord progression and riff can become blurred but as discussed earlier the Riff will be shorter and more rhythmically driven than a chord progression core bass riffs are easy to have a go at just pick one or more chords from a key and start experimenting with the Rhythm for example here are the diatonic chords in the key of G mixolydian a simple and popular chord progression uses the one chord g major the seven chord F major and the IV chord c major let's take these chords as the basis of our riff you can use Simple chords like this but you're not limited different chord types can open up interesting sounds and on the guitar they can be a simple addition or taking away of a finger this can add rhythmic elements that help Elevate us beyond the chord progression in the next example I explore this idea by using G dominant seventh and C at 11. the rhythmic variations are short enough to feel like a riff and not a progression foreign [Music] mode but riffs don't need to be boxed in like this you can reach for any notes that you like the sound of this introduces the idea of modal mixture or modal interchange this is where you use notes from parallel scales within your riffs parallel scales have the same root note as the scale you are using for example we are using G mixolydian here so parallel scales would include G Major G lydian G harmonic minor amongst others a lot of riffs aren't considered in this level of detail and created more spontaneously I'd recommend going for the spontaneous approach to begin with and just reach for notes and sounds that you like the short nature of a riff won't usually undermine the tonal Center of your song a riff can come into the songwriting process at different times it could be that you create a great riff in isolation and this inspires you to write the rest of a song remember that they contain Rhythm Melody and Harmony this song DNA can be unpicked from the Riff and lead to Quick songwriting concentrate on the notes that are emphasized or stand out these will lead you to suggested chord changes you could also take an existing chord progression and turn this into a riff this might be by using chord notes or whole chords as we saw earlier or you could take a song Melody and use it for your riff inspiration this is particularly useful for finding rhythmic hooks for your riffs sometimes starting with some limitations can really help your riff writing process as it Narrows down infinite possibilities to focus your attention it starts with an 8-bar intro which I want to create a riffle I've used mainly chord notes in the Riff with a few extra scale notes the first two bars of the riffs set up rhythmic patterns that repeat throughout the first chord g dominant seventh is a G major chord with an F note added so I begin the note with f and g notes you can see that the chord changes just before the end of bar one and I reflect the chord changes by always changing notes in the Riff as the chords change the second bar uses arpeggios of the E minor and E flat major chords and repeating the same Rhythm but dropping two notes by half a step provides a nice flavor of the chords that at play then the whole riff repeats but the fourth bar changes the notes to reflect the c major and B flat major chords the first four bars then repeat entirely but the final few notes change to reflect the F major chord for the intro ends on have a listen to how the Riff sounds building up repetition as well as the rest of the song I hope this will inspire you to have a go at writing your own mixolydian riffs foreign foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Applause] foreign how to write a mixolydian mode song but there's a world of songwriting out there watch the playlist on screen now to continue your songwriting Journey

Channel: Write A Song

Views: 4,218

Keywords: songwriting, songwriting explained, how to write a song, write a song, write a song now, chord progressions, music theory, mixolydian mode

Id: rYF8dEgK4lI

Length: 31min 56sec (1916 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 29 2023