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Scales › Mixolydian ♭6 (melodic major)

Mixolydian ♭6 (melodic major) scale

major with a bittersweet ♭6

7 notes

guide tones (3rd & 7th — the heart of the sound) avoid (strong clash)

C · D · E · F · G · Ab · Bb

What color?

Mixolydian with b6: dominant major third and b7 but a lowered sixth that adds an unexpected bittersweet note. A more melancholic dominant color than standard Mixolydian, interesting over V7b13 chords.

Origin & history

The fifth mode of the melodic minor (Mixolydian ♭6), sometimes called the "Hindu scale" in jazz pedagogy. A dominant softened by its minor sixth.

Which chords to play it on?

The jazz consensus (Aebersold) recommends it on:

dominant seventh chord

Sibling modes

The Mixolydian ♭6 (melodic major) scale is one of the modes of the melodic minor : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (melodic minor).

melodic minor bright minor-major Dorian ♭2 (Phrygian ♮6) Dorian with a soft b9 Lydian augmented (Lydian ♯5) suspended Lydian ♯5 Lydian dominant (Mixolydian ♯11, 4th mode of melodic minor) ♯11 dominant Locrian ♮2 (6th mode of melodic minor) half-diminished ♮9, more stable altered (super-Locrian, 7th mode of melodic minor) maximum altered tension

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →