Auburn Guitar Shoppe

02/24/2009

The Mixobluesian scale isn't a scale you're likely to find in a music theory textbook. It's more of a "carpenter's trick" kind of scale that breaks all kinds of rules but adds a lot of spice to your jamming. It contains all those hip, jazzy notes that Page, Hendrix, and T-Bone Walker played over the I chord of a blues that you can never seem to find in the blues box.

Basically, it's just an F-chord shape moved up the neck with some notes added to it: some of the notes are from the Mixolydian mode, others are from the blues scale. The notes that don't fall under the fingers well are left out to make it easy to play.

A few things to help you use this scale:

1) Be sure to always visualize the chord shape the scale is built on. This is one of the secrets to "playing the changes" that makes jazz, country, and rockabilly guitarists sound so sophisticated.

2) This scale is going to sound great over an A7, as in the I(root) chord of a blues in A or an A7 vamp, but if you try playing it over the IV chord (D7), you'll be dodging tomatoes. To play over other chords, just move the scale up or down the neck, following the chord progression the same way you'd use a barre chord.

3) If you ever hit a "wrong" note, just walk it up or down chromatically (one fret at a time) until you land on a note in the chord shape. Remember that you can play any note over any chord as long as you keep the line moving, but you have to land on a chord tone.

On the mp3:

The first phrase I play is the ascending and descending Mixobluesian scale, as seen in the tablature. The second phrase is a short improvisation in the style of Charlie Christian, using only the notes played in the first phrase. I'm playing both phrases over an A13 (just a fancy A7) chord.

- Brennen Reece

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