A♭ Mixolydian (Ab Mixolydian) scale on piano
A♭ Mixolydian has 7 notes: A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭. Degrees: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7. Formula: W W H W W H W.
What notes are in the A♭ Mixolydian scale?
A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F and G♭. It has 7 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is W W H W W H W.
What does A♭ Mixolydian sound like, and when do you use it?
Major with street cred: the ♭7 gives it the groove of rock, blues and funk. Use it over 7 (dominant) · the V of a major key.
To hear it: Norwegian Wood — The Beatles and Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Chords in A♭ Mixolydian
| Degree | Triad | Seventh chord |
|---|---|---|
| I | A♭ | A♭7 |
| ii | B♭m | B♭m7 |
| iii° | C° | Cm7♭5 |
| IV | D♭ | D♭maj7 |
| v | E♭m | E♭m7 |
| vi | Fm | Fm7 |
| ♭VII | G♭ | G♭maj7 |
Chord progressions to improvise with A♭ Mixolydian
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the keyboard lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in A♭:
- Rock (I–♭VII–IV): A♭ | G♭ | D♭ | A♭. I–♭VII–IV: the ♭VII brings the ♭7 (G♭), the DNA of rock and blues.
- Mixolydian vamp (I7–v7): A♭7 | E♭m7. I7–v7: the ♭7 (G♭) is the 3rd of the v7. Funk and jam-band groove.
- Sus (I7sus4–I7): A♭7sus4 | A♭7. A sus4 that resolves: the D♭ in the first bar moves down to the C in the second.
A♭ Mixolydian on the keyboard
It uses 5 black keys: A♭, B♭, D♭, E♭ and G♭. On the interactive keyboard above you can hear it, show its degrees or intervals and practice its chords.
Same notes as
D♭ major · B♭ natural minor · D♭ Ionian · E♭ Dorian · F Phrygian · G♭ Lydian · B♭ Aeolian · C Locrian
Mixolydian in other keys
On other instruments
A♭ Mixolydian on guitar · A♭ Mixolydian on bass · All scales