Famous Mixolydian songs
Where you already heard it
Chances are you've heard the Mixolydian mode way more than you think. Rock, folk and jam bands use it all the time, because the flat seventh chord is easy to play and sounds relaxed right away. Here are a few you'll know.
Norwegian Wood, The Beatles
The melody keeps a lowered seventh the whole way through. It's why the song sounds folky and a little wistful instead of neatly major.
Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd
D, C, G, over and over. If you hear D as home, C is the flat seventh chord. It never really lands, which is how it gets away with looping for the whole song.
Hey Jude, The Beatles
The long na-na-na ending brings in a major chord a whole step under home. Same flat seventh. It's a big part of why that ending feels like it could go on forever.
Fire on the Mountain, Grateful Dead
Two chords a whole step apart, and that's pretty much the whole song. About as pure a Mixolydian vamp as you'll find, and made for long jams.
And us
We're Stoke Club, and we do the same thing with an indie surf rock sound. Polaroid steps from E down to D in the verse, and Crocodile Tears goes from G up to A in the chorus. More on both in Polaroid and the Mixolydian mode and Crocodile Tears and the Mixolydian lift.
If you like the songs above, give ours a listen. We're on Spotify and Apple Music.
We're Stoke Club, an indie surf rock band from Newport Beach, Southern California. All our songs and upcoming shows are at stokeclubband.com.