B Mixolydian scale on guitar
Every note of the B Mixolydian scale — B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A — with the step pattern, what it sounds like, where it's used, and famous songs built on it. All scales are free in the interactive fretboard tool.
The scale on the neck
Here's B Mixolydian over the first 12 frets of the guitar (standard EADGBE tuning). The pink notes are the root (B); tap any note to hear it, or play the whole scale ascending.
Press Make it interactive and the same scale opens across all 24 frets, with every other tuning and capo position, and with each note labelled by its interval from the root (R, 2, 3…) instead of by name. The numbers are the same in every key, so what you learn here transposes straight to G or E. (Note: the root shows there as R, not as B.)
The notes
Each note is labelled with its scale degree relative to the major scale — that formula (1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7) is the scale's fingerprint, identical in every key.
The step pattern
W–W–H–W–W–H–W — W is a whole step (two frets), H a half step (one fret), and 1½ a step and a half (three frets). Start on any Bon the neck, walk that pattern up one string, and you've played B Mixolydian.
How it's built
B Mixolydian is the 5th mode of the major scale. What makes it different: The major scale with a flat 7th (♭7) — one note bluesier than major. It's the natural scale of a dominant-7th chord.
Because it's a mode, B Mixolydiandoesn't invent any new notes: it borrows every note of E major and simply treats B as home. Play the notes of E major but start, stop and resolve on B — that shift of gravity is the entire trick. (More in the guide to modes.)
What it sounds like & where it's used
The sound: Happy but loose and rootsy; major with its tie loosened.
Where you'll hear it: Blues, rock and roll, funk, Celtic music and jam bands — anywhere a 7th chord grooves for a while.
Famous music built on this scale
the verse melody's folk-drone flavour is Mixolydian's ♭7 at work.
the D–C–G loop is a textbook case, widely analysed as D Mixolydian.
a one-chord Mixolydian jam vehicle the Dead could ride for twenty minutes.
Mixolydian in every key
Other scales on B
Song and artist names are mentioned for identification and educational commentary only — we don't reproduce lyrics, tabs or recordings. Scales and their formulas are shared facts of music theory.
See B Mixolydian across the whole neck — colored by interval, with fingerings and audio, on guitar, bass and ukulele. Every scale and all 12 roots are free in the interactive tool.
Open B Mixolydian on the fretboardFrequently asked
What notes are in the B Mixolydian scale?
B Mixolydian contains 7 notes: B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A.
What is the formula for the mixolydian scale?
The interval formula is 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7, which is the step pattern W–W–H–W–W–H–W (W = whole step, H = half step, 1½ = a step and a half). Start on B and apply those steps to get B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A.
When should I use B Mixolydian?
Blues, rock and roll, funk, Celtic music and jam bands — anywhere a 7th chord grooves for a while. Sound-wise: Happy but loose and rootsy; major with its tie loosened.