MOORE POWER
DAVID HEITUR
IN MY PREVIOUS column, I demonstrated a technique in which I hammer-on from an open string to play triplet-based patterns built around 6th intervals, or 6ths, for short. The patterns I presented were all diatonic to (within the scale structure of) the A Mixolydian mode (A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G). As this seven-note set contains two “sharp” notes — C♯ and F♯ — it is made up of the same notes as the D major scale (D, E, F♯, G, A, B, C♯) but starting from and oriented around that scale’s 5th degree, A. Another helpful way to think about Mixolydian is that it is the same as its parallel major scale, except the 7th degree is lowered, or “flatted,” by a half step, or one fret. For example, the A major scale is spelled A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯. If we lower the 7th, note, or degree, G♯, one half step, to G, we then have A Mixolydian.