Nov 5, 20202 min read

(24) Dominant 7th Scales (Mixolydian)

The dominant scales I'll be learning are the same as the major scales we have learned, but the 7th note of the major scale is flatted. For example:

C Major Scale = C D E F G A B C

C Dominant Scale = C D E F G A Bb C

The recommendation from Ross Walters is to practice the dominant scales in sequence to its companion major scale so that I can switch to which ever is needed. Here is the cheat sheet I made to help me accomplish that assignment. The little arrows remind me to blow (up arrow) and draw (down arrow) on certain notes. If a note has two names I included both as explained below..

Practicing Dominant scales in combination with their major mode scales.

Why do I represent flatted notes as sharps. Well, on the Chromatic harmonica there is a way to raise any note a half step in other words to "sharp" it. We just play the note normally, ether blowing or drawing as required while holding the slide in. So when I see an A# , my brain knows that I just need to play an A with the slide. If I represent it as a Bflat, then I have to add a step of translation to find the appropriate hole. Of course I need to know both representations, but while I am initially learning the scales I prefer to show the notes with the sharp symbol.

Ross suggested practicing these against a dominant chord. But, it was easy to find backing tracks that would work for practicing so I went that route and am having fun with improv in the dominant scale.

Here is one example with me playing the Dominant C Scale over a backing track