Like its Lydian cousin, the Mixolydian mode deviates from the major scale by just one note – the major 7th, which is lowered by a semitone to become a minor 7th. It's a crucial difference that gives Mixolydian licks and chord progressions a bluesier edge than the sometimes overly bright-sounding major scale.
To demonstrate this, we'll start by looking at the notes of the A Mixolydian mode compared to A major:
