Shane Theriot is nothing if not busy. In addition to session work (he’s worked with great like Dr. John and the Neville Brothers), performing with Daryl Hall and recording his own albums, Shane creates content for his YouTube channel or runs his own interview-based riff-raff podcast. He’s a good personification of the saying “Change is as good as a rest!”
Through his work, Shane has cultivated an expansive musical vocabulary that is as much about foot-tapping rhythmic phrasing as it is about harmonic savvy that draws upon jazz, rock and funk stylings.
For this article, Shane delves into one of the most frequently used modes, the Mixolydian (R 2 3 4 5 6 b7). This is a seven-note major-based mode because it has a major 3rd. But rather than having a major 7th interval (like the standard major scale), it has a minor 7th interval. Due to this, the Mixolydian is the most ideal mode to use with dominant 7th chords, as they have a major 3rd and minor 7th too.
Basing his introduction in the key of A, Shane says the Mixolydian mode fingering can be figured out by playing the A major scale (A B C# D E F# G#) and then flattening the 7th by moving its interval lower by one fret. As the A Mixolydian mode contains the notes A B C# D E F# G, it fits perfectly with an A7 chord because it features the notes A C# E G. An A Mixolydian fretboard diagram is shown below: The black circles are A notes, and the numbers reflect fretting-hand fingers.
Jon Bishop
Jon Bishop is a U.K.-based guitarist and freelance musician, and a longtime contributor to Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar. He’s a graduate of the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and is a touring and recording guitarist for British rock and roll royalty Shakin’ Stevens. As a fan of funk and groove guitar, he’s well suited for transcribing Randy’s stunning guitar chops.
With this fingering foundation, Shane is free to add chromatic passing tones. These can fill the gaps between A Mixolydian notes, adding a jazzy and sophisticated quality.
One of the most popular chromatic notes to add is the minor 3rd (C), which creates bluesy grit within the major-key sound. Typically, a minor 3rd is followed by a “resolving” major 3rd when playing lead phrases.
You’ll see this minor/major 3rd interval interplay at work in Shane’s examples, and he uses various articulations to move between the two. He cites legendary electric guitar player Joe Walsh as an influence; you can hear similar ideas from Joe in the James Gang song “Funk #49.” If you’re after the most common approach, hammer-on from the minor 3rd to the major 3rd.
The other chromatic note Shane adds is the major 7th interval, which can set up a four-note chromatic passage from the root note (A) down to the major 6th (F#), or vice versa. The A Mixolydian mode with the added major 7th creates an eight-note scale and is often referred to as the Bebop scale (A B C# D E F# G G#) due to its common usage in jazz.
If both the minor 3rd and major 7th are added to the Mixolydian mode, a big A Mixolydian hybrid scale is produced (A B C C# D E F# G G#).
Shane also covers various major triads to create riffs. In the key of A, you can lock in the sound of the Mixolydian mode by moving between the A major, D major and G major triads. These can be played over an A root to create the slash chords of G/A and D/A.
To demonstrate how playing in a closed position is advantageous, Shane moves into the keys of D and E. We have used the appropriate major-scale key signatures so you can see where the accidentals and chromatic notes are featured.
Another concept worth taking onboard is the use of smaller sections, or “cells.” Shane demonstrates a few of these in the video lesson. Learning these smaller segments is the key to developing vocabulary for improvisation, as you can then jumble ideas up to create your own phrases on the fly.
From a guitar tone perspective, Shane selects either the bridge or middle pickup on his Ibanez guitar (a gift from John Scofield) and plays with a crunchy overdrive. Feel free to use whatever tone you want, as these examples have considerable flexibility.
Example 1a: A7 riff
In this first example, Shane isolates the A root note on the 5th fret of the sixth string by playing it with his thumb. A classic playing choice is to bend the minor 3rd (C) up to the major 3rd (C#). This interplay between the minor/major 3rd is an approach that is revisited throughout the video. Shane uses a choppy strumming style, and all the notes are kept short with fret-hand muting.
Example 1b: D7 riff
Shane moves the riff up to the 10th fret, into the key of D. This helps demonstrate the power of playing the bass note with the thumb as opposed to using the open fifth-string A root note. Once you have this under your fingers, challenge yourself in other positions and keys.
Example 2: A7 riff (on lower strings)
Here, drawing on Joe Walsh’s influence, Shane demonstrates a similar idea to the first example, using the lower strings. This involves hammering-on from the minor 3rd to the major 3rd, 5th to 6th frets on the third string. This provides a double-stop of the dominant 7th and major 3rd: two essential intervals that define the Mixolydian sound.
Example 3. A7 riff (with triads)
This uses various triad chords over an A bass note. The A7 moves to the A major triad and then the G triad, moving between these two over an A bass note locks in the sound of A Mixolydian. The D major triad is also used and this rounds out a strong collection of major triads to create Mixolydian riffs.
Example 4a: Mixolydian-based lick
Now it’s time to look at ideas for lead licks. This example takes a basic descending fingering for A Mixolydian mode as a foundation. To this, Shane adds the major 7th to set up a four-note descending chromatic passage from the root note (A) to the major 6th (F#). The Mixolydian mode with the added major 7th evokes the A Bebop scale (A-B C# D E F# G G#) due to its common usage in jazz. Play it a few times and then try it out for your own lead lines.
Example 4b: Mixolydian based lick (extended)
Here Shane lets fly with some rapid-fire improvised ideas that demonstrate the potential of including chromatic notes into the Mixolydian mode. The main notes to look out for are the major 7th (G#) and the minor 3rd (C). In the second part of the lick, the open fifth string is left ringing out to provide context. This is well worth slowing down and taking in bite-sized pieces.
Example 5: A Mixolydian motif
This is inspired by melodic lines a jazz saxophonist would play. Shane employs the same three-notes-per-string fingering pattern as before, but this time he uses more hammer-ons and pull-offs to get a smooth legato sound. This line is made up of smaller sections, or “cells”, and Shane demonstrates each one. Learning these smaller segments is the key to developing your own vocabulary for improvisation.
Example 6a: A Mixolydian hybrid phrase
To finish up, Shane shares a pattern that is easy to play but sounds impressive, especially when played at fast speeds. Once you have this under your fingers, it’s easy to change various notes to create variations. In the notated example, notice the chromatic note of interest is the minor 3rd (C). Again, the minor/major 3rd adds considerable spice for a bluesy jazz vibe.
Example 6b: A Mixolydian hybrid phrase (extended)
This pivots over to the key of E Mixolydian so the main chromatic notes of interest are the minor 3rd (G) and the major 7th (D#). This features lots of great creativity so take your time getting the most from it.
