Using Modal Mixture for Dreamy and Epic Lead Guitar
Modal mixture really is the secret sauce that gives you that epic, dramatic, and other-worldly sound by mixing major with minor.
By Jake Lizzio · Signals Music Studio · 700,000+ subscribers on YouTube
Modal mixture happens when you change between scales that share the same tonal center. The classic example: playing the notes of A major one moment, then A minor the next. he result is a dreamy, otherworldly pull between the two tonalities.
This jam is a two-chord vamp in E: an E major chord moving to an A minor chord. Each chord invites its own scale flavor, so you spend the lesson learning how to switch on the fly and highlight the notes that change between major and minor (the 3rd, 6th, and 7th).
In this lesson, I break down:
What modal mixture is, and why parallel major and minor sound so striking together
Scale choices for this jam
A practice routine for switching between A major and A minor in real time
The addictive sound of Mixolydian b6
Want to practice along? Use the backing track here.