Songs with the "mixolydian" chord progression

Well, C Mixolydian has the same key signature as F (one flat), but it's not the same key at all. They just share the same notes. What I usually do for modal pieces is use the key signature that matches the scale of the music and put a note at the top saying "C Mixolydian" or whatever.

 

What other scales would you find apropriate to play over C Bb F C?

Absolutely they tell us what the tonal center is. Try playing them. The tonal center is clearly C.

 

I generally would consider the melody what determines the mode of a song, and any melody can be harmonized many different ways.

 

Not at all. If anything, one would expect F to be the tonic, and it easily could be. You're probably only thinking of C as the center because the brief progression quoted starts and ends on C, or because you're associating it with a song that spends enough time on C that one tends to think of the F as a deviation from that.

Try playing those chords as quarter notes in this pattern: ||: C Bb F F | F F F F :||. Repeat it a few times. It's clearly in F. Context is everything.

 

Well, like I said, we do not know that, just the three chords listed like that doesn't tell us anything, we need additional information.

F Ionian, G Dorian, A Phrygian, Bb Lydian, D Aeolian, E Locrian. But it's actually all the same scale, what is different is the tonal center, which we don't know without context and a melody.

The chords F, Bb and C are the I, IV and V chords of F major, what order you play them in does not change that. The tonal center can very well be D and it turns out we are in D minor (Aeolian), it depends.

 

What you're saying is true but aren't the original chords in question C-Bb-F-C? If so, we know the resolution.

 

No, you don't. A progression doesn't have to start or end on the tonic. It's totally possible to write a piece in C major that never actually uses a C chord. You need a lot more information than just that sequence of chords to know what key or mode (if any) the music is in.

 

Nice song who is that?

 

Semantics. If those are the only chords given and the piece of music was 10 seconds long, the key of C would be correct. You are right too that you'd need to hear the entire piece before jumping to conclusions.

 

Now that I think about the commonly used establishment of modal, you are correct. If the tonic and tonal center falls on one of the degrees of the parent scale, it is considered modal. The tonic of Born on the Bayou falls on the 5th degree of the A Major scale. That makes it E Mixolydian. The tonal center is the strongest factor.

 

Humble Pie with Peter Frampton.

 

Ha that's ok I think the best way for me to get it is by song example. Is the Byrds "Everybody's Been Burned" or "Lady Friend" in Mixo. form? For that matter, I'm thinking of a lot of David Crosby songs, or the James Bond theme?

 

What's the name of the song? I can't see the whole thing

 

I'm glad. As you can see, people will argue about minor theory details forever. One reason for this is that there is no accepted jargon used 100% across the board.

 

I don't know if I'd say it's impossible, but I can't imagine parsing a song as being in C major if it never resolves to C. There are going to be other relative resolutions in the tune, and I'd far more likely say it's in whatever the relevant mode for those resolutions would be.

 

It is Home and Away from the album Town and Country.

 

You are correct .......David Crosby did write modal stuff.
Ooops....I think I See You is Dorian mode. Still David did a lot of modal songs.
I think Everybody's Been Burned is Dorian as well.
Lady Friend is Major not Mixolydian but "borrows" from Dorian mode a little.

 

How about "Guinevere"? Seems to have that "Middle Easten snake charmer" sound a prev poster mentioned

 

I've always assumed that "Mixolydian" means that if G is the tonic, you won't have to use any chords with black notes. Certainly the three chords that make up The Rolling Stones' "The Last Time" would fall into this category. Same with "No Expectations."

The more interesting common progression would be G Dm F C G. Songs that fall into this category include:

Gates Of Eden
Cinnamon Girl
Let It Rain
It Don't Come Easy
The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Carry On (at least the second half of it).

 

I played that song in a cover band situation. The key center is F major, but C triad tonalties should prevail most of the time. In other words, classic mixolydian situation. A C scale (C to C) in the key of F (with Bb instead of B natural). Play a B natural and go to jail.

 

Guinnevere interchanges between E Dorian and E Aeolian mode.

 

Not to mention making use of whole tone and chromatic scales. It's a very sophisticated piece of music.

 

I would not even try to name the chords with all of the extensions.

 

This thread is enough music theory for me in one day.

 

Jake Lizzio explains Mixolydian mode quite well: