The Mixo Cool-Blues Scale

Hello, happy international guitar month! In this lesson I will be showing you a scale that I call the Mixo Cool-Blues scale, which is a major pentatonic blues and a minor pentatonic blues scale mixed together. The scale formula becomes (1, 2, b3, 3, 4, b5, 5, 6, b7) - check out the diagram below.

I listed each scale separately and then I linked each one together to create one big scale. This scale is similar to the Mixo-Blues scale, but the Mixo-Blues has 7 notes. The Mixo Cool-Blues scale is a 9 note scale. There are a lot of chromatic notes in it, and it can be used for many styles of music (rock, blues, jazz, etc.) Using just the minor blues scale can be very limiting. If you want more tonal options mix both scales together and use the Mixo Cool-Blues Scale. I will show you a few lines in the key of A to get you started.

Let's look at Example 1 Whenever you are wailing over a blues progression in A, throw this line in. This is a great example of the Mixo-Cool Blues Scale in use - notice all the cool chromatic tones mixed with that old blues scale pattern. Be sure you know what intervals you are playing so you can make up your own lines. You could try this in many different settings, like rock, jazz and country.

MP3 - Example 1

Example.2 is another line that uses primarily all the notes from the A minor blues scale, but with a major 3rd added to it. In the key of A, the major 3rd is a C# note - mixing the minor 3rd and major 3rd your lines creates a real bluesy sound . Crank up the gain on this one and play it as fluidly as possible.

MP3 - Example 2

Now, Example 3 is played entirely on one string, using 16th note triplets - this one sounds great at hyper speeds. You can really see how many chromatic tones are in the Mixo Cool-Blues scale with this example. Make sure both hands are in sync and you are picking every note. This line can be a great exercise for improving your right hand picking technique.

MP3 - Example 3

There are so many endless possibilities; I just gave you a few lines to get you started. Be sure to apply the Mixo Cool-Blues scale in your playing.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Be sure to check out my CDs on this amazing site and check out my new CD release, "The New". Also visit mikecampese.com for more information.