The Mixolydian mode corresponds to the white keys from G to G. It is major in its third, but its seventh degree is lowered — there is no sharp leading tone striving toward the tonic. Because of this the sound becomes relaxed, “grounded,” free of classical tension.
It is one of the most widespread modes of world folklore, Celtic and folk music, as well as blues and rock and roll (countless guitar riffs are built on the Mixolydian scale). The lowered seventh degree gives the same “modal” freshness heard in many Ukrainian folk melodies and dumy. The Mixolydian mode is the sound of song-like freedom, joining the light of major with the archaic simplicity of ancient chant.
