E mixolydian chordson the Irish bouzouki, GDAE tuning

Main chords: E (I), D (♭VII), A (IV)

The scale: E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D

Drones: Open E rings in E mixolydian; D and A fit the key too. The courses are G D A E, low to high.

Capo 2: play it with D mixolydian shapes, and every open course is in the key.

Common progressions

Basis: DADGAD Guitar blog (2009) and common session practice: the flat 7th's major chord (C in D mix) answers the tonic.

The seven chords in E mixolydian

  1. I E122G♯EBE1 2 2 0
  2. ii F♯m1231AF♯C♯F♯2 4 4 2
  3. iii° G♯dim12G♯DB1 0 2 x
  4. IV A113AEC♯E2 2 4 0
  5. v Bm311BDBF♯4 0 2 2
  6. vi C♯m133EC♯G♯x 2 4 4
  7. ♭VII D1DAF♯x 0 0 2
Hear them in the app ›

Other modes on E

E majorE dorianE minor

Other mixolydian keys

DGABCF

E mixolydian in other tunings

Irish bouzouki, GDADIrish bouzouki, ADADMandolin, GDAE

All Irish bouzouki GDAE chords · Printable chart (PDF) · The app