Mixolydian Flat 6 · Jazz Wiki

Mixolydian ♭6 is what you reach for when a V7 chord is marked ♭13 but nothing else is altered — no ♭9, no ♯9, just a darkened top note over an otherwise clean dominant. It is the fifth mode of The Melodic Minor Scale, which makes it a close cousin of the altered scale and Lydian Dominant — all three are rotations of the same parent melodic minor scale, each starting on a different degree. Where those modes get their names from jazz theory, this one carries a pile of aliases (Hindu scale, Aeolian dominant, melodic major) because it shows up independently in classical and non-Western contexts too.

Where it comes from and what it sounds like

Build a melodic minor scale and start on its fifth degree — that’s Mixolydian ♭6. G melodic minor (G–A–B♭–C–D–E–F♯) starting from its 5th degree, D, gives you D Mixolydian ♭6. The formula relative to the root is straightforward:

1–2–3–4–5–♭6–♭7

That’s a plain Mixolydian scale — major triad, natural 9, natural 5, flat 7 — with only the 6th degree lowered. The sound is a dominant chord that’s leaning toward minor without fully committing to it: bright and consonant on top (natural 9), shadowed underneath (♭13).

Spelling it in practice

C Mixolydian ♭6 (from F melodic minor):

C–D–E–F–G–A♭–B♭

G Mixolydian ♭6 (from C melodic minor):

G–A–B–C–D–E♭–F

The G version is the one you’ll actually use most: G7(♭13) resolving to Cm is a textbook minor ii-V-i dominant, and G Mixolydian ♭6 supplies exactly the ♭13 (E♭) that chord wants while keeping the 9th (A) natural and bright rather than pulling it down to ♭9.

Why it isn’t Phrygian Dominant, and isn’t the altered scale

This is the mode people mix up constantly, so get the distinction fixed early. Phrygian Dominant is the fifth mode of harmonic minor, not melodic minor, and its formula is 1–♭2–3–4–5–♭6–♭7 — it has ♭9 built in alongside the ♭6. Mixolydian ♭6 keeps the 2nd natural, so it’s the “less spicy” dominant option: same darkened ♭13, but no ♭9 bite.

Mixolydian ♭6: 1–2–3–4–5–♭6–♭7 (♮9, ♭13)
Phrygian Dominant: 1–♭2–3–4–5–♭6–♭7 (♭9, ♭13)
Altered scale: 1–♭2–♯2–3–♯4–♯5–♭7 (♭9 or ♯9, ♯11, ♯5)

The rule of thumb: if the chart says only “♭13” with nothing else implied, Mixolydian ♭6 is the in-scale answer. If ♭9 or ♯9 shows up too, reach for Phrygian Dominant or The Altered Scale instead — using Mixolydian ♭6 there would leave out a color the chord is asking for.

Where you’ll actually hear and use it

Because modes 2 and 5 of melodic minor are the least-used of the seven — modes 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 (melodic minor itself, Lydian augmented, Lydian Dominant, Locrian Natural 2, and the altered scale) dominate real vocabulary — Mixolydian ♭6 tends to appear in specific spots: static V7♭13 vamps, minor-key ii-V-i’s, and floating dominants that don’t resolve immediately. It belongs to the broader family covered in Dominant Scale Choices and Melodic Minor Applications, and its natural home in tune analysis is Minor Key Harmony, where a ♭13 color often signals borrowing from the parallel minor — the same logic behind Chord Alterations more generally.

♫ Listen

Miles Davis — “Stella by Starlight” ('58 Miles / The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1958): the bridge’s G7 functions as a floating minor-leaning dominant; listen for how Bill Evans colors it with a ♭13 that never tips into full alteration.
Bill Evans — “Stella by Starlight” (Conversations With Myself, 1963): the overlaid trio version isolates that same bridge dominant with unusual clarity — the ♭13 darkness sits against a bright natural 9th, which is the Mixolydian ♭6 sound in a nutshell.