Combo vamps

Mixolydian loves combo vamps, and in fact a lot of its combo vamps are mirror images of Dorian’s combo vamps because of the shared ♭VIImaj7, v7, and IV chords. They’re built by mixing Mixolydian’s characteristic sounds in different ways.

IV drops

Many of Mixolydian’s common combo vamps are built by starting on the I7 and landing on the IV, and hitting the v7 or the ♭VII on the way.

♭VII-IV drop

As triads: I - ♭VII - IV
As seventh chords: I7 - ♭VIImaj7 - IVmaj7

This is probably the most common Mixolydian combo vamp, one of the mode’s most characteristic sounds. It’s a descending motion — from tonic to dominant to subdominant — which lets it both move and be grounded at the same time. This is the reverse of the subdominant -> dominant -> tonic pattern that you may have been taught as “the way” that harmony works. That pattern (think IV-V-I, ii-V-I, or ♭VI-♭VII-I) ratchets tension up before releasing it. This vamp does something different: it can feel like the song opening up, relaxing, as you go through the 3 chords. Both paths work, and you’ll see plenty of both throughout these lessons.

v-IV drop

As triads: I - v - IV
As seventh chords: I7 - v7 - IVmaj7

This is the B-side, the mirror image, of the ♭VII-IV drop.

I - v - ♭VII - IV (Baker Street drop)

As seventh chords: I7 - v7 - ♭VIImaj7 - IVmaj7

You can combine the ♭VII - IV drop and the v - IV drop. Here’s how that’s done in practice. Listen for how the ♭VII chord feels like “lift” after a v chord, rather than a significant harmonic move. The ♭VII and the v are twins, and hearing them side-by-side like this shows you how they’re similar and how they’re different.

The ♭VII runway

I - vi - ♭VII ("Lights vamp")

As seventh chords: I7 - vi7 - ♭VIImaj7

This one is not super common, but it’s worth knowing.

I - IV - ♭VII - IV ("Paradise City vamp")

As seventh chords: I7 - IVmaj7 - ♭VIImaj7 - IVmaj7

The “Paradise City” vamp. There’s a sense in which this is orbiting the IV. The ♭VII provides some lift before landing on the IV again (the landing is the same move as the ♭VII - IV drop). You can hear this as a I-IV vamp with a ♭VII detour, or as a ♭VII-IV drop with a I-IV approach.