What is the A# Mixolydian b6 Scale?
Mixolydian ♭6 is the fifth mode of the melodic minor scale, blending the dominant ♭7 with a darkened ♭6 that gives it a bittersweet, almost cinematic quality. It works beautifully over dominant chords with altered extensions and shows up frequently in film scoring and Hindu-influenced fusion. Here's how the A# Mixolydian b6 Scale lays out on the fretboard. This scale is enharmonically equivalent to Bb Mixolydian b6.
Notes and Positions
Mixolydian with a flat 6th; 5th mode of melodic minor. Also called Hindu or Melodic Major. On guitar, you can treat this as both a lead vocabulary and a way to see chord tones inside common shapes. Start with one box, then connect it to the nearest root on the next string set. In the key of A#, the notes are: A#, B#, C##, D#, E#, F#, G#.
How to Use It
You'll often hear it in Jazz, Indian Classical, and Dominant chords. A good way to internalize the sound is to sing the root, then sing a few scale degrees before you play them.
Practice in small fragments (3-4 notes) and connect them across adjacent positions. Use the interactive fretboard above to spot repeats of the same note on different strings and frets.