Where to capo for A Mixolydian
Put the capo at fret 7 and play A Mixolydian using D Mixolydian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing A Mixolydian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 3.9 to 3.4 and gains 0 ringing open strings.
You want A. Capo 7 and play in D.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes A Mixolydian down by that many frets to find the shapes your hand would actually make, then scores the best voicing of all seven chords — fewer fingers, less stretch, closer to the nut, fewer muted strings. Lower is easier. Standard tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4).
| Capo | Shapes you play | Open strings | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | D Mixolydian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 2 | G Mixolydian | 19 | 3.4 |
| None | A Mixolydian | 19 | 3.9 |
| 5 | E Mixolydian | 14 | 4.3 |
| 3 | F# Mixolydian | 8 | 5.2 |
| 4 | F Mixolydian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 6 | D# Mixolydian | 2 | 6.2 |
| 1 | G# Mixolydian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of A Mixolydian are A, Bm, C#dim, D, Em, F#m, G — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the A Mixolydian key page.