Rick Stickney's Mixolydian Connections

Rick Stickney's Mixolydian Connections
​Unleash Mixolydian's Soloing Super Powers
Style: Blues, Funk, R&B
Official Course Page

Mixolydian Connections is a course that I transcribed for TrueFire.com, launching on July 11, 2024.

About The Artist
Before transcribing this course, I was unfamiliar with Rick Stickney, but I quickly grew to appreciate his style and teaching approach. He runs a fantastic YouTube channel called Tasty Guitar, boasting over 73k subscribers at the time of writing. After exploring his channel, I understood why he is such an articulate teacher. This course is another example of his clear and concise teaching style, from which I learned a lot and have begun applying with my own students.

Course Overview
This course focuses on applying the Mixolydian scale to the blues. Many of us, when we’re learning to play over the blues while also learning the theory behind it, encounter the idea that "the Mixolydian mode pairs with the Dominant 7th chord." Although this is theoretically true, you will quickly find (as I did to my own dismay) that playing this scale over a 12-bar blues doesn’t sound like the blues at all! This is where a course like this comes in handy; using standard blues conventions to apply the Mixolydian in a, dare I say, Tasty way!

Approach
Rick’s approach to teaching this concept uses what he refers to as “puzzle pieces.” These are 2 or 3 note patterns that are described based on scale degrees. Aided by my transcription, he demonstrates the puzzle pieces to you in a musical way, always connected to the root in some way. Rick then shows you how to play with each of the puzzle pieces in 5 positions around the neck so you have a grasp of how to play these melodies anywhere on the fretboard.

Recommended Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of intervals/scale degrees
• Basic understanding of a simple 12-bar blues (although the chords are laid out for you in the transcription)

Includes

• 28 Video Lessons
• 16 Charts (.pdf)
• 6 Jam Tracks (.mp3)
• 16 Tabs (.gp/.gpx)

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Conclusion​
Even without a guitar in hand, transcribing this course taught me a lot, and I know that anyone interested in these concepts will learn a lot as well. Rick and TrueFire make it easy to work at a comfortable pace to master these techniques and also have fun while doing it!