@Cru_Jones said:

This looks to be a great series. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this up. Do you have a good resource for musical theory such as when you write "A mixolydian". I've seen you write this on reddit and Anatomy of a Jam on Youtube uses it too. I did google it and a bunch of sites turn up. Do you have favorite?

What you are seeking, is a writeup on musical modes. It can be a bit daunting, but the wikipedia page on modes is a semi-decent overview.

Part of the problem that comes with understanding modes, is you really need to hear and then play them to understand what they’re all about. I learned about modes in an advanced music theory course on tonal harmonic modulation, where we all had to be constantly writing new music on our respective instruments to demonstrate understanding of them; and even still, I didnt really “get” modes until I started playing in lots of bands, especially jazz bands.

So the best resource I think, given it’s been my personal experience with them, is to learn them as scales on your instrument of choice and then playing with other jazz musicians. Because music theory means very little without the context of using the tools in a theory “toolkit” so to speak.