It won’t be a standard dominant 9th, but a very interesting (and, in a certain way, very dissonant) Cm9 chord. I’ve chosen to do all examples in this lesson with an A7sus4(b9), mainly because it makes it a bit easier to play the chord voicings over the open A string in the examples. This is a very commonly used mode in classical music. The easiest way to do this is embrace its chromaticism. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and feel free to connect with me via Instagram,Twitter Google+ or Facebook to keep up to date with new lessons, concerts and releases. This is very much context dependent and might not end up helping you out at all, but more often than not, one of those fixes will help you out. The line uses the middle part of the arpeggio before it ends on the 5th(E) of the chord. Bbmaj7 - C6 - Gm7 - Am7 (A Phrygian) Much like my above suggestion that you use the b2 in melodies to make it clear what mode you’re using, the same can be said in harmonic sequences. In your use of the Phrygian mode, it’s likely that you’re going to be going for darkness, and the airy sound of this whole tone run complements that perfectly. Nevertheless, the scale can be utilized to find combinations that may not normally be though upon from a major/minor perspective. Free Guitar Scale Charts And Fingering Diagrams. This is a chord with a huge versatility in the world of jazz. Now it's clear. That is, there are no flats nor are there sharps. The interval structure is what defines a mode and the interval structure of the Phrygian mode is as follows; If you notice the above interval structure you will notice that it has four flat notes in it, i.e. One of the most important parts of a guitarists toolbox is the humble scale. You’ve probably become rather used to standard major and minor scales, but were you aware of the basically endless possibilities modes afford you? However, it doubles as the dominant of F minor. In addition, the 6 chord on the third degree can be substituted with dominant 7th. Very comprehensive answer. In the previous lesson we learned the Ionian mode, which is C to C in the key of C major. There are no accidentals in the key of C Major. Desi Serna, hailed as a music theory expert by Rolling Stone magazine, is a guitar player and teacher with over 10,000 hours of experience providing private guitar lessons and classes. If you can’t picture how it’ll sound in effect, then you might want to avoid risking it. As such, you can have your major and minor keys and be diatonic to them (that is, stay within them when playing), but you can’t really use the term diatonic to refer to a mode. The main things to look out for are the use of the minor 2nd interval in both melody and harmony, while remembering that you can freely borrow from the Phrygian mode even if you aren’t using it exclusively, while also remembering that you don’t have to stick to it relentlessly if it isn’t creating the sound you’re aiming for. One of the issues with the Phrygian mode is the way the seventh in the mode is still a Bb (if you’re in C; also called a Mixolydian seventh) which makes it hard to confirm the tonic in certain contexts. Chances are that if you’ve been using it melodically, then you’ve already been playing over some very distinctive sounding Phrygian chord sequences. Nevertheless, the scale can be utilized to find combinations that may not normally be though upon from a major/minor perspective. The 4th bar is using one of the cluster like voicings I talk about here: Jazz Chord Essentials – 3 note 7th chords part 2 The 2nd chord in that bar is a Gm7(13) over A. One way to look at modes is to imagine a piano. You’ll love it! Each mode has its own distinctive tone and sound, and that is almost always caused by the unique intervals that separate it from a standard major or minor scale. So in the key of Eb major, the tones are: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb’. The Phrygian chord is an interesting inbetween sort of sound being an altered and suspended dominant at the same time. The key of B Phrygian is just a starting point. You can play in any manner you like; it’ll always be B Phrygian mode as long as you use notes and chords from the G major scale and the 3rd scale degree, B, functions as the tonic. The Phrygian mode gives you a lot of melodic freedom. Most Phrygian progressions use the fII chord, as you see in a moment. The only difference is that the 3rd degree, B, is now the tonic and counted as number 1. Of course, the scale lends itself well to metal and hip-hop music, but it doesn’t have to be limited to that by any means. Ahmed is a regular contributor to GuitarChords 247 and brings you in-depth guitar lessons and music theory. That interval is arguably the most dissonant available in music, and if you start chucking a semitone clash into every chord you use, things might start taking a strange turn…. Always use chords in a way that allows to first establishing the sound of a particular mode and then incorporating other chords along the way as you progress in your instrumental. That is of course mostly a question of taste so you could experiment with it too. We’ve put together a list of things to do (if they sound good) when playing melodies in the Phrygian mode, and a few things you probably want to avoid. The Phrygian mode might seem like a complex theoretical and compositional tool, but it doesn’t always have to be. Firstly, its sound is one of the most recognisable in music. If one plays E to F and then F to G, though the interval between E and F is a minor second, the interval between F and G is a major 2nd, even though the interval between the E and the G is minor 3rd. I guess inspired in part by Pat Metheny and by Kreutzer etudes. Once you’ve figured out how to make the most of the Phrygian mode in your melodies, you can start working it into your harmonic patterns. Getting to Know the Notes on a Guitar Fretboard, Guitar Theory: Roman Numerals and the Major Scale Chord Sequence. You might feel like you’re still in the Phrygian mode, but a sudden jump from Eb to Db might not sound right, no matter what the context. The Phrygian Scale scale is composed of the Root, Minor Second, Minor Third, Perfect Fourth, Perfect Fifth, Minor Sixth, and Minor Seventh. Phrygian mode is very famously used by neo-classical guitarists like Yngwie J Malmsteen, Joe Stump and Vinnie Moore. When placed carefully, a semitone can work wonders for your harmony, but just make sure to test out certain sequences before risking them in a live setting. Notice that these notes and chords are the very same ones you use for G major (or A Dorian, for that matter). This iii-IV progression in G major becomes i-fII when you number from B. The chord V will always (as long as you stick to the mode) be diminished thanks to the Db. As a starting place, you can play through B minor pentatonic pattern 1, beginning at the 7th fret (the first diagram). Colored circles in the diagram mark the notes in the scale (darker color highlighting the root notes). If you want to make it very clear that you’re trying to resolve to the C, while still keeping the Db as an important part of your mode, then feel free to raise the seventh. However, it is the way that Db can be used elsewhere that is more interesting. Phrygian isn't a scale that is frequently used for building progressions. Let’s now consider the chords which can be used to come up with rhythms suitable for Phrygian mode. Any time a piece of music uses the major scale and centers on the 3rd degree, chord iii, it’s Phrygian mode. If you’ve got a relatively consonant accompaniment, then using the tritone intervals and semitones to your advantage will give a dissonant sound (especially if you place the b2 above a tonic chord), though maybe that is left for the upcoming section on harmony…. Some chord progressions including extended Phrygian based chords: The flavor of Phrygian mode is created by flat 2nd and the perfect 5th. The whole tone sound gives off a natural, unresolving dissonance/consonance which often appears in film scores to represent dreams. I don't know where to start. This will turn the Bb into a B, and work as a leading note that will lead directly into the tonic. This shows the importance of the order in which and the way in which you play certain pieces and, in particular, the way you construct chord sequences. You can think of Phrygian mode as being the minor pentatonic with an added f2nd and f6th.What’s nice about combining patterns this way is that you can stay in familiar pentatonic boxes and simultaneously incorporate major scale notes to produce the full Phrygian sound.