Phrygian
1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2About Phrygian
B phrygian is B natural minor with a flattened second: B C D E F♯ G A. Two sharps in the parent key, and the C natural directly above the tonic gives the mode its character. On guitar it sits at the seventh fret, in the most comfortable part of the neck.
The note that defines it
B C D E F♯ G A, then B. It is the third mode of G major, so every note is available in the guitar’s friendliest key. Against B natural minor, which has C♯, the lowered second is the difference.
That C natural is also the reason the mode fits so easily under the hand: it belongs to G major, and the shapes for that key already cover it.
On the fretboard
Seventh fret with the root on the low E string, or second fret with the root on the A. The second-fret position lets the open B string act as a drone under the scale, which is unusual for a phrygian mode.
That drone is what distinguishes this version from the G and C phrygian scales: here the tonic can ring open while the semitone above it is fretted, and the effect is much closer to the E version.
Where it is used
Metal and progressive rock in B, especially in seven-string and drop tunings where B is the lowest available note. It also appears over the iii chord in G major.
Because G major is a guitar key, this is the phrygian mode most likely to appear by accident: a riff in B minor that uses a C major chord is already in it.
Related Scales from Diatonic
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