Phrygian
1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2About Phrygian
E phrygian is the third mode of C major: E F G A B C D. Its second degree is a semitone above the tonic, and that single interval — E to F — is the sound of flamenco, of metal riffs, and of any music that wants to feel ancient rather than sad.
The note that defines it
E F G A B C D, then E. Compare with E natural minor, which has F♯ where this has F. The flattened second is the whole character, and it is the most distinctive single interval in modal music.
On guitar the F sits at the first fret of the low E string, directly above the open tonic. Alternating those two notes is the entire foundation of a great deal of Spanish guitar writing.
On the fretboard
Open position covers the scale using only natural notes, which makes it one of the easiest modes to play and the hardest to play convincingly: the notes are simple, the phrasing is not.
The E phrygian dominant — the same scale with a raised third — is what most flamenco actually uses, and the two are often confused. The plain mode is darker and less exotic.
Where it is used
Metal riffs built on the open low E, where the semitone above the tonic supplies menace at no harmonic cost. It is also the mode of a great deal of Andalusian and Middle Eastern-influenced writing.
In jazz it appears over a minor chord functioning as a iii, though it is used far less than dorian because its flattened second clashes with most standard voicings.
Related Scales from Diatonic
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