Phrygian

The Phrygian mode belongs to the III chord!

Phrygian is probably the easiest mode to recognize, its semitone interval between:

Root – b2nd and the 5th – b6th, gives it a flavor that lends itself well to fast and aggressive playing.

Should you play Phrygian with a lot of distortion and play it very quickly you would fit well into the heavy metal scene.

On a nylon strung guitar you would enter the wonderful world of Flamenco music.

The scale formula for Phrygian is as usual achieved by adding notes to the minor pentatonic:

Character: Phrygian is often referred to as having a Spanish and/or dark sound

Soloing: Use Phrygian when you play “Spanish sounding” influenced solos or whenever you play over the III chord.

Practice The Phrygian mode like this:

1. Chord shape
2. Minor Pentatonic
3. add b2nd
4. Minor Pentatonic
5. add b6th
6. Minor Pentatonic
7. Phrygian
8. Chord shape

Always use a metronome, always push BPM!

To see the Phrygian mode move around the guitar neck in different keys and shapes, use Chordacus.