STRINGSCALES

C phrygian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb at frets 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11

A string: Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab at frets 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11

D string: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db at frets 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11

G string: G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12

B string: C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb at frets 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11

High E string: F, G, Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb at frets 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11

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C phrygian

The phrygian mode is minor with a flat 2nd, the third mode of the major scale. That half step above the root gives it a dark Spanish and Middle Eastern color: flamenco resolves onto it constantly, and metal riffs on the flat 2nd for menace. Try vamping between the root chord and the chord a half step up to hear its signature cadence.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

C

i

Cm
D♭

bII

D♭maj
E♭

bIII

E♭maj
F

iv

Fm
G

v°

Gdim
A♭

bVI

A♭maj
B♭

bvii

B♭m

Characteristic note: Db (b2), the dark half step above the root that defines the phrygian sound.

Same notes, different mode

C phrygian uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

Db lydianEb mixolydianF minor · relative minorG locrianAb major · relative majorBb dorian

phrygian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • The flat 2nd (Db) is the identity: open and close phrases with the bII (Db) to root half step.
  • Vamp the root chord against the major chord a half step up (built on bII (Db)); that two-chord move is instant flamenco in C.
  • For metal riffing in C phrygian, chug the open root and punctuate with the bII (Db) and flat 6th (Ab) for maximum darkness.
  • If the backing has a major 3rd, shift to C phrygian dominant; keep everything else and only the 3rd changes.

How to play C phrygian on guitar

Open G rings the fifth of this key and is the lone open string in the set, so a pedal under fretted lines costs no fingers. Lowest root waits at fret 8 on the low E string, with the high E repeating it at the same fret. A-shape barre lands at fret 3. Nothing in the set behaves as a dominant, which means the pull toward Cm comes from DbM a semitone above rather than from any fifth-degree chord.

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