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C phrygian
C natural minor with one note lowered: D♭. Seven notes: C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭. The same notes as A♭ major, centred on C.
- Parent key
- A♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- D♭ The flat 2nd
- Repeating chords
- Cm – D♭ i – ♭II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| iVampCmC · E♭ · G | ||||
| ♭IIVampD♭D♭ · F · A♭ | ||||
| ♭IIIE♭E♭ · G · B♭ | ||||
| ivFmF · A♭ · C | ||||
| v°G°G · B♭ · D♭ | ||||
| ♭VIA♭A♭ · C · E♭ | ||||
| ♭viiB♭mB♭ · D♭ · F |
Light up
What makes it phrygian
Natural minor, with the 2nd lowered
One note separates C phrygian from C natural minor: D becomes D♭. Over the same root, that turns Cm – D° into Cm – D♭.
C natural minor
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
C phrygian
- C
- D♭
- E♭
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
Hear the difference
One chord that says phrygian
The ♭II chord, D♭, is built on the colour note. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on C
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Phrygian is row 6 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- C lydianCDEF♯GAB♯4
- C ionian (major)CDEFGAB—
- C mixolydianCDEFGAB♭♭7
- C dorianCDE♭FGAB♭♭3 ♭7
- C aeolian (natural minor)CDE♭FGA♭B♭♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- C phrygianCD♭E♭FGA♭B♭♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- C locrianCD♭E♭FG♭A♭B♭♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating Cm – D♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with D♭ ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickCm – D♭, two bars each, in frets 3–6. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while Cm – D♭ sounds. Stay in frets 3–6.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver D♭, aim for D♭. It is the note that makes it phrygian.80 bpmLevel 2