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