Phrygian Mode

The Phrygian mode is the white keys from E to E: E F G A B C D E. Like the natural minor scale it has a minor 3rd, 6th and 7th, but its 2nd degree is a half step lower: F instead of F♯ in E. That lowered 2nd, sitting just a half step above the tonic, carries the whole character of the mode.

▶E Phrygian (white keys)0:07▶C Phrygian0:07

The step pattern

H – W – W – W – H – W – W

Phrygian is the only mode in common use that starts with a half step. Measured against the major scale it is 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7: natural minor with a lowered 2nd.

The Phrygian sound

The ♭2 leans down onto the tonic the way a leading tone leans up, so Phrygian melodies often end by stepping down from F to E. In chords, the major triad on the lowered 2nd (F major in E Phrygian) moving to the minor tonic gives the mode its dark, tense sound.

▶Listen0:09

Where you hear it

The Phrygian color is closely tied to flamenco and other Spanish-flavored music, where it is often played with a major tonic chord: E major rather than E minor, with the 3rd raised to G♯. That version is often called Phrygian dominant, and it is the 5th mode of harmonic minor. The falling chord pattern A minor, G, F, E, known as the Andalusian cadence, belongs to the same world. Heavy metal guitarists use Phrygian riffs too, where the half step above the tonic adds menace.

Classical harmony borrows the name for the Phrygian cadence: in a minor key, the iv chord in first inversion moves to V with the bass falling a half step (F to E in A minor), echoing the mode's half-step fall to its final.

Finding Phrygian in any key

Phrygian starts on the 3rd degree of a major scale. To find any Phrygian mode, go down a major third (four half steps) to its parent major key: A Phrygian uses the notes of F major (A B♭ C D E F G A), and C Phrygian those of A♭ major, four flats: C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C. Or take natural minor on the same note and lower its 2nd.