Scales › Phrygian ♭4

Phrygian ♭4 scale

Phrygian with lowered eleventh

7 notes

RC b9Db b3Eb b11Fb 5G b13Ab b7Bb

guide tones (3rd & 7th — the heart of the sound) avoid (strong clash)

C · Db · Eb · Fb · G · Ab · Bb

Play in the key of

Phrygian ♭4 on the guitar: the fretboard diagram

Here is the Phrygian ♭4 scale laid out across the whole neck, from fret 0 to fret 15. The guide tones (3rd and 7th) are highlighted — they're what makes the scale's color sing. Use the key selector above to shift the shape along the neck and find the positions in your key.

E b11 5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 b11 5 B R b9 b3 b11 5 b13 b7 R b9 G 5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 b11 5 b13 b7 D b3 b11 5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 b11 A b7 R b9 b3 b11 5 b13 b7 R E b11 5 b13 b7 R b9 b3 b11 5 0123456789101112131415

What color?

Phrygian whose fourth is lowered (b11), heightening the mode's dark, closed character. A rare, exotic color from harmonic major; it opens an unexpected angle on an already very low minor.

Origin & history

The third mode of the harmonic major. A theoretical construction, with a dark and tense color.

Which chords to play it on?

Outside the functional consensus: this is an exploration color. Lay it over a vamp or a held chord to tint your improvisation with an unexpected flavor, rather than inside a cadence.

Sibling modes

The Phrygian ♭4 scale is one of the modes of the harmonic major : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (harmonic major (Ionian ♭6)).

harmonic major (Ionian ♭6) major with a bittersweet ♭6 Dorian ♭5 Dorian with diminished fifth Lydian ♭3 (Lydian diminished) diminished minor Lydian Mixolydian ♭2 dominant with a colorful b9 Lydian augmented ♯2 exotic Lydian augmented ♯2 Locrian ♭♭7 diminished Locrian bb7

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →