THE PHRYGIAN MODE
THE PHRYGIAN DOMINANT MODE (Spanish Gypsy scale) Text and transcriptions by: Moises Olvera Hi guitarists,I hope you are fine!!! Well, recently i see this site called guitarstatic and i feel it´s very nice,so i decided to submit some lessons for revision. This is the first one and is about a scale that can sound very nice to our ears,both on acoustic and electric guitars. Some years ago, i was reading a lesson by Nick Bowcott about thrash metal,and he explains that musicians as Alex Skolnick,Marty Friedman and bands as EXODUS or DEATH ANGEL were using some scale called the phrygian dominant in is leads and compositions. I asked to my guitar teacher how to construct the Phrygian Dominant Scale and he told me a simple formula: You just need to alterate(raise half tone) the third degree of the Prhygian mode and you obtain the Phrygian Dominant. So, starting from the Phrygian mode,which is the third mode of the major scale: PRHYGIAN MODE=1,b2,b3,,4,5,b6,b7 If we raise half step the third degree we obtain this: PHRYGIAN DOMINANT MODE=1,b2,3,4,5,b6,b7 This is comprensible if we look and compare the Major Scale with the relative Harmonic Minor Scale. Both of these scales just differ in one note,so, it´s modes just differ in one note too!!!. So,concerning tonalities ,we will see this scale in the tonality of A.
A Phrygian Dominant= A, Bb, C# ,D ,E ,F, G 1, b2, 3 4, 5 , b6, b7 this mode has a dominant seventh sound or a Major sound if we look the first chord that is A major. So, surprisingly,the phrygian mode,a minor mode in essence,becomes a major dominant mode due to it´s raised third and minor seventh. Ok, the chords that we can form with this scale are: Major triad on the first degree Major triad on the second degree Diminished triad on the third degree Minor triad on the fourth degree Diminished triad on the fifth degree Augmented triad on the sixth degree And minor triad on the seventh degree.
The seventh chords we can form with this scale are: I dominant seventh (7), II Major seventh(maj7) , III diminished seventh(dim7) , IV minor major seventh(min/maj7), V minor seventh flatted fifth(min7b5) VI Major seventh sharp fifth(maj 7#5) VII minor seventh(min7)
Of course we can form extension chords as: ninth chords,eleventh and thirteen chords but we will let this as a homework. o.k now you can think : whats the matter of learning this mode? Let me say you that this mode was used in the composition of a lot of music from the baroque era to date...yes, The great clavicembalist DOMENICO SCARLATTI used this mode in a lot of his sonatas,is supossed that he learnt this mode while he was living in Spain. YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and GEORGE BELLAS among countless guitarists uses this mode too!!!
GEORGE BELLAS
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN the flamenco guitarists developed this mode by ear... and is a part of the various scales they use in his music.so this scale is called SPANISH GYPSY. And sometimes is called “the mourish version of the phrygian mode this due to the fact that it contains an interval of augmented second. So in resume, we learnt that the Spanish Gypsy Scale is the same as the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale(phrygian dominant) It´s formula is:1,b2,3,4,5,b6,b7 And it has a beautyful Spanish sound. It probably was developed first by ear in Spain and then was used by countless musicians around the world. Domenico Scarlatti is supossed to listen this scale in the 1600´s ,while living in Spain.he became enchanted by his sound and used it in some of his compositions. Here, we have a little improvisation made by me on the acoustic guitar,I called this: “SCHERZO ANDALUZ”just to be in tune with the theme.
