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Minor/Phrygian
Harmonic Minor and Phrygian Dominant
Using Phrygian as a
mode of
harmonic minor
In the harmonic minor and Spanish scale (Phrygian dominant)
lessons, we learned two separate scales and which chords/chord
sequences they work well over. Hopefully you had a little play over the
backing tracks provided in each lesson, to explore the
unique flavours and tensions of each scale.
This lesson is about understanding the function of Phrygian dominant as
a mode of the harmonic
minor scale.
If you're not quite sure what that means, it should be crystal clear by
the end of this page! Read every word. Take your time and experiment
with what you learn. This is pretty in-depth stuff, but if you've
prepared yourself through the lessons above, then you'll be fine!
First, we need to understand the relationship between the two scales
- how and why
are they related?...
Phrygian
as a mode of harmonic minor
When
looking at the intervals of harmonic minor, you can count them from
note 1 to 7, before the sequence begins again. Tone number 1
is the root
note
of that scale, because it's the 1st degree. That 1st degree root note
marks the key of the harmonic minor scale, so if that 1st degree was
the note C,
the scale would be C
harmonic minor. If the 1st degree was the note F#
(F sharp), the scale would be... yep, F# harmonic minor.
Now identify the 5th
tone of the harmonic minor scale above. The 5th tone becomes the root
note of a new scale, or more accurately, a mode of that
harmonic minor scale. That's where Phrygian dominant comes in.
Phrygian
dominant is the 5th mode of
harmonic minor
because its root note lies on the 5th degree of the harmonic minor
scale.
Play
from that 5th tone, and you get the Spanish/Phrygian sound, even
though you're still playing through the same notes as the harmonic
minor scale! Here, I play B harmonic minor from its root note, then
from its 5th tone to show you this shift...
Click to hear >
The sound changes because you've created a new tonal center
around that 5th (sometimes labelled using Roman numerals - V)
and are
now using the notes of harmonic minor in a new register. 5 now becomes
the root
(1)...
This means if the bassist kept switching between harmonic minor's root
and the 5th, the boxed scale pattern above, overall, would be
compatible with
both positions.
When the 5th becomes the defined root note, it
would sound like you're playing the Spanish scale, even though you're
still using the same harmonic minor pattern. Vice-versa for if you're
playing the Spanish scale and the bassist moves the
root note to its 4th, since the 4
is in the same place as harmonic minor's 1
note!
Play the Spanish scale
sequence below from the 4th
tone, and you get harmonic minor...
Root-5th
fretboard relationships
When you've identified what key you're playing harmonic minor in, it's
simply a case of knowing the notes on the fretboard and
identifying how that relationship between the root and 5th appears in
several locations across the fretboard.
In
other words, you need to know where the 5th of harmonic minor is in
relation to its root, not just in the above patterns, but wherever that
root might appear on any string. Now, if you've been
learning harmonic minor
right
across the fretboard (see the lesson
for that), that shouldn't be a problem.
...That was a hint to learn those relationships!
Harmonic
minor/Phrygian chords
We learned in the individual scale lessons that, simply put, harmonic
minor builds minor chords and Phrygian dominant/Spanish scale builds
major chords. These two chords play off each other because they're part
of that same harmonic minor scale, just using a different degree of that scale.
So, what happens when you use the root-5th relationship we learned
above and apply chords
to those positions rather than just single notes?
Well, if we know we're playing harmonic minor in the key of A, for example, we
should know that the 5th would lie on... E, based on our
knowledge of where the 5th lies in relation to the harmonic minor
scale's root (1)!
Fret 5
on the low E string
= A
Fret 7
on the A string
= E
Therefore, A minor
/ E major
is one example of the 1
/ 5
chord relationship, most often symbolised using Roman numerals: I
/ V.
The relationship is also called tonic
/ dominant.
Click to hear > (I use open chords in that example).
Later
we'll learn how using harmonic minor and phrygian dominant over their
related chords naturally enhances this movement.
Another example would be C
minor / G
major, since the note G
would be the 5th
of the C harmonic minor scale. The C root note of harmonic minor would
become the root note for the I
minor chord, the 5th note G would become
the root note for the V
major chord...
Click to hear >
I'm
just playing standard barre chords in that audio clip there, based on
those two root note positions - a C minor barre chord and G major barre
chord, based on those 1
/ 5
root note positions.
So, remember - when you play a minor chord, know that if you want to
get that Phrygian dominant/Spanish tension, use the "V chord"
by
identifying the harmonic minor scale's 5th tone, and build
a major chord from that note. Using barre chords is the easiest way.
To enhance the V chord, a dominant 7th is commonly used - V7.
Listen
to the track below and hear how the dominant/5th chord of harmonic
minor is used with the
opening D minor chord. There's also another chord in there, a minor
sub-dominant
chord built on harmonic minor's 4th
degree. More on that another time!
Right click and "save as" to download
>
The
harmonic function of Phrygian dominant
As
we touched on in both the individual scale lessons, there is a certain
tension created between harmonic minor and its 5th/V chord (which as we
learned above, Phrygian dominant is built around).
Using
Phrygian dominant on that V major chord enhances that natural tension.
Take a listen, and bear in mind I'm just playing the scale in straight
sequence, so no flashy techniques here!
Click to hear >
So
there's a definite unresolved, unstable feel to that major V chord,
which is then resolved by returning back to the I/root minor chord.
Over that I minor chord, the harmonic minor scale could
be played to maintain some of that tension, but most commonly,
musicians inter-change harmonic minor with a regular natural minor
scale. We looked at the difference between these two scales in the
harmonic minor lesson.
The 3rd of
Phrygian dominant
When that V chord resolves to the I minor chord of the same key, the
3rd tone of Phrygian becomes the 7th of harmonic minor...
| Harmonic
Minor (I) |
1 |
2
|
b3 |
4
|
5
|
b6 |
7 |
| Phrygian
Dominant (V) |
4
|
5
|
b6 |
b7 |
1
|
b2 |
3 |
So, as we learned from before, the root
of V,
Phrygian dominant, lies on the 5th
of I,
harmonic minor. But we can also see that, when the backing chord or
bass defines the 5th degree of harmonic minor, the 7th becomes the 3rd
of that V chord.
Why is this useful to know? Well, when you're
emphasising that major 3rd on the V/Phrygian chord, you'll know that
when the chord changes back to the I minor chord and you hold on to
that 3rd, you'll be playing the 7th of the minor I chord.
Now, that 7th of harmonic minor is often used as a leading tone.
This means we don't hold onto that note and tend to glance over and
resolve it quickly to a more stable tone around that resolution chord
(e.g. the root
(1),
5
or one I particularly like - 2).
However, if you shape the harmony well, you can use that 7th
appropriately as a tense landing note...
Click to hear > (sounds
pretty dark/sinister doesn't it?)
If
you're struggling to grasp all this, don't worry, it just takes some
experimentation to hear how chord sequences and harmonies
naturally create tension and resolution, which you can enhance using
compatible scales/modes.
Below are a couple of jam tracks to help you experiment with your own
ideas. If you have any questions about this lesson, please do ask here and I'll try my best
to help you out.
Thanks for your time and patience with all this!
| Backing
track |
Tonic (I)
chord/scale |
Dominant
(V) chord/scale |
| Download > |
D minor/D harmonic minor |
A major/A Phrygian dominant |
| Download > |
B minor/B harmonic minor |
F# major/F# Phrygian dominant |
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