A Phrygian
The A Phrygian mode — A Bb C D E F G — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
A Phrygian is the natural minor with one note changed — the b2, Bb. That single note is what gives the mode its sound: lean on it and the colour is obvious. Leave it out and the melody alone could pass for plain minor — then it is the chords underneath that keep the mode.
What is A Phrygian?
A Phrygian is the seven notes A Bb C D E F G — the notes of F major started from its 3rd degree, A. Same seven notes as the parent, but with A as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
A Phrygian vs A natural minor
6 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is one note, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- b2 is Bb in Phrygian, where A natural minor has 2, B.
Play A natural minor and A Phrygian back to back over a Am chord and listen for Bb — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in A Phrygian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Am; the rest are the chords of F major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Am and Bb and the mode is unmistakable.
A Phrygian on the guitar neck
Because A Phrygian is F major from its 3rd note, its natural fingering is position 3 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of F major — the shape whose lowest note is A. Learn that shape with A as home — start and end on it, over a drone on A or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with F as home and you hear F major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice A Phrygian on guitar
- Loop position 3 of F major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on A so your ear hears A as home rather than F.
- Hold a Am chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on Bb on the strong beats — that is the sound of Phrygian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws A Phrygian from its own root: the orange dots are on A and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, F major; to hear Phrygian, start and end on A.
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