C Phrygian
The C Phrygian mode — C Db Eb F G Ab Bb — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
C Phrygian is the natural minor with one note changed — the b2, Db. 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 C Phrygian?
C Phrygian is the seven notes C Db Eb F G Ab Bb — the notes of Ab major started from its 3rd degree, C. Same seven notes as the parent, but with C as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
C Phrygian vs C 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 Db in Phrygian, where C natural minor has 2, D.
Play C natural minor and C Phrygian back to back over a Cm chord and listen for Db — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in C Phrygian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Cm; the rest are the chords of Ab major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Cm and Db and the mode is unmistakable.
C Phrygian on the guitar neck
Because C Phrygian is Ab major from its 3rd note, its natural fingering is position 3 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of Ab major — the shape whose lowest note is C. Learn that shape with C as home — start and end on it, over a drone on C or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with Ab as home and you hear Ab major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice C Phrygian on guitar
- Loop position 3 of Ab major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on C so your ear hears C as home rather than Ab.
- Hold a Cm chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on Db 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 C Phrygian from its own root: the orange dots are on C and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, Ab major; to hear Phrygian, start and end on C.
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