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