C Phrygian scale
- Notes
- C Db Eb F G Ab Bb
- Formula
- 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- Steps
- H W W W H W W (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- C Phrygian mode
Seven notes from C up to the next C. Each note is written with the letter its degree names, one letter each, so the spelling follows the formula.
C Phrygian on the piano
From C4 to C5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from C
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | root | 0 |
| Db | b2 | minor second | 1 |
| Eb | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| F | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| G | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| Ab | b6 | minor sixth | 8 |
| Bb | b7 | minor seventh | 10 |
C Phrygian on the guitar
Standard tuning, high e on top as in tablature, open strings to fret 12. Every dot is a note of the scale; the pattern repeats from fret 12 up.
The seven chords of C Phrygian
Every other note of the scale stacked on each note. Numerals are measured against the major scale on C, so a b marks a chord root a semitone lower than in major.
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Cm | C Eb G | |
| bII | Db | Db F Ab | |
| bIII | Eb | Eb G Bb | |
| iv | Fm | F Ab C | |
| v° | Gdim | G Bb Db | |
| bVI | Ab | Ab C Eb | |
| bvii | Bbm | Bb Db F |
Seventh chords
Same notes, different home note
C Phrygian uses exactly the same notes as Db Lydian, Eb Mixolydian, F natural minor, G Locrian, Ab major and Bb Dorian. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
Same notes as the key of Ab major: the chords are the same seven, but with C as home.
How C Phrygian is built
Phrygian is the natural minor with a minor 2nd: against C natural minor, D becomes Db. It has the same notes as Ab major, played from its 3rd note. The note a semitone above the root, Db, is its whole character: a chord on Db falling to C is the dark half-step cadence heard in flamenco and metal.
Flamenco more often raises the 3rd as well (C Db E ...), a scale called Phrygian dominant; that one is the 5th mode of F harmonic minor, not this page.
Played some notes and not sure which scale they come from? The scale finder listens to the piano, a MIDI keyboard or the microphone and ranks all 180 scales.
What this page cannot do
- One spelling per scale. the root is spelled the way that needs the fewest sharps and flats.
- Equal temperament only. Blues and many folk traditions bend notes between these pitches, and Arabic and Turkish maqam scales use quarter tones that a piano cannot play.
- The guitar diagram shows standard tuning only and does not suggest fingerings; any note can be played in several places.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, not a recorded instrument.