C# Phrygian scale
- Notes
- C# D E F# G# A B
- 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 C#4 to C#5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from C#
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| C# | 1 | root | 0 |
| D | b2 | minor second | 1 |
| E | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| F# | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| G# | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| A | b6 | minor sixth | 8 |
| B | 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 | C#m | C# E G# | |
| bII | D | D F# A | |
| bIII | E | E G# B | |
| iv | F#m | F# A C# | |
| v° | G#dim | G# B D | |
| bVI | A | A C# E | |
| bvii | Bm | B D F# |
Seventh chords
Same notes, different home note
C# Phrygian uses exactly the same notes as D Lydian, E Mixolydian, F# natural minor, G# Locrian, A major and B 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 A 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 D. It has the same notes as A major, played from its 3rd note. The note a semitone above the root, D, is its whole character: a chord on D falling to C# is the dark half-step cadence heard in flamenco and metal.
Flamenco more often raises the 3rd as well (C# D 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.