Learn Guitar Scales For Soloing : The Exotic Phrygian Mode
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011Why do you need to learn guitar scales? It’s so that you can elevate your playing. If you’re like many guitar players you know the “blues box” but that only takes you so far. And if you just learn music by ear, you lack the depth of understanding that music theory brings you-and when you learn guitar scales, you’re learning music theory. When you learn guitar scales you also want to learn modes. One of the modes that you should learn is the Phrygian Mode.
In simple terms, the Phrygian Mode is played by taking the notes of a key and making the first note and the last note played both the third note in that key’s scale. So, let’s say that you’re playing a song in the key of C. To play a solo using the Phrygian Mode, you would start and end the solo on the E note. This does not have to be th exact same E-note; that is, you can start the solo with a low-E note and end the solo on an E-note two octaves higher, if you prefer.
As your guitar playing progresses with practice, you’ll want to have an understanding of the Phrygian Mode’s intervals because that gives you a more profound understanding of the notes that together create the Phrygian Mode. In music, the greater your technical understanding the more creative you can become.
The Phrygian Mode intervallically goes like this Root, flatted 2nd , flatted 3rd ,4th ,5th , flatted 6th , flatted 7th . So to play B Phrygian, you would use B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B’. Notice that B Phrygian Mode is actually in the key of G. Thus you are playing the G major scale, however you’re emphasizing the individual notes in a way that kind of disguises this fact.
The Phrygian Mode is preferred when a soloist wants to give an exotic, Middle Eastern feel to a solo. This makes it a favorite of “Neo-classical rock” guitar players and some heavy metal guitar players.
Because of the fact that the intervals used in the Phrygian Mode result in the inclusion of several flatted notes, this mode has an exotic, mystical sound, as if you’re conjuring up a magical underground river than nobody sees but all feel. If you are interested in playing some complex rock guitar based music, this is a mode for you. It is great to use to do an acoustic guitar lead or solo, too.
Learn guitar scales to take your guitar playing to a whole new level. Add even more dimensions by learning the Phrygian Mode.
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