How To Use The Phrygian Mode

I mentioned earlier that I many people claim they know modes by mentioning the Phrygian mode and a certain song…..

That song is “Wherever I May Roam” and many don’t take the full context of this scale into question when talking about this song. 

The tab is below, and like with other modes, I want you to take the info below into consideration. Look at the powerchords closely below before moving on…..

E Phrygian Scale (3rd mode of C) = E – F – G – A – B – C – D 

C Major Scale = C – D – E – F – G – A – B 

E Minor Scale = E – F# – G – A – B – C – D 

All of the notes of these powerchords do come from the scale up above. So this part is in E phrygian, but it’s not taking advantage of the full chords available. This isn’t necessary to express a mode’s sound, but it doesn’t give a full picture. 

In the verse section of the song, the chords E5 and Fsus2 are used together, which better suggests a Phrygian sound than just the minor 2nd interval between the two chords….

Fsus2’s notes are F – C – F – G according to the chord shape you see below. 

The sus2 is a very minor nuance that gives more a Phrgian flavor than the octaves and powerchords in the song do. 

That’s because without the thirds and sus2 interval, the nature of the song is more basic than that. That’s not a knock on the song. Using modes doesn’t make your solos or riffs better or worse than any others. 

I’m just saying that, to use the Phrygian mode’s full capacity, it’s better to use the intervals and chords just mentioned. 

However, it’s also why the song is in the key of C major instead of G major, as the key signature marking in the example shows. C major has no sharps.

In E Phrygian’s case, it’s better to use the chords of C, G, Am, and Bm together. 

Let’s look at Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It”

This chord progression uses the common phrygian chord change of i – bII, and it’s set within Db Major. F phrygian is the third mode to Db major.  

F Phrygian = F – Gb – Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb 

Db Major Scale = Db – Eb – F – Gb – Ab – Bb – C

Fm (iii of Db major) = F – Ab – C 

Gb (IV of Db major, bII of F Phrygian) = Gb – Bb – Db

The Metallica song is just not using the thirds that are available, and that’s my gripe with people calling it phrygian. 

Again, don’t intimidate yourself. I’m just explaining why and how we’re putting two chords together, basically. 

The final phrygian progressions we’ll look at are “Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill and “London Calling” by The Clash.

Am and Gm appear together in the key of F major so this is in A phrygian: 

A phrygian scale = A – Bb – C – D – E – F – G 

F major scale = F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E 

Am (iii of F major) = A – C – E 

Gm (ii of F major) = G – Bb – D 

I wanted to show this progression because it doesn’t use the minor 2nd interval distance between the root notes of the chords. It’s using other harmonies available from that scale’s notes. 

This song does use the full F major chord this time. Refer to the breakdown earlier of the Metallica song if you need another explanation.