Template:Short description

<score sound="1"> {

\key c \phrygian \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 8/4
 c4^\markup { Modern C Phrygian mode } des es f g aes bes c

} } </score>

The Phrygian mode (pronounced Template:IPAc-en) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia, sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter.

Ancient Greek PhrygianEdit

The octave species (scale) underlying the ancient-Greek Phrygian tonos (in its diatonic genus) corresponds to the medieval and modern Dorian mode. The terminology is based on the Elements by Aristoxenos (fl. Template:Circa), a disciple of Aristotle. The Phrygian tonos or harmonia is named after the ancient kingdom of Phrygia in Anatolia.

In Greek music theory, the harmonia given this name was based on a tonos, in turn based on a scale or octave species built from a tetrachord which, in its diatonic genus, consisted of a series of rising intervals of a whole tone, followed by a semitone, followed by a whole tone.

<score sound="1"> {

\key e \dorian \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 4/4
 e4^\markup { Greek Phrygian tonos (diatonic genus) on E } fis g a b cis d e

} } </score> In the chromatic genus, this is a minor third followed by two semitones.

<score sound="1"> {

\key e \major \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 4/4
 e4^\markup { Greek Phrygian tonos (chromatic genus) on E } fisis gis a c cisis dis e

} } </score> In the enharmonic genus, it is a major third and two quarter tones.

<score sound="1"> {

\key e \major \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f

\relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 4/4
 e4^\markup { Greek Phrygian tonos (enharmonic genus) on E } gis gisih a b dis disih e

} } </score>

A diatonic-genus octave species built upon D is roughly equivalent to playing all the white notes on a piano keyboard from D to D:

<score sound="1"> {

\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 4/4
 d4 e f g a b c d

} } </score> This scale, combined with a set of characteristic melodic behaviours and associated ethe, constituted the harmonia which was given the ethnic name "Phrygian", after the "unbounded, ecstatic peoples of the wild, mountainous regions of the Anatolian highlands".Template:Sfnp This ethnic name was also confusingly applied by theorists such as Cleonides to one of thirteen chromatic transposition levels, regardless of the intervallic makeup of the scale.Template:Sfnp

Since the Renaissance, music theorists have called this same sequence (on a diatonic scale) the "Dorian" mode, due to a mistake interpreting Greek (it is different from the Greek mode called "Dorian").

Medieval Phrygian modeEdit

The early Catholic Church developed a system of eight musical modes that medieval music scholars gave names drawn from the ones used to describe the ancient Greek harmoniai. The name "Phrygian" was applied to the third of these eight church modes, the authentic mode on E, described as the diatonic octave extending from E to the E an octave higher and divided at B, therefore beginning with a semitone-tone-tone-tone pentachord, followed by a semitone-tone-tone tetrachord:Template:R

<score sound="1"> {

\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 5/4
 e4 f g a b
 \time 4/4
 \parenthesize b c d e

} } </score> The ambitus of this mode extended one tone lower, to D. The sixth degree, C, which is the tenor of the corresponding third psalm tone, was regarded by most theorists as the most important note after the final, though the fifteenth-century theorist Johannes Tinctoris implied that the fourth degree, A, could be so regarded instead.Template:R

Placing the two tetrachords together, and the single tone at bottom of the scale produces the Hypophrygian mode (below Phrygian):

<score sound="1"> {

\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c {

 \clef treble \time 1/4
 g4
 \time 4/4
 a b c d \parenthesize d e f g

} } </score>

Modern Phrygian modeEdit

In modern western music (from the 18th century onward), the Phrygian mode is related to the modern natural minor scale, also known as the Aeolian mode, but with the second scale degree lowered by a semitone, making it a minor second above the tonic, rather than a major second.

<score sound="1"> {

\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' {

 \clef treble \time 7/4
 e4^\markup { Modern E Phrygian mode } f g a b c d e2

} } </score> The following is the Phrygian mode starting on E, or E Phrygian, with corresponding tonal scale degrees illustrating how the modern major mode and natural minor mode can be altered to produce the Phrygian mode:

E Phrygian
Mode: E F G A B C D E
Major: 1 Template:Music2 Template:Music3 4 5 Template:Music6 Template:Music7 1
Minor: 1 Template:Music2 3 4 5 6 7 1

Therefore, the Phrygian mode consists of: root, minor second, minor third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, minor sixth, minor seventh, and octave. Alternatively, it can be written as the pattern

half, whole, whole, whole, half, whole, whole

In contemporary jazz, the Phrygian mode is used over chords and sonorities built on the mode, such as the sus4(Template:Music9) chord (see Suspended chord), which is sometimes called a Phrygian suspended chord. For example, a soloist might play an E Phrygian over an Esus4(Template:Music9) chord (E–A–B–D–F).

Phrygian dominant scaleEdit

A Phrygian dominant scale is produced by raising the third scale degree of the mode:

E Phrygian dominant
Mode: E F GTemplate:Music A B C D E
Major: 1 Template:Music2 3 4 5 Template:Music6 Template:Music7 1
Minor: 1 Template:Music2 Template:Music3 4 5 6 7 1

The Phrygian dominant is also known as the Spanish gypsy scale, because it resembles the scales found in flamenco and also the Berber rhythms;Template:R it is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale. Flamenco music uses the Phrygian scale together with a modified scale from the Arab maqām ḤijāzīTemplate:R (like the Phrygian dominant but with a major sixth scale degree),Template:Citation needed and a bimodal configuration using both major and minor second and third scale degrees.Template:R

List of Modern Phrygian scalesEdit

Major Key Minor Key Key Signatures Tonic Component pitches
C♯ major A♯ minor 7♯ E♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ C♯ D♯
F♯ major D♯ minor 6♯ A♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯
B major G♯ minor 5♯ D♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯
E major C♯ minor 4♯ G♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ E F♯
A major F♯ minor 3♯ C♯ C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A B
D major B minor 2♯ F♯ F♯ G A B C♯ D E
G major E minor 1♯ B B C D E F♯ G A
C major A minor - E E F G A B C D
F major D minor 1♭ A A B♭ C D E F G
B♭ major G minor 2♭ D D E♭ F G A B♭ C
E♭ major C minor 3♭ G G A♭ B♭ C D E♭ F
A♭ major F minor 4♭ C C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭
D♭ major B♭ minor 5♭ F F G♭ A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭
G♭ major E♭ minor 6♭ B♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭
C♭ major A♭ minor 7♭ E♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭

ExamplesEdit

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Ancient GreekEdit

Medieval and RenaissanceEdit

BaroqueEdit

RomanticEdit

Contemporary classical musicEdit

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Film musicEdit

JazzEdit

RockEdit

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Other popular musicEdit

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See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Footnotes Template:Reflist

Sources

Further readingEdit

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