THE MODES DRAWN OUT ON PAPER CONTINUED:
Dorian is an awesome mode, its used all the time in many genres of music including rock,
blues, funk, metal, and jazz. It’s especially cool for rock, blues and metal.
Continuing in the key of C major let’s examine the 3rd mode of the major scale, Phrygian. From
the order of modes we know Phrygian is the third mode in any major key. The third note of a C
major scale is E (the 3
rd
in the key of C is E). So for E Phrygian we would start on the third
note of the C major scale and play from the E note to the E note. You will get yet another
sound quality or mood that is different than the happy C to C major sound. It will also be
different from the minor sounding D to D Dorian. The Phrygian, or E to E in C major sounds a
bit more exotic.
As you can see from the illustration below C major, D Dorian, and E Phrygian are all
constructed from the same notes. C Major = D Dorian = E Phrygian.
Phrygian is also considered a minor mode and it has a very exotic sound. It’s used often in
rock and metal and sounds great over m7 chords.
Scale degrees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C major scale C D E F G A B C D E
2 nd mode – D Dorian D E F G A B C D E
3 rd mode - E Phrygian E F G A B C D E
KEY POINT: taking any major scale and starting on the 3rd note of that
parent or mother major scale gives us the Phrygian mode.E Phrygian is played starting on and emphasizing the E notes. The notes in each of the three
above modes are the same but it’s all about EMPHASIS. Which notes you start on and
emphasize give you the different moods and sound textures of each mode. Start on the C and
play to the C for the happy major tone. Start on the D and emphasize the D notes for the
bluesy minor Dorian. Start on the E and emphasize the E notes for the dark, minor, exotic
Phrygian tone.