B phrygian scale

7 notes · the ♭2 · the 3rd mode of the major scale

Natural minor with the second flattened. That semitone right above the root is the whole sound: it leans down onto the tonic constantly, and the ♭II chord it builds is the mode’s signature.

Heard in: Flamenco, metal, and anything reaching for a Spanish or Middle-Eastern colour.

Key
CC♯DE♭EFF♯GA♭AB♭B
majornatural minordorianmixolydianlydianphrygianlocrianharmonic minormelodic minorlydian dominantlydian augmentedalteredmajor pentatonicminor pentatonicblueswhole tonediminishedhalf-whole diminished

The notes of B phrygian

The whole scale. Choose a chord below and this row will show which of these notes it uses.

B
1
C
♭2
D
♭3
E
4
F#
5
G
♭6
A
♭7
357912154, E string fret 045, E string fret 25♭6, E string fret 3♭6♭7, E string fret 5♭71, E string fret 71♭2, E string fret 8♭2♭3, E string fret 10♭34, E string fret 1245, E string fret 145♭6, E string fret 15♭6♭7, A string fret 0♭71, A string fret 21♭2, A string fret 3♭2♭3, A string fret 5♭34, A string fret 745, A string fret 95♭6, A string fret 10♭6♭7, A string fret 12♭71, A string fret 141♭2, A string fret 15♭2♭3, D string fret 0♭34, D string fret 245, D string fret 45♭6, D string fret 5♭6♭7, D string fret 7♭71, D string fret 91♭2, D string fret 10♭2♭3, D string fret 12♭34, D string fret 144♭6, G string fret 0♭6♭7, G string fret 2♭71, G string fret 41♭2, G string fret 5♭2♭3, G string fret 7♭34, G string fret 945, G string fret 115♭6, G string fret 12♭6♭7, G string fret 14♭71, B string fret 01♭2, B string fret 1♭2♭3, B string fret 3♭34, B string fret 545, B string fret 75♭6, B string fret 8♭6♭7, B string fret 10♭71, B string fret 121♭2, B string fret 13♭2♭3, B string fret 15♭34, e string fret 045, e string fret 25♭6, e string fret 3♭6♭7, e string fret 5♭71, e string fret 71♭2, e string fret 8♭2♭3, e string fret 10♭34, e string fret 1245, e string fret 145♭6, e string fret 15♭6
15 frets in standard tuning, high E at the top. Each dot is labelled with its degree rather than its note, because that is the part that moves with you when you play the shape somewhere else. The green dot is the root of whatever is being shown — the scale, or the chord chosen out of it.

The chords in B phrygian

Take every other note of the scale and you have a chord. Do it from each degree in turn and you have the key. Each row below is that stack, and the letters in it say what each scale note becomes in that chord — so the D of the scale is the 3rd of one chord, the 5th of another and the root of a third. Choose a row to see it on the neck.

Each chord of B phrygian, and which notes of the scale it takes
DegreeChord
B
1
C
♭2
D
♭3
E
4
F#
5
G
♭6
A
♭7
iR·3·5·7
♭II7R·3·5·
♭III·7R·3·5
iv5·7R·3·
v°·5·7R·3
♭VI3·5·7R·
♭vii·3·5·7R

Every note of the scale appears in four of these chords, and every chord shares three of its four notes with the chord a third away from it. That overlap is why one can be substituted for another.

What to play B phrygian over

The chords on B whose every note this scale contains, biggest first. The largest of them is the one that pins the scale down: over Bm7 there is nothing in B phrygian that can sound wrong.

Bm7B7sus4BmBsus4B5

The other modes of the same notes

Same notes, different home. Which one you are in is decided by the chord underneath, not by the notes.

B majorB natural minorB dorianB mixolydianB lydianB locrian

Every scale on every root is on the scale index, and every chord on the chord index. Where the shapes and the theory come from is on the about page.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode