ArpeggiosEN

Scale quality

phrygian dominant

Phrygian dominant is the fifth degree of harmonic minor: the phrygian scale with a major third instead of a minor one. That combination — flat second, major third — is the sound of flamenco, Spanish classical music and Middle Eastern traditions, and it is also the go-to scale over a dominant chord with a flat ninth and flat thirteenth. The flat second supplies the exotic tension while the major third and flat seventh make the harmony a dominant, so the scale both colours and drives. Jazz players know it as the Spanish or Jewish scale. Listen for the augmented second between the flat second and the major third.

Formula
1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7
Notes
C♯ D E♯ F♯ G♯ A B
Family
Harmonic minor modes

Notation in C♯

representative key
441♭2345♭6♭71

Fretboard — frets 0–12

C♯ phrygian dominant — frets 0 to 12, 45 notes, roots in orange345♭6♭71♭2♭71♭2345♭6♭75♭6♭71♭234♭2345♭6♭71♭2♭6♭71♭2345♭6345♭6♭71♭20123456789101112
C♯ phrygian dominant — frets 0 to 12, 45 notes, roots in orange345♭6♭71♭2♭71♭2345♭6♭75♭6♭71♭234♭2345♭6♭71♭2♭6♭71♭2345♭6345♭6♭71♭20123456789101112

All 17 keys

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Same family

How to practise this scale

  • Play the augmented second between the flat second and the major third.
  • Improvise a flamenco phrase over a dominant chord and land on the flat second.
  • Compare it with phrygian and hear the third turn major.
  • Play the scale over a 7♭9 chord and resolve the flat second down.