Phrygian dominant scale
In music, the Phrygian dominant scale is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant.[1] Also called the altered Phrygian scale, harmonic minor perfect fifth below, dominant flat 2 flat 6 (in jazz), the Freygish scale (also spelled Fraigish[2]), or simply the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale. It resembles the scale of the Phrygian mode but has a major third. In the Berklee College of Music theory system, it is known as the Mixolydian b9 b13 chord scale, a Mixolydian scale with a lowered 9th (2nd) and lowered 13th (6th), used in secondary dominant chord scales for V7/III and V7/VI.
Traditional use
This scale occurs in Indian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Flamenco music. It is common in Arabic and Egyptian music, in which it is known as Hijaz-Nahawand or Bayati maqam,[3] and used in Hebrew prayers and Klezmer music, where it is known as Ahava Rabbah, Freygish or just the "Jewish scale", and is called Dastgāh-e Homāyoun in Iran. It is the scale used in the North Indian classical raga Vasant Mukhari and the South Indian raga Vakulabharanam.[4]
It is sometimes called the "Spanish Phrygian scale", "Spanish gypsy scale" (see: gypsy scale) or "Phrygian major scale" (see: phrygian mode and major scale) and is common in Flamenco music.[5] The flattened second and the augmented step between the second and third degrees of the scale create its distinctive sound. Examples include some versions of "Hava Nagila"[1] and "Misirlou", while other versions of those melodies use the closely related "double harmonic scale".[2] The main chords derived from this scale are I, iv, and vii.[2]
Composition
The sequence of steps forming the Phrygian dominant scale is:
- half – augmented second – half – whole – half – whole – whole
When related to the scale degrees of the major scale, it reads:
1 - ♭2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - ♭6 - ♭7 - 1
Written in semitones, the sequence is:
1312122
Beginning on C, the scale is: C - D♭ - E - F - G - A♭ - B♭ - C
When the Freygish scale is used in Klezmer music, the sixth degree may not be flattened if it is melodically approached and left from above.[6]
See also
- Double harmonic scale
- Minor gypsy scale
- Hungarian minor scale
- Ukrainian Dorian scale
- Flamenco mode
- Misheberak scale
- Mixolydian mode#Moloch scale
- Neapolitan chord
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dave Hunter (2005). Play Acoustic, San Francisco: Backbeat, p. 226. ISBN 978-0-87930-853-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dick Weissman, Dan Fox (2009). A Guide to Non-Jazz Improvisation, guitar edition, Pacific, MO: Mel Bay, p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7866-0751-8.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://swaratala.blogspot.com/2007/05/raga-basant-mukhari-carnatic-raga.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ilana Cravitz (January 2004) Klezmer - Modes and Scales", ManchesterKlezmer.org at archive.org (Accessed 23 November 2014).
Further reading
- Hewitt, Michael. Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree. 2013. ISBN 978-0957547001.
