Phrygian dominant scale

musical notation of the Phrygian dominant scale
Phrygian dominant scale (Ahavah Rabbah written)

In music, the Phrygian dominant scale (or the Phrygian ♮3 scale) is the actual fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant.[1] It is also called the harmonic dominant, altered Phrygian scale, dominant flat 2 flat 6 (in jazz), or Freygish scale (also spelled Fraigish[2]). It resembles the Phrygian mode but with a major third, rather than a minor third. The augmented second between its second and third scale degrees gives it an "Arabic" or Middle Eastern feeling to Western listeners.

In the Berklee method, it is known as the Mixolydian ♭9 ♭13 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.

  1. ^ Dave Hunter (2005). Play Acoustic, San Francisco: Backbeat, p. 226. ISBN 978-0-87930-853-7.
  2. ^ Dick Weissman, Dan Fox (2009). A Guide to Non-Jazz Improvisation, guitar edition, Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay, p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7866-0751-8.