Phrygian Dominant Scale – Guitar Patterns, Chords, and

Harmony
mattwarnockguitar.com/phrygian-dominant-scale-jazz-guitar/

by Matt Warnock / Thursday, 10 April 2014 / Published in Intermediate , Jazz Guitar Lessons , Jazz Guitar Scales April 10, 2014

Learning how to solo over 7alt chords is daunting due to the many scale choices in front of
you. To avoid confusion, one of the best places to start when soloing over 7alt chords is the
Phrygian dominant Scale.

Phrygian dominant is the 5th mode of harmonic minor, and produces a 7b9b13 sound in your
lines.

With only two altered notes, b9 and b13, this scale allows your ears to become accustomed to
altered notes in your soloing.

It also provides material to use when soloing over 7alt chords in your solos.

In this lesson, you learn how to build and play Phrygian dominant, as well as study scale
patterns, licks and a full guitar solo to build your chops.

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Phrygian Dominant Quick Facts

What is Phrygian dominant? Phrygian dominant is the 5th mode of the harmonic minor scale.
It has the interval pattern 1-b2-3-4-5-b6-b7.

Is Phrygian dominant a scale or mode? Phrygian dominant is a mode. This means it is has the
same notes as the harmonic minor scale but starting from the 5th degree. A harmonic minor
has the same notes as E Phrygian dominant.

How do I use Phrygian dominant? You use Phrygian dominant to solo over 7 th and 7alt chords
when you want to bring an altered sound to your lines.

What are the Phrygian dominant color tones? Phrygian dominant creates a 7b9,b13 sound in
your solos. Therefore the color tones are b9 and b13.

What is the Phrygian dominant chord? The Phrygian dominant chord is a 7b9,b13. This is the
chord created from the notes in the mode when stacked in 3rds.

Phrygian Dominant Scale (Click to Skip Down)

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 1. Phrygian Dominant Formula
2. Phrygian Dominant Application
3. 7b9b13 Chords
4. One Octave Scale Shapes
5. Two Octave Scale Shapes
6. Scale Patterns
7. Phrygian Dominant Licks
8. Blue Bossa Guitar Solo

Phrygian Dominant Scale Formula

Phrygian dominant is the 5th mode of harmonic minor, meaning that G Phrygian dominant is
the same as C harmonic minor starting from G.

Here’s the interval formula for this scale to memorize in order to understand the building
blocks of this scale.

R-b2-3-4-5-b6-b7

Here’s that same formula, and the notes in G, on the fretboard to see how this scale lies on the
guitar.

You can also think of this scale as Phrygian with the 3rd raised by one fret, which you can see
here.

This means that if you already know Phrygian shapes, you raise the 3rd of any of those shapes
to create fingerings for Phrygian dominant.
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This allows you to learn this new scale by adapting previous knowledge, rather than starting
from scratch.

Phrygian Dominant Application

Phrygian dominant has two main applications.

Over 7alt chords to outline the altered sound.

Over 7th chords to create a b9,b13 sound.

When you apply this scale to either chord, you use two altered notes in your lines, the b9 and
b13, every other note is diatonic to the chord.

Here’s an example of a two-octave scale with three chords derived from this shape, to see how
they relate.

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Play each of these chords one at a time, and then the scale fingering to hear how each chord
sounds when played next to the scale.

7b9b13 Chords
Here are 8 different chord shapes take from Phrygian dominant that you can learn and add to
your comping, chord soloing, and chord melody playing.

Each chord contains either the b9, b13, or both, as you bring these characteristic sounds to the
fretboard.

To begin, here are four chords with a 6th-string root to check out.

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Here are four 7alt chords, 7b9b13 specifically, that have a root on the 5th string.

Once you have these shapes down, take them to backing tracks and jazz tunes as you
integrate them into your rhythm guitar playing.

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Phrygian Dominant One Octave Shapes
Now that you know how to build and apply this scale, take that knowledge to the fretboard by
learning one-octave shapes.

One-octave shapes are great for introducing your ears and fingers to new scales.

As well, they’re perfect for soloing over fast chords, where two-octave shapes are too bulky to
quickly navigate these chords.

Here are four one-octave shapes that begin with your index finger.

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Here are four shapes that begin with your middle finger, except the 3rd-string fingering, which
begins with your index finger.

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The last set of shapes begins with your pinky finger, except the fourth fingering, which begins
with your ring finger.

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After learning any of these shapes, move them to other keys to get a full understanding of how
they sit on the fretboard.

As well, put on a V7alt or ii-V-I backing track and use these shape to create lines over these
changes.

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Phrygian Dominant Two Octave Shapes
You will also learn two-octave fingerings for this scale , with four shapes provided below to get
you started.

Start by picking one shape, learn it in the given key, and then move it into all 12 keys as you
expand these shapes in the woodshed.

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After you have any of these fingerings down, put on a backing track and solo using the
fingerings you’ve learned in this section of the lesson.

Phrygian Dominant Scale Patterns

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To help you build your chops, here are two Phrygian dominant scale patterns that you can
apply to any fingerings you learned in this lesson, one and two-octaves.

When working on patterns, use a metronome and start slowly, as getting the rhythms even is
as important as learning the pattern itself, especially when using patterns in your solos.

To begin, here’s a pattern over a two-octave scale shape.

This pattern is built with ascending 3rds through the scale.

This means that you play the first note, followed by the third note, then the second, then the
fourth, etc., until you reach the top of the scale.

Click to hear phrygian dominant scale 8

The second example is the same ascending 3rds pattern , but this time you working down the
scale. This means you play the intervals b6-8, 5-7, 4-6, etc., until you reach the 6th string.

Click to hear phrygian dominant scale 9

Once you have these patterns memorized, put on a backing track and solo with Phrygian
dominant, using the scale patterns in as much as musical taste allows.

Phrygian Dominant Scale Licks

Here are six jazz guitar licks to learn as you take this scale to an improvisational context.
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Practice each lick in 12 keys, and when comfortable, add these licks to your soloing ideas over
jazz standards.

This first lick is a short minor ii V I in the key of G, where Phrygian dominant is used to over the
D7alt chord in this progression.

Click to hear this Phrygian Dominant Chord audio example .

Here’s a longer minor ii V I lick that you can explore in your minor key practicing in the
woodshed.

Click to hear this Phrygian Dominant Chord audio example .

This lick is an example of how you apply Phrygian dominant to a major key, where it’s used to
outline the V7 chord in a ii V I .

The key to this lick, is the resolution of the tension created by this scale to the Imaj7 chord in
the third bar of the phrase.

Click to hear this Phrygian Dominant Chord audio example .

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The fourth lick is a short phrase over a G7alt chord.

Click to hear phrygian dominant scale 10

Moving on, this lick uses Phrygian dominant over the V7alt chord in a short ii-V-I progression in
the key of C minor.

Click to hear phrygian dominant scale 11

The final lick uses Phrygian dominant over the V7alt chord in a long ii-V-I progression in the
key of C minor.

Click to hear phrygian dominant scale 12

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Now that you’ve learned these three licks, write out 3 to 5 of your own as you work this scale
into your soloing ideas.

Blue Bossa Guitar Solo

Here’s a solo over the chord changes to the jazz standard Blue Bossa that use the licks and
scale shape from this lesson.

Practice this solo with a metronome then with the backing track as you expand upon this solo
in the woodshed.

From there, write your own solos over jazz standards as you work the Phrygian dominant scale
into your jazz guitar solos.

Backing Track blue-bossa-guide-tones-backing

Click to hear this Phrygian Dominant Chord audio example .

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