Piano Guidance
Piano Guidance
Photo: Mark Angelo Sampan
Four of the Phrygian mode's seven scale degrees—the second, third, sixth and seventh—are minor, or “flatted,” intervals, which is what gives Phrygian such a foreboding, “evil” sound, one that is perfectly suited to heavy metal music.
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Read More »Last month we investigated the dark sound of the Phrygian mode, which is spelled intervallically 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In the key of E, the notes would be E F G A B C D. Four of the Phrygian mode’s seven scale degrees—the second, third, sixth and seventh—are minor, or “flatted,” intervals, which is what gives Phrygian such a foreboding, “evil” sound, one that is perfectly suited to heavy metal music. Once you are well familiarized with the Phrygian mode, it’s fairly easy to learn its “evil sister,” the Phrygian-dominant mode. To morph from Phrygian to Phrygian-dominant, only one note needs to change: the minor, or flatted, third (G in the key of E) is raised one half step to a major third (G# in this case), resulting in the intervallic spelling 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7. In the key of E, this translates to E F G# A B C D. FIGURE 1 illustrates E Phrygian-dominant played in first position, with open strings used wherever possible. The sequence of half and whole steps that comprise Phrygian dominant is derived from the harmonic minor scale, of which Phrygian dominant is the fifth mode. If one were to start on the fifth degree of the harmonic minor scale and think of that note as being the new “1,” or root (also known as the tonic), the resultant scale would be Phrygian dominant. FIGURE 2 depicts the A harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#), and, as shown in FIGURE 3, if we begin on the fifth note, or degree, of that scale, E, we get the E Phrygian-dominant mode (E F G# A B C D). Fretting the scale in this position, I begin with my middle finger on E (A string, seventh fret), switch to my ring finger for the F note one fret higher, and use my index finger for both the G# and the A notes on the D string. This lets me fret the remaining notes on the top four strings by staying “in position,” with each finger assigned to a different fret. The only exception is on the high E string, where I shift my index finger from the seventh to the eighth fret and slide my ring finger from the eighth fret to the 10th. FIGURE 4 is an improvised solo based mostly on E Phrygian dominant. In bars 1–4, I stick with melodies played in eighth and ninth positions and rely on many quick hammer-on and pull-off combinations between repeated notes to achieve a smooth, or legato, sound. I remain mostly in 12th position from bar 9 onward, again exploiting hammer-on/pull-off combinations as I transition from one phrase to the next.
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Read More »Moving back up Key with no capo Key with capo on: 1st fret 3rd fret C C#/Db D#/Eb A A#/Bb C G G#/Ab A#/Bb 2 more rows
A capo is a tool that clamps down on all the strings at a certain fret, which effectively moves the guitar’s nut up to that fret. It can also act as your index finger when you play barre chords. It is a great tool that many guitarists use to make songs easier to play or sound different. With planning, you can use the capo to minimize the number of barre chords needed (not that you should avoid them though!). Without a capo, songs with complex voicings are almost unplayable. A couple of examples include “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, “Riptide” by Vance Joy, and “Collide” by Howie Day. The capo is also a useful tool for singers, because it can be moved around to change the key. So if you’re not comfortable singing a particular song, for example, in the key of C, simply move the capo around until you find a key that you’re comfortable with. Lastly, with enough knowledge of chords and chord progressions, you can essentially play any song in any key as long as you know the song’s chord progression and how to use this tool effectively.
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