B♭ / A♯ Phrygian Dominant Scale

72 scales in every key on a map of the whole neck: positions, patterns, and every note played as it lights up.

The B♭ Phrygian dominant scale has 7 notes: B♭ – C♭ – D – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭. Phrygian dominant (Spanish Phrygian) is the fifth mode of harmonic minor: a major 3rd with a ♭2 and ♭6. It is the sound of flamenco, Middle Eastern melodies and many Bollywood songs.

B♭ and A♯ are the same pitch, so this page covers both names; the notes are spelled from B♭, the way the key is usually written. Compared with the B♭ major scale it has ♭2 (C♭ instead of C), ♭6 (G♭ instead of G), ♭7 (A♭ instead of A).

The explorer above is set to B♭ Phrygian dominant: the whole neck is mapped, and you can zoom into any of its 7 positions, change the labels to degrees or fingers, and hear it up, down and in patterns.

B♭ Phrygian dominant scale notes

Degree	Note	Interval from B♭	Frets above the root	Sargam
1	B♭	R	0	S
♭2	C♭	m2	1	r
3	D	M3	4	G
4	E♭	P4	5	M
5	F	P5	7	P
♭6	G♭	m6	8	d
♭7	A♭	m7	10	n

Steps between the notes: H W+H H W H W W (W = two frets, H = one fret). Start on any B♭ and follow those steps up one string to play the scale.

B♭ Phrygian dominant scale positions on the guitar

With three notes on every string, B♭ Phrygian dominant has seven patterns that climb the neck. Position 1 starts on B♭ on the low E string at fret 6; each next position starts on the next note of the scale. In standard tuning, high string first:

Position	E (1st)	B	G	D	A	E (6th)
Position 1 frets 6–11	7 10 11	7 9 11	7 8 10	6 8 9	6 8 9	6 7 10
Position 2 frets 7–13	10 11 13	9 11 12	8 10 11	8 9 12	8 9 11	7 10 11
Position 3 frets 9–15	11 13 14	11 12 15	10 11 13	9 12 13	9 11 13	10 11 13
Position 4 frets 11–16	13 14 16	12 15 16	11 13 15	12 13 15	11 13 14	11 13 14
Position 5 frets 13–18	14 16 18	15 16 18	13 15 16	13 15 16	13 14 17	13 14 16
Position 6 frets 14–19	16 18 19	16 18 19	15 16 19	15 16 18	14 17 18	14 16 18
Position 7 frets 16–22	18 19 22	18 19 21	16 19 20	16 18 20	17 18 20	16 18 19

Chords in the B♭ Phrygian dominant scale

Stacking every other note of the scale on each degree gives these chords. They are the chords a song in B♭ Phrygian dominant is made from, and the chords this scale fits over.

	I	♭II	iii°	iv	v°	♭VI+	♭vii
Triad	B♭	C♭	Ddim	E♭m	Fdim	G♭aug	A♭m
7th chord	B♭7	C♭maj7	Ddim7	E♭mMaj7	Fm7♭5	G♭maj7♯5	A♭m7

Where you hear it

B♭ Phrygian dominant is used in flamenco, metal, klezmer, Middle Eastern and Bollywood music. It sounds best over a major or dominant 7th chord on the root, and the V chord of a minor key.

Backing tracks to practise B♭ Phrygian dominant

B♭ blues shuffle B♭ slow blues B♭ major pop B♭ major ballad B♭ jazz ii – V – I B♭ Mixolydian rock

How to practise it

Play position 1 (frets 6–11) slowly, up and down, saying the note names.
Play it with the pattern set to In 3s, then In 4s, at a tempo where every note is clean.
Learn position 2 and how it joins position 1: the notes they share are where your hand moves.
Switch the labels to degrees and find every B♭ (1) in each position.
Improvise over a backing track, ending your phrases on B♭.