F 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 F Phrygian dominant scale has 7 notes: F – G♭ – A – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭. 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.

Compared with the F major scale it has ♭2 (G♭ instead of G), ♭6 (D♭ instead of D), ♭7 (E♭ instead of E).

The explorer above is set to F 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.

F Phrygian dominant scale notes

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

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

F Phrygian dominant scale positions on the guitar

With three notes on every string, F Phrygian dominant has seven patterns that climb the neck. Position 1 starts on F on the low E string at fret 1; 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 1–6	2 5 6	2 4 6	2 3 5	1 3 4	1 3 4	1 2 5
Position 2 frets 2–8	5 6 8	4 6 7	3 5 6	3 4 7	3 4 6	2 5 6
Position 3 frets 4–10	6 8 9	6 7 10	5 6 8	4 7 8	4 6 8	5 6 8
Position 4 frets 6–11	8 9 11	7 10 11	6 8 10	7 8 10	6 8 9	6 8 9
Position 5 frets 8–13	9 11 13	10 11 13	8 10 11	8 10 11	8 9 12	8 9 11
Position 6 frets 9–14	11 13 14	11 13 14	10 11 14	10 11 13	9 12 13	9 11 13
Position 7 frets 11–17	13 14 17	13 14 16	11 14 15	11 13 15	12 13 15	11 13 14

Chords in the F Phrygian dominant scale

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

	I	♭II	iii°	iv	v°	♭VI+	♭vii
Triad	F	G♭	Adim	B♭m	Cdim	D♭aug	E♭m
7th chord	F7	G♭maj7	Adim7	B♭mMaj7	Cm7♭5	D♭maj7♯5	E♭m7

Where you hear it

F 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 F Phrygian dominant

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

How to practise it

Play position 1 (frets 1–6) 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 F (1) in each position.
Improvise over a backing track, ending your phrases on F.