← Dictionary

phrygian

A minor mode with a flat second: dark and tense, the Spanish and metal sound.

A minor mode with a flat second, a semitone sitting right above the home note. That low, leaning second gives Phrygian its dark, tense, unmistakably Spanish and heavy-metal color. Its characteristic note is the flat 2nd.

Learn it: Modes

The one-sentence definition at the top is the same one the Theory Aide extension shows as a tooltip inside Ableton Live. Hover any dotted term for its own.