Learning how to play jazz guitar means learning how to add different colors and tensions to Dominant 7th

chords in your jazz guitar solos. While many of us have checked out the Altered Scale in this situation, and have looked at the Phrygian Mode to add a b9 color to our m7th chord lines, we may not have tried applying the Phrygian Mode over 7th chords in a jazz guitar context. In todays lesson well look at just that, using the Phrygian Mode to bring out a quasialtered sound in your 7th-chord lines, as well as use this mode to add a secondary Altered color to your jazz guitar vocabulary.

What Is The Phrygian Mode

To begin, lets do a quick review of the Phrygian Mode in its normal, modal context, before moving on to applying it over Dominant 7th Chords in the next section of todays lesson. The Phrygian Mode is the 3rd mode of the Major Scale System, which means that if you have a C Major Scale, and you play it from E to E, you produce a Phrygian Mode. Though it comes from the Major Scale, the Phrygian Mode has a different interval pattern than the Major Scale itself. Here is the interval pattern for any Phrygian Mode. Root-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-Root As you can see, there is a m7 arpeggio found within the Phrygian Mode, Root-b3-5-b7, which is why this mode is normally associated with a minor 7th chord of some type when applying it to your soloing lines and phrases. Though it has a basic m7 chord structure within the mode, there is one note that makes this mode stand out against the other minor modes from the Major Scale, Dorian and Aeolian, which is the b2, or b9 as it is called in the context of a chord voicing. This means that the characteristic sound of the Phrygian Mode is a m7b9 chord, kind of a rare sound but one that can bring an Eastern avor to your lines, think Al Di Meola or Chick Corea in this context. To learn the Phrygian Mode, and all other jazz scales, on your iPad check out the Matt Warnock Guitar Jazz Scales App from the iTunes App Store.

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Here is an example of a Phrygian Chord next to a Phrygian Mode in the key of A Phrygian. Soloing Exercise Put on an Am7 backing track and practice soloing over this chord using the A Phrygian Mode. Take this to all other 11 keys over time to hear how this mode sounds over a m7th chord, and how it sits under your ngers in different parts of the neck.

Here is an audio example of A Phrygian being played over an Am7 chord.

For more information on this mode and scale system, check out my articles Phrygian Modes for Jazz Guitar and Modes of the Major Scale and Their Application.

Phrygian Mode Over 7th Chords

Now that weve looked at the Phrygian Mode in its natural state, producing a m7b9 sound over a m7 chord, lets take it a step further and apply it to a Dominant 7th chord, to produce a quasi-altered sound over this chord shape. Here is the layout of each interval produced when you play Phrygian over a 7th chord, over an A7 chord in the given example. Notice that you are playing the Root, 4th, 5th and b7th of the A7 chord, A-D-E-G, which produces an A7sus sound. This is the main difference between this approach and other altered dominant sounding scales, that Phrygian doesnt have the major 3rd interval within its construction.
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What it does have, is the b9, #9 and b13, three of the four possible altered notes over any Dominant 7th chord, you are just missing the b5(#11) from this scale.

Soloing Exercise Put on an A7 backing track and practice soloing over this chord using the A Phrygian Mode. Take this to all other 11 keys over time to hear how this mode sounds over a 7th chord, and how it sits under your ngers in different parts of the neck.

Here is the audio example of A Phrygian being played over an A7 chord.

As a comparison, Ive written out the A Altered Scale and A Phrygian Mode side-by-side so you can see the difference between these two Altered Dominant sounding scales. Notice that the Altered Scale has the 3rd and b5 in its construction, while the Phrygian mode has the 4 and 5 in its makeup.

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Soloing Exercise Put on an A7 backing track and practice soloing over this chord using the A Phrygian Mode for 4 bars and the A Altered Scale for 4 bars. Take this to all other 11 keys over time to hear how these modes sound over a 7th chord, and how they sit under your ngers in different parts of the neck.

5 Phrygian Over 7th Chord Licks

After you have worked out practicing applying Phrygian to a 7th chord, producing a quasi-altered sound in the process, here are 5 Jazz Guitar Licks to get you started in building your vocabulary in this context. Be sure to practice each lick in all 12 keys and at a variety of tempos in your practice routine. As well, bring them to any tunes you know or are working on in the woodshed as you work towards digesting these patterns, while allowing them to come out in your playing organically at the same time.

The rst lick is a static G7 chord, with a cool-sounding G Phrygian line applied over top of this sound. Click to hear the audio for this lick.

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In the second lick, I applied a G Phrygian Mode to the second half of the rst bar in a short, ii-V-I lick in the key of C major. Click to hear the audio for this lick.

Here is another short, ii-V-I chord progression featuring a sample lick where I applied the G Phrygian Mode to the G7 chord in the second half of bar 1 of the phrase. Click to hear the audio for this lick.

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And here is a long ii-V-I progression in C major, with the G Phrygian Mode used to solo over the G7 chord in bar 2 of the progression. Click to hear the audio for this lick.

And nally, here is another long, ii-V-I progression in C major with the G Phrygian Mode being used to color the G7 chord in bar 2 of the lick. Click to hear the audio for this lick.

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F Jazz Blues Soloing Study

To nish off this lesson, I have written out a sample solo over an F Jazz Blues Chord Progression where I used the Phrygian Mode for each underlying chord to build my lines. I did move between more diatonic sounding chord tones and Mixolydian notes to create contrast, but as you can see and hear, the overall focus of the chorus was applying Phrygian to the I7, IV7 and V7 chords in the progression. Click to hear the audio for this F Jazz Blues Soloing Study.

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Phrygian Over 7th Chord Practice Tips

After you have checked out the above theory background, static-chord soloing exercises, ii-V-I licks and the same F Blues solo, you can take this approach further in your jazz guitar practice routine. Here are 5 of my favorite ways to practice applying the Phrygian Mode to a Dominant 7th chord in your jazz guitar woodshedding. 1. Play any 7th chord and sing the Phrygian Mode over top of that chord, repeat in 12 keys. 2. Put on a 7th-chord vamp and solo over that chord using only its related Phrygian Mode, repeat in 12 keys. 3. Write out 10 ii-V-I lines using the Phrygian Mode to outline the V7 chord of the progression. 4. Put on a ii-V-I backing track and solo over the V7 chord with its corresponding Phrygian Mode each time it comes around in the progression. 5. Put on a tune such as Jordu, Rhythm Changes or Tune Up and solo over each 7th chord with the corresponding Phrygian Mode.

Though we would normally think of the Phrygian Mode as being used to solo over m7 chords, producing a m7b9 color as we saw in the beginning of this lesson, you can also use it to bring a quasi-altered sound to your dominant 7th chords as well Try this Mode out in your Dominant 7th practice routine this week to see how it sounds to your ears and ts under your ngers. It might take some time to get under your ngers and become accustomed to the sound, but once its in your ears it will add a nice, secondary Altered color to any 7th chord you are soloing over in a jazz guitar setting. Have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the How to Play Phrygian Over 7th Chords thread in the MWG Forum.

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