What happens when you mix the spicy sound of the Phrygian mode with the softer tones of the Aeolian mode? Well… You get amazing chord progressions! Learn how to combine these modes with modal interchange and transform your chord progressions.
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The Aeolian mode or natural minor is used in
But what if you could spice up your regular minor chord progression with a chord from the Phrygian mode? When you borrow a chord from a different mode, it is called a borrowed chord, modal mixture or modal interchange. Let’s explore how to make the Phrygian and Aeolian modes and find the chords we can use.
Explore The Musical Modes
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Video Tutorial: Phrygian + Aeolian mode = Awesome chord progressions
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What is modal interchange or modal mixture?
Modal interchange, also called modal mixture, is a musical trick where you use chords and progressions from one musical scale in a different scale. Scales are patterns of notes that sound good together, like the major scale and the natural minor scale.
When you use modal interchange, you take chords and progressions from a scale that’s closely related to the one you’re using. These scales have almost the same notes but with one or two differences. For example, if you’re playing in the key of C major, you can borrow chords from related modes like C Mixolydian or C Lydian.
You add these borrowed chords to your
Modal interchange is a cool way to make your
How do you make a Phrygian Scale?
Music is often in a certain key. Which could be A minor or D major for example. When we talk about
Minor scale blueprint / minor scale formula
If you follow this formula or blueprint of whole and half steps, then you can make a natural minor scale in any key that you like! Whole step – Half step – Whole step – Whole step – Half step – Whole step – Whole step
Just keep in mind when naming the notes, that each step needs to be a different letter from the alphabet. So you cannot have C and Cb or A and A#. It should be C and B or A and Bb.
How to make a Phrygian scale?
To make the A Phrygian scale, from our minor scale above, you just lower the 2nd note or the note on the 2nd scale degree with half a step. The rest of the notes in the scale stay the same! So the formula for making a Phrygian scale is: Half Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step – Whole Step – Whole Step.
How To Make Phrygian and Aeolian Mode Chord Progressions
Just as with all other modal chord progressions. We will use the Phrygian and Aeolian scales to find out what chords you can play or what chords you have. Create a chord or triad on each scale degree. And you do this by only using notes from the scales!
How do you make a triad? When you make a chord, just skip one scale tone and choose the next one. So for example in A Phrygian, the chord on the first scale degree is A Minor. And the notes are A-C-E. We skipped the tones B and D.
Aeolian and Phrygian harmonies with 7th chords
When we use seventh chords you will have another option that opens up for you. You will have another chord that will be different between both modes.
If you only have triads then the chord on the minor third scale degree is the same in both Aeolian and Phrygian. But when you turn it into seventh chords then you’ll see a difference.
In Aeolian, we have a C major seventh chord while in Phrygian we have a C dominant seven chord.
Chord Progression No.1 in B minor (with borrowed Am)
In this B minor chord progression, I will use a chord from the Phrygian mode, to make it sound darker. We can do this by switching the chords on the minor 7th scale degree. In the Aeolian mode, it is an A major chord, while in Phrygian it is an A minor chord.
Chord Progression No.2 in C minor (with added Db)
We can also do the opposite. We can make this C minor chord progression sound brighter by using a chord from the Phrygian mode. In Aeolian, the chord on the 2nd scale degree is a D diminished. This chord sounds darker and has more tension. In the Phrygian mode, the chord on the minor second scale degree is a Db major chord.
Chord Progression No.3 in E minor (with added G7)
When we use 7th chords, you will have another chord option to switch chords. If you use triads, then the chord on the 3rd scale degree is the same in both modes. But when we use 7th chords, then in Aeolian, the chord on the 3rd scale degree is a G Major seven chord, while in Phrygian this is a G Dominant seven chord.
A major seven-chord sounds colourful and soft, while a dominant seven-chord sounds a lot stronger.
Using melody to highlight chord changes
With the melody, we can highlight the changes in the chords and emphasize the notes that are unique to the mode. When I add a melody to the previous chord progression, just play it and listen to how big the difference becomes between both progressions.
Conclusion
Whenever you don’t feel inspired or if you’re stuck on a chord progression, see if you can maybe borrow a chord from a different mode. This modal mixture or modal interchange is easy to use and the results are often great.
Interested in more videos about the musical modes? Check out my other videos on the Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Dorian modes. Check out my videos on how to make Phrygian melodies.
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