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Compiling global examples of music in the Phrygian Scale

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1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7

(C-D^b-E^b-F-G-A^b-B^b)

o o • o • o • o o • o • o

• Phrygian Scale: Sounds •

Real-world examples of the scale in action:

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• General: 

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• India: Famous in North India as Raag Bhairavi, a concert-closing staple named after the Hindu Mother Goddess Mahadeva’s fearsome fifth incarnation – arguably the most prominent raga in the modern canon (also included as one of Hindustani music’s 10 ‘foundational scales’, under the same title). Other North Indian congruents include Asavari Komal Re (an ancient raga which emphasises the b6) and Bilaskhani Todi (fabled to have been created by accident in the 16th century, as the son of the great composer Tansen mixed up the tones of a different raga at his father’s funeral: it is said that Tansen’s corpse raised up one hand in response to the new melody, signifying his eternal approval…). The same scale is also widely used in South Indian Carnatic music, known as Ragam Thodi or Hanumatodi (melakarta scale #8), albeit with differing movement patterns to its Northern equivalent – listen to famous pieces by P.S. Iyer (Era Napai) and O.V. Kavi (Thaye Yashoda).

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—Shukran Bamba (Senegal)—

Youssou N’Dour (vocal)

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“Praise God, I thank you, Lord, you who brought me to Cheikh Amadou Bamba; Had this man not shown up in Mbacke, Islam would have sunk into oblivion; Faithful Muslims were being killed and deported by the colonists; Their goal was to discredit Islam, but Cheikh Amadou Bamba saw to it that they failed…” (translated lyrics: also learn more about Amadou Bamba, a pacifist Sufi leader who resisted French colonial oppression in Senegal in the late 19th century)

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• Phrygian Scale: More •

Features, classifiers, quirks, etc…

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[analysis: coming soon]

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—Classifiers & Quirks—

• Modes: Major set (Major; Dorian; Phrygian; Lydian; Mixolydian; Aeolian; Locrian)
• Quirks: Hemitonic; Maximal; Reflectional symmetry (imperfect: ♮5; detached: none)
• Names: Phrygian (Western); Bhairavi thaat (Hindustani); Hanumatodi (Carnatic); Yishtabach (Ashkenazi)

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n.b. For more detailed geometric and mathematical analysis, refer to this scale’s entry in Ian Ring’s fantastic Exciting Universe of Music Theory project (for which I am an occasional ‘raga consultant’)

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