Phrygian Mode
DescriptionThe Phrygian Mode is said to have a dark, exotic quality and is commonly used in speed metal, flamenco, and fusion jazz styles of music. This mode is also called:
The Phrygian Mode is the third mode of the first authentic scale of ancient Greece and was named after the subgroup of people called the Phrygians. Phrygia was an ancient country between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, in what is now central Turkey. The Phrygians were an Indo-European people who came from southeastern Europe after 1200 B.C. and settled in the lands once ruled by the Hittites. Legends tell that the early Phrygian kings included Gordius and Midas, whose great rock tombs may still be seen in the mountains. Cimmerians, invaders from around the Caucasus Mountains, conquered Phrygia in 700 B.C. Phrygian communities still existed about 550 B.C. The Phrygians later came under Persian, Greek, and then Roman rule. The Phrygians were known for their art and ceramics, and skill in tomb-building. They contributed many Oriental ideas to the early Greeks, especially in music. The Romans adopted the Phrygian worship of the goddess Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods. Geographically, most of Greece is made up of many small islands and was considered the philosophical hotbed of the ancient world. Travelers could not easily travel from island to island in ancient time. Each island formed its own local government and had its own set of laws and unique culture. One ruler could not exact power over all the islands of Greece due to the geography of the country. Therefore, the society on each island evolved independently as a Polis. Philosophers, artists, and poets thrived within the polis system since each could teach students, practice philosophy, and their trade actively without fear of reprisal from a central ruler. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (350 B.C.) wrote about the Phrygian mode in his philosophical work titled Politics: "The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those that hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian inspires enthusiasm" The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427 - 348 B.C.) felt that playing music in a particular mode would incline one toward specific behavior associated with that mode. He suggested that soldiers should listen to music in Dorian or Phrygian modes to help make them stronger, but avoid music in Lydian, Mixed Lydian or Ionian modes, for fear of being softened. Plato believed that a change in the musical modes of the state would cause a wide-scale social revolution. He also believed that by changing the mode of the national anthem of Greece a widespread social revolt would start.
Songs That Use This Scale |