In music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, the altered Phrygian scale or Freygish scale (also spelled Fraigish), featuring an unusual key signature and a distinctive augmented second

Augmented second

In classical music from Western culture, an augmented second is an interval produced by widening a major second by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to D is a major second, two semitones wide, and both the intervals from C to D, and from C to D are augmented seconds, spanning...

 interval

Interval (music)

In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...

, is the fifth mode

Musical mode

In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...

 of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant

Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...

. Also called the Phrygian dominant scale, harmonic minor perfect fifth below, dominant flat 2 flat 6 (in jazz), or simply the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, it's constructed by raising the third of the Phrygian mode

Phrygian mode

The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...

 and occurs commonly in Jewish, Greek, Turkish, Arab, and Flamenco music. Examples include some versions of "Hava Nagila

Hava Nagila

"Hava Nagila" is a Hebrew folk song that has become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.-History:...

" and "Misirlou

Misirlou

Misirlou , is a popular Greek song with popularity in five styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish klezmer, American surf rock, and international orchestral easy listening .- History :...

", with other versions of those melodies using the closely related double harmonic scale. "The main chords used with this scale are," I

Tonic

Tonic may refer to:*Tonic water, a drink traditionally containing quinine*Soft drink, a carbonated beverage*Tonic , the response of a muscle fiber or nerve ending typified by slow, continuous action...

, iv

Subdominant

In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...

, and vii

Subtonic

In music, the subtonic or flattened seventh is the lowered or minor seventh degree of the scale, a whole step below the tonic, as opposed to the leading tone...

.

The scale is extremely common in Middle Eastern music

Middle Eastern music

The music of Western Asia and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, Southern Italy, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...

, particularly Arabic and Egyptian music. It is also known as Ahava Rabbah or Freygish when used in Hebrew prayers

Jewish liturgy

Jewish liturgy refers specifically to following the Torah in all of its rites and ceremonies, whether in the home or in the Synagogue. The main purposes of following the carefully laid out observances is to maintain uniformity, and to avoid improper and unacceptable practices at variance with those...

 and Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 music (earning it the additional title of the Jewish scale), or as the Hijaz-Nahawand maqam when used in Turkish or Arabic music. It is often known as a Spanish Phrygian scale, Spanish gypsy scale (see: gypsy scale

Gypsy scale

The term Gypsy scale, refers to one of several musical scales named after their association with Gypsy music.-Hungarian Gypsy scale:...

) or Phrygian major scale (see: phrygian mode

Phrygian mode

The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...

 and major scale

Major scale

In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...

) as it is also commonly used in Flamenco

Flamenco

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

 music. The flattend second together with the augmented

Augmented second

In classical music from Western culture, an augmented second is an interval produced by widening a major second by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to D is a major second, two semitones wide, and both the intervals from C to D, and from C to D are augmented seconds, spanning...

 step between the second and third degrees

Degree (music)

In music theory, a scale degree or scale step is the name of a particular note of a scale in relation to the tonic...

 of the scale create its distinctive mystical, exotic sound. For instance the E Phrygian dominant scale would be the notes E, F, G#, A, B, C and D.

The sequence of steps comprising the Phrygian dominant scale is

• half
  Minor second
  In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D....
  
   – augmented
  Augmented second
  In classical music from Western culture, an augmented second is an interval produced by widening a major second by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to D is a major second, two semitones wide, and both the intervals from C to D, and from C to D are augmented seconds, spanning...
  
   – half – whole
  Major second
  In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
  
   – half – whole – whole

When related to the scale degrees of the major scale, it reads like so:

1 - b2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - b7 - 1

Beginning on C, the scale is as follows:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

When the Freygish scale is used in Klezmer music, the 6th degree may not be flattened if it is melodically approached and left from above.

Often, it has found application in modern progressive rock/metal, having been utilized most notably by Yngwie Malmsteen.

External links

• Miguel Bengoa, Scale theory and flamenco
• Miguel Bengoa, Flamenco scales tablature
• Josh Horowitz, The Main Klezmer Modes (retrieved 2010-04-21)
• Phrygian dominant as a mode of harmonic minor on guitar