B Phrygian ♭4

123456789101112131415F♯GABCDE♭F♯GBCDE♭F♯GABCDGABCDE♭F♯GADE♭F♯GABCDE♭ABCDE♭F♯GABCF♯GABCDE♭F♯G

Sign up free to save favorites

100% free. No credit card required.

B Phrygian ♭4 Scale

R♭2♭3♭45♭6♭78BCDE♭F♯GABSTS3STT
Step pattern H – W – H – W+H – H – W – W

B Phrygian ♭4 contains 7 notes: B, C, D, E♭, F♯, G, A. It has 1 sharp: F♯. The step pattern is H–W–H–W+H–H–W–W.

An unusual mode that looks extremely dark on paper but hides a secret: the b4 is enharmonically a major 3rd, creating an unexpected brightness lurking inside a Phrygian framework.

The formula is 1, b2, b3, b4, 5, b6, b7. The b4 is enharmonically equivalent to a major 3rd, so the scale actually contains both b3 and an enharmonic 3. This ambiguity between major and minor quality is its defining characteristic and a source of interesting interval paradoxes.

Primarily theoretical, but the hidden major 3rd can be exploited for brief moments of unexpected brightness in otherwise dark passages. Use it as a passing color in contemporary classical or avant-garde contexts.

BCDGABE♭F♯R♭2♭3♭6♭78♭45
𝄞B (R)C (♭2)D (♭3)E♭ (♭4)F♯ (5)G (♭6)A (♭7)B (8)
i
ii
III
D
VI
G
vii°
Contemporary classicalAvant-garde