F♯ Phrygian scale on guitar
Every note of the F♯ Phrygian scale — F♯ G A B C♯ D E — with the step pattern, what it sounds like, where it's used, and famous songs built on it. All scales are free in the interactive fretboard tool.
The scale on the neck
Here's F♯ Phrygian over the first 12 frets of the guitar (standard EADGBE tuning). The pink notes are the root (F♯); tap any note to hear it, or play the whole scale ascending.
Press Make it interactive and the same scale opens across all 24 frets, with every other tuning and capo position, and with each note labelled by its interval from the root (R, ♭2, ♭3…) instead of by name. The numbers are the same in every key, so what you learn here transposes straight to G or E. (Note: the root shows there as R, not as F♯.)
The notes
Each note is labelled with its scale degree relative to the major scale — that formula (1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7) is the scale's fingerprint, identical in every key.
The step pattern
H–W–W–W–H–W–W — W is a whole step (two frets), H a half step (one fret), and 1½ a step and a half (three frets). Start on any F♯on the neck, walk that pattern up one string, and you've played F♯ Phrygian.
How it's built
F♯ Phrygian is the 3rd mode of the major scale. What makes it different: Natural minor with the 2nd also flattened (♭2) — one note darker than natural minor. That half-step right above the root is the whole flavour.
Because it's a mode, F♯ Phrygiandoesn't invent any new notes: it borrows every note of D major and simply treats F♯ as home. Play the notes of D major but start, stop and resolve on F♯ — that shift of gravity is the entire trick. (More in the guide to modes.)
What it sounds like & where it's used
The sound: Dark and tense with a Spanish / flamenco, “exotic” edge — the ♭2 leaning on the root is the giveaway.
Where you'll hear it: Flamenco, metal riffs, and film cues for menace or far-off places.
Famous music built on this scale
the main riff's snaking darkness comes from E Phrygian.
the hypnotic Spanish-flavoured intro vamp is built on a Phrygian sound.
the ♭2-over-the-root cadence of flamenco guitar is Phrygian at its purest.
Phrygian in every key
Other scales on F♯
Song and artist names are mentioned for identification and educational commentary only — we don't reproduce lyrics, tabs or recordings. Scales and their formulas are shared facts of music theory.
See F♯ Phrygian across the whole neck — colored by interval, with fingerings and audio, on guitar, bass and ukulele. Every scale and all 12 roots are free in the interactive tool.
Open F♯ Phrygian on the fretboardFrequently asked
What notes are in the F♯ Phrygian scale?
F♯ Phrygian contains 7 notes: F♯, G, A, B, C♯, D, E.
What is the formula for the phrygian scale?
The interval formula is 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7, which is the step pattern H–W–W–W–H–W–W (W = whole step, H = half step, 1½ = a step and a half). Start on F♯ and apply those steps to get F♯, G, A, B, C♯, D, E.
When should I use F♯ Phrygian?
Flamenco, metal riffs, and film cues for menace or far-off places. Sound-wise: Dark and tense with a Spanish / flamenco, “exotic” edge — the ♭2 leaning on the root is the giveaway.