Freygish Scale?

07 Sep 07 - 10:44 PM (#2143710)
Subject: Freygish Scale?
From: John E

I've heard of this, and understand it to be the basis for klezmer. Can anyone tell me more (or set me straight about it)?

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07 Sep 07 - 10:59 PM (#2143724)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: jeffp

A little information in wikipedia.

More at http://www.budowitz.com/pages/Modes.html.

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08 Sep 07 - 01:21 AM (#2143775)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: Amos

More commonly called the Phrygian scale. E.g., flamenco and Arabic music both feature it.


A

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09 Sep 07 - 07:46 PM (#2144951)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: John E

So . . . how would you figure chords to this? It seems to favor minor chords. I have in mind a particular tune I've heard that I want to contrive an accompaniment to. Thanks, sj

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10 Sep 07 - 05:18 AM (#2145237)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: PMB

You'll find some examples to follow on the Manchester Klezmer site- PDFs of lots of tunes, maybe even the one you're looking for, most of them with chord suggestions. sadly Steve Landin, who runs the site, has rather lost interest in it in recent years, so it's not been updated for a good while.

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10 Sep 07 - 05:36 AM (#2145250)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: The Sandman

THE Phrygian Scale is also the basis for some heavy rock music.
a common progression in flamenco[of course not the only one is]Aminor ,gMAJOR F MAJOR Eminor.,does this occur in kletzmer music.

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10 Sep 07 - 05:39 AM (#2145251)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: The Sandman

sorry i meant Emajor [not minor]

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10 Sep 07 - 07:33 AM (#2145311)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine

The Phrygian scale is a mode of the major scale. If you were to play a scale of C major (all the white notes on the piano, no sharps or flats), starting on C, you get C major. Starting on E gives you a phyrgian scale.

Remember that "phrygian" refers to the type of the scale, not necessarily the actual notes. If you started a phrygian scale on F# for instance, you'd have an F# (obviously), and a C#- the corresponding major scale is D.

The chords would be the same as in the major scale. So, going back to the E phrygian scale, the chords would be C, F, G, Am, Dm, Em & B7b5. The difference of course is that you would consider your Em to be the starting point.

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10 Sep 07 - 09:00 AM (#2145374)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Mooh in limbo

My understanding of the Freygish is limited to some cursory jazz knowledge, but it's not really the same as the Phrygian mode, is it?

Somewhere in it there is an augmented interval, the third maybe, and it makes for a lovely sound.

In other words the Phrygian intervals are H-W-W-W-H-W-W, whereby the Freygish intervals are H-W1/2-H-W-H-W-W. H=half step or semi-tone, W=whole step or tone.

Or am I messed up?

Peace, Mooh.

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10 Sep 07 - 11:21 AM (#2145484)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine

Think you're right there Mooh, A Freygish scale is indeed not the same as the Phrygian. The third note is a major third. I never knew it had a name! You learn something every day.

I tend to think of scales as a set of intervals relative to the root, rather than the tone-tone-semitone thing (probably because they tried to explain scales to me that way at school way before I was ready to understand them), of course it's another way of looking at the same thing, that way the Freygish scale would be:
root, min2, maj3, perf4, perf5, min6, min7
the big gap between the minor 2nd and major 3rd gives it a very distinctive sond.

The Freygish scale in E would be the same notes as A harmonic minor, but starting on an E:
E F G# A B C D E

That would give you the main chords of E(major), Am, Dm, F major), plus various flavours of 7th and dimished chords.

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10 Sep 07 - 12:15 PM (#2145539)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Mooh in limbo

The fifth mode of the A harmonic minor...Cool. Thanks.

Peace, Mooh.

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10 Sep 07 - 12:16 PM (#2145542)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Mooh in limbo

Edit out "A"...The fifth mode on the harmonic minor. Mooh.

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10 Sep 07 - 12:31 PM (#2145553)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: Amos

Sorry--I goofed.

Definitions of Freygish on the Web:

The Phrygian dominant scale constructed by raising the third of the Phrygian scale, and is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freygish




A

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10 Sep 07 - 12:59 PM (#2145581)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: The Sandman

Turkish Music uses a variation on the phrygian mode,If one took EFGABCDE which is the PHRYGIAN MODE,it would become e fg#abcde.try it out,it sounds very arabic.

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10 Sep 07 - 01:15 PM (#2145592)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: GUEST,Mooh in limbo

Now to drive the boys in the band crazy with it!

Peace, Mooh.

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10 Sep 07 - 03:26 PM (#2145661)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: wysiwyg

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh................. glad YOU guys know what all this gibberish means! :~) I can only HEAR it.

~S~

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10 Sep 07 - 04:49 PM (#2145798)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: The Sandman

I agree Don,in fact I mentioned that progression[ Aminor,Gmajor Fmajor E minor] in an earlier post.

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10 Sep 07 - 10:13 PM (#2146030)
Subject: RE: Freygish Scale?
From: Stewart

In Klezmer and eastern European gypsy music a distinctive scale is used with a wide interval of three half tones (as noted by ≡)(= denotes a whole tone; and - a half tone). This is the Freygish mode in Klezmer music (D-Eb≡F#-G=A-Bb=C=D), or the Hungarian minor in gypsy music (C=D-Eb≡F#-G-Ab≡B-C). This is like a minor scale, but with a wide gap between the 2nd/3rd, or 3rd/4th and 6th/7th notes.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

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