” Pentatomic – All you can do with the minor pentatonic " is an educational column that explains the use of the pentatonic scale on the modes where its application is possible. The familiarity of this scale for guitarists means that its application is immediate even in the less usual ways. Pentatonic is widely used by guitarists of all kinds and backgrounds.
Here are many possible applications.
Pentatomic - Phrygian
The Phrygian mode is a minor mode that derives from the major scale. It is the mode generated by the third degree of the major scale.
The main feature is the presence of a semitone between the first and second degree of the scale. This minor second interval strongly characterizes its sound and unequivocally differentiates it from the other minor modes deriving from the major scale. It has a sonic impact typical of oriental and even Spanish music (see Flamenco), with a connotation that refers to Arabic music. The most common use is not on the degree on which it is generated but on a dominant agreement b9 or sus4b9b13 as a modal loan. We can also find it as a first degree on a minor chord with the ninth flat and the thirteenth.
Pentatomic - Phrygian We have several possibilities to describe a Phrygian chord. In addition to the Phrygian scale, we can use pentatonics. For guitar convenience I refer to the minor pentatonics. We can use the one built on the fundamental, the one on the fifth degree and the one one tone below the tonic chord.
I chose a tone below the tonic chord because I think it best describes the Phrygian sonority. In fact with the pentatonic one tone below we play the following tensions: b7, b9, b3, 4, b6, T.
There are many examples of famous records which have drawn their characteristic in the Phrygian way. I cite perhaps the most famous. The flamenco sketches song found in the famous 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue.
