Jack Campin asks: | > If it's in E phrygian and is a flamenco piece (perhaps "phrygian major") | > you'll hear a characteristic ending sequence of "Am" => G7 => Fmaj7 => E | > If it's in the minor phrygian then I haven't a clue and the same applies | > to F lydian. | | I don't think I've encountered that distinction between two kinds of | phrygian mode before. Explain?
That "phrygian major" sounds a lot like what the people to the south and east of Spain call "hejaz" and klezmer musicians call "freygish". Phrygian with a raised 3rd, giving an augmented 2nd between the 2 and 3 notes of the scale. Spanish musicians use this scale a lot, too. Classical musicians tend to mistake it for harmonic minor and think that it needs resolving because it seems to end on the 5th. Musicians in all these other styles think the E is the tonic. Or they think that "tonic" is something the British mix with gin, and just play the music so it sounds right to their ears. Trivial question of the day: What's the origin of the term "hejaz", or "hijaz" in other dialects? Hint: It has something in common with the names of the classical "Greek" modes. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
