Welcome Back! This lesson I will be showing you some examples from the Phrygian Dominant scale, which is the 5th mode of the harmonic minor scale. We covered the harmonic minor in a last month's lesson, but I want to spend a little more time with this mode in this lesson.
The Phrygian Dominant scale is used in a lot of different types of music—rock, metal, jazz, classical. The scale formula for this mode is 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7. Basically, you could picture this as the regular Phrygian scale with a raised third. It sounds great played over major and dominant chords—it has a Spanish flavor. You can experiment by playing power chords off of each note for a more rock approach.
Let's check out some basic fingerings and lines from this scale...
 Ex.1 Ex.1a |  | ||||
| Ex.1 This is just a basic 3-note-per-string pattern for the Phrygian Dominant scale in the key of F#. The notes are F#, G, A#, B, C#, D, E. The key is to play this scale everywhere on the neck in all keys and make up your own patterns—don't stick to one shape. | Ex.1a Here is a cool pattern I came up with that brings out the exotic flavor of this scale. Basically, it is just a six note
pattern moving up in octaves. The six note pattern really begins on the
5th string and moves up the neck, I just started the pattern off the F#
on the 6th string, feel free to experiment. You might want to follow
the suggested fingerings.
| ||||
Ex.2 |  |
| Ex.2 This example is based off the pattern in example 1a. This example demonstrates how you could apply this to your playing instead of just running up and down the scale. |
Ex.3 |  |
| Ex.3 Here is a cool string skipping line, also in the key of F#. You will notice it is constructed from the same pattern I showed you in example 1. The line moves up the neck, skipping one string at a time; it can be tricky, but sounds cool fast. |
Ex.4 |  |
| Ex.4 Finally, we have a line using arpeggios from the F#
Phrygian Dominant scale. This first arpeggio is an F# augmented arpeggio
(F#, A#, D), which shares the same notes as an A# augmented and a D
augmented. Because it is symmetrical, the same three notes are repeating in
major 3rd intervals. The D augmented is diatonic to the F# Phrygian
Dominant, and so are the F# and G major arpeggios that occur on beats 3
and 4. I use sweep picking to play these arpeggios, but you can experiment with different styles. |
That wraps up our lesson! I've given you a few basic examples to start you off; be sure to further explore the scale and use it in your playing. Remember to visit me online at MikeCampese.com!
“I am thrilled to announce the launch of The Collection: Kirk Hammett. I’ve worked diligently on this curated collection of vintage and modern guitars for the book. I feel the book captures the rich history and artistry behind each of these unique and rare instruments. Every picture tells a story and thanks to Ross Halfin and his exceptional photography, every picture in this book is worth a million words! This book could not be possible without the help of Gibson, so I’d like to thank them for making my passion for Greeny, and guitars a reality. I hope all of you enjoy this journey as much as I did.”
“It’s exciting the time has come to release The Collection: Kirk Hammett by Gibson,” adds Cesar Gueikian, President and CEO of Gibson. “We have been working on this project with Kirk for years now, and I had the opportunity to work closely with Kirk on the composition of the collection for the book. It was a thrill to put this together and it took a village to get it done! I hope everyone appreciates the work that went into this book and enjoys every story behind the guitars.”
The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Custom Edition is limited to just 300 numbered copies signed by KIRK HAMMETT and comes in a huge 19 x 14.5” (490 x 370mm) presentation box featuring custom artwork and an outstanding case candy package. In addition to the large-format 17 x 12” (432 x 310mm) hardcover version of the book with a stunning lenticular cover, the boxset includes a frameable 16 x 11.6” (407 x 295mm) art print of a Ross Halfin portrait of KIRK HAMMETT signed by both Halfin and the Metallica guitarist. Other case candy includes an Axe Heaven miniature replica of Hammett’s 1979 Gibson Flying V with case and stand, an exclusive pick tin complete with six Dunlop® Kirk Hammett signature Jazz III guitar picks, and a Gibson Publishing Certificate of Authenticity.
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Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst have been making music as Shovels & Rope since 2008. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina specialize in rootsy, bluesy rock, Americana, and alt-country, but they don’t confine themselves to traditional two-piece arrangements. They switch off on vocal, guitar, percussion, and synth duty throughout their shows, orchestrating a full-band ruckus with all available limbs.
Their seventh full-length, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, released in September last year, and while touring in support of it, they stopped at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl in late February. PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with Trent before the gig to see what tools he and Hearst use to maintain their musical juggling act.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Black Bird
Trent’s not a guitar snob: Generally speaking, he plays whatever he can get his hands on. While playing Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest, someone loaned him this Gretsch Black Falcon, and he fell in love with it. He likes its size compared to the broader White Falcon. It’s also the band’s only electric, so if it goes down, it’s back to acoustic. Hearst takes turns on it, too.
Trent loads the heaviest strings he can onto it, which is a set of .013s. It lives in standard tuning.
Ol' Faithful
As Trent explains, he and Hearst have done some DIY decorating on this beautiful Gibson J-45—it’s adorned with sweat droplets, stains, and fingernail dust. It runs direct to the venue’s front-of-house system with an LR Baggs pickup. This one is strung with Martin heavy or medium gauge strings; lighter ones are too prone to snapping under Trent’s heavy picking hand (which holds a Dunlop Max-Grip .88 mm pick). And it rolls around in an Enki tour case.
On Call
These second-stringers—a Loar archtop and an LR Baggs-equipped Recording King—are on hand in case of broken strings or other malfunctions.
Need for Tweed
Trent doesn’t trust amps with too many knobs, so this tweed Fender Blues Junior does the trick. It can get fairly loud, so there’s a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box on hand to tame it for some stages.
Shovels & Rope's Pedalboard
Because Trent and Hearst trade off bass, guitar, keys, and percussion duties, all four of their limbs are active through the set. Whoever is on guitars works this board, with an MXR Blue Box, Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff, EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird, and Boss OC-5, plus a pair of Walrus Canvas Tuners for the electric and acoustic. Utility boxes on the board include a Walrus Canvas Passive Re-Amp, Radial J48, Livewire ABY1, and a Mesa Stowaway input buffer.
A Roland PK-5 MIDI controller, operated by foot, sits on the lower edge of the board. It controls the board for “Thing 2,” one of two MicroKORG synths onstage.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
There’s no one backstage helping Hearst and Trent cook up all their racket; they handle every sound themselves, manually. During the first few sets of a tour, you’re liable to see some headaches, like forgetting to switch synth patches during a song, but eventually they hit a rhythm.
Affectionately given Seuss-ian nicknames, this pair of microKORGs handles bass notes through the set, among other things, via the foot-controlled PK5. “Thing 1” is set up at the drum station, and runs through a board with an EHX Nano Big Muff, EHX Bass9, EHX Nano Holy Grail, and a Radial Pro DI. A Walrus Aetos keeps them all powered up.
The board for “Thing 2,” beside the guitar amps, includes an EHX Mel9 and Bass9 powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro, plus a Radial ProD2.
