The Phrygian mode, with its characteristic b2, has historically been used in Arabic music and Flamenco. Jimi Hendrix and later Richie Blackmore were among the first to regularly use the mode in their solos. Learn how to improvise with the Phrygian scale.
Example 2: combining Phrygian and Mixolydian
the chord progression is based on the C Mixolydian scale and is stylistically in a fusion-funk area (ah, that oft maligned style!). The example shows, in addition to a rhythm guitar suggestion, how the chords are connected to the scales, the other scale/s necessarily being the C Phrygian, or alternately the C Locrian scale for the Db/C chord.
This is an excerpt from a transcribed solo in the e-book on the progression illustrating how to make the connection from C Mixolydian (Bb/C chord) to C Phrygian (Db/C) via a line consisting of a BbMaj7 arpeggio, Em7b5 arpeggio to a AbMaj7 arpeggio (last bar). Since C Mixolydian shares the notes with F Major the arpeggios are imported from the harmonized F major scale. C Phrygian, the third mode (thus a major third interval over the Major/Ionian Mode), shares the harmony with Ab, and we use this chord (AbMaj7) as a substitution arpeggio over Db/C.
