Phrygian has the potential to sound very menacing and is a favourite in the realms of metal and heavy rock.

• To play Phrygian mode on the piano, just play all the white notes on a piano, starting on E.
• Phrygian mode consists of notes with the following intervals: S-T-T-T-S-T-T
• As an example, make sure that “D” is at the top of the circle. You can see that in order to play D phrygian mode, you simply need to play an A# major scale, but concentrating on the D.
• To see what notes are in a D phrygian scale, first put D at the top of the circle and look at the note in the Phrygian position — that is A#, so D phrygian is achieved by using the A# major scale. Then move A# to the top of the circle and you can see what notes are in D phrygian, because they are the notes from the A# major scale: D, D#, F, G, A, A#, C.
• To play chords in D phrygian, first put D at the top of the circle and look at the note in the Phrygian position — that is A#, so you play chords from the key of A# major. Then move A# to the top of the circle and you can see those chords, which are the chords for D phrygian: Dm, D#, F, Gm, Adim, A#, Cm.
• Play any major scale but start on (concentrate on) the 3rd note in order to achieve a phrygian scale.
• D phrygian is relative to (contains all the same notes as) A# major (or A# ionian).