This improvisation involved staying with exploration of a single mode, F♯ Phrygian Dominant, for the majority of the piece, with only a brief colouration from B Dorian. Normally I explore modulations to other modes/keys more extensively in my improvisations, but this piece barely moved from F♯ Phrygian Dominant. It was a portrait of staying the course, no matter how unsettling that one modal space could feel. Instead of fully stepping outside that modal space, like a lot of my modulations tend to, the brief colouration from B Dorian just brightened that same unsettled space for a moment: letting some light into the darkened room, so to speak. The modes of the harmonic minor scale (the Phrygian Dominant being one of them) can certainly have an unsettled and ambiguous character; along with mystery, passion, darkness and wonder. For F♯ Phrygian Dominant specifically, I sensed bitterness, high friction and static intensity. Of course, this is all subjective, and this improvisation is a portrait of some of the colours and identities I personally see in the F♯ Phrygian Dominant mode. Here it is:
I mentioned in a previous post my recent decision to branch out outside my comfort zone of flat key signatures, and this is another example of that, partly driven by my curiosity to see what emerges. Sometimes I find that exploring different keys can result in different ideas and motifs appearing, even if the patterns of tones and semitones are the same (as they would be if going from one minor key to another minor key, or the 5th mode of that minor scale, to the 5th mode of another minor scale, for example).
For this improvisation I started with some low register spread (rolled) chords in F♯ Phrygian Dominant, then a very low left hand trill; followed by a tonic pedal bass with a fast descending scalic melody that starts very high and ends up very low. Then I played some sweeping fast arpeggiated figures, ascending and descending, using a progression of chords diatonic to the F♯ Phrygian Dominant mode.
Next I played a fast arpeggiated left hand accompaniment figure in the middle register of the piano, with a right hand melody, emphasising an add9 of an E minor chord (which could also be interpreted as a tonic pedal within the F♯ Phrygian Dominant mode). This came about because I am very keen on the sound of add9 chords and 9th chords. There is a difference: 9th chords are upper extensions, as opposed to add9 chords which literally only add the 9th — upper extensions imply the presence of the 7th of the chord too.
Then I played some slow, low register block chords, which for a brief moment hinted at B minor (the parent scale of F♯ Phrygian Dominant), before modulating to B Dorian, again very briefly. Then the music moved back to F♯ Phrygian Dominant.
From there, I played the low bass trill again, then a variation of the earlier fast descending scalic melody accompanied by tonic pedal bass. Then the music closed with more block chords (with rolled embellishment), and a brief, slow melody.
Mode Table
F♯ Phrygian Dominant is the 5th mode of the B harmonic minor scale. B Dorian is the second mode of the A major scale.
| Mode | Parent Scale | Notes of the Mode |
|---|---|---|
| F♯ Phrygian Dominant | B harmonic minor | F♯ – G – A♯ – B – C♯ – D – E |
| B Dorian | A major | B – C♯ – D – E – F♯ – G♯ – A |
Further listening
You might also like:
Other, Part II — Improvisation in B Aeolian, B♭ Lydian ♯ 2 & A Phrygian Dominant
Rhapsody in D — Improvisation in D Mixolydian ♭6 & D Aeolian, With F Major
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