Metal · Intermediate · minor key

Phrygian vamp (i–♭II)

i – ♭II – i – ♭II — The half-step ♭II gives an exotic, menacing Spanish or metal sound.

Chord shapes in E minor (standard tuning)

Using a different tuning? Open it in the Looper — it finds playable shapes for whatever tuning you choose.

How the chords work

Written in Roman numerals, this progression is i – ♭II – i – ♭II — in A minor that is Am – Bb – Am – Bb. Each numeral is a step of the scale; upper case is a major chord, lower case minor.

• i — the minor home chord.
• ♭II — a major chord a half step above home: exotic and tense.

Phrygian vamp (i–♭II) in all 12 keys

Practice ideas

• Beginners: play one strum per chord and say the chord names out loud, then two strums, then a steady down-down-up-up-down-up pattern.
• Change keys with a capo: keep the E minor shapes and move a capo up — the capo calculator shows which fret gives the key you want.
• Solo over it: loop it in the Looper and improvise with the E minor pentatonic or E natural minor or E blues scale — the scale pages show every position and play a backing track.
• Train your ear: the progression ear trainer mixes this with similar progressions until you can tell them apart.

Similar progressions

• Phrygian i–♭II–♭VII–i i – ♭II – ♭VII – i
• i–♭VI–V i – ♭VI – V – i
• Phrygian climb i–♭II–♭III–♭II i – ♭II – ♭III – ♭II
• Metal power chords (i–♭VI–♭VII) i5 – ♭VI5 – ♭VII5 – i5
• Minor ♭VI–♭VII–i resolution ♭VI – ♭VII – i – i
• Neapolitan (i–♭II–V–i) i – ♭II – V – i

← Minor line cliché · La Folia →

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