Where to capo for A Phrygian
Put the capo at fret 5 and play A Phrygian using E Phrygian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing A Phrygian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 4.7 to 3.4 and gains 4 ringing open strings.
You want A. Capo 5 and play in E.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes A Phrygian down by that many frets to find the shapes your hand would actually make, then scores the best voicing of all seven chords — fewer fingers, less stretch, closer to the nut, fewer muted strings. Lower is easier. Standard tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4).
| Capo | Shapes you play | Open strings | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | E Phrygian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 3 | F# Phrygian | 19 | 3.9 |
| 1 | G# Phrygian | 10 | 4.4 |
| None | A Phrygian | 15 | 4.7 |
| 6 | D# Phrygian | 8 | 5.2 |
| 7 | D Phrygian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 2 | G Phrygian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 4 | F Phrygian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of A Phrygian are Am, Bb, C, Dm, Edim, F, Gm — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the A Phrygian key page.