Where to capo for Bb Phrygian
Put the capo at fret 6 and play Bb 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 Bb Phrygian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 5.6 to 3.4 and gains 16 ringing open strings.
You want Bb Phrygian. Capo 6 and play in E Phrygian.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes Bb 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | E Phrygian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 4 | Gb Phrygian | 19 | 3.9 |
| 2 | Ab Phrygian | 10 | 4.4 |
| 1 | A Phrygian | 15 | 4.7 |
| 7 | Eb Phrygian | 8 | 5.2 |
| None | Bb Phrygian | 3 | 5.6 |
| 3 | G Phrygian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 5 | F Phrygian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven seventh chords of Bb Phrygian are Bbm7, CbMaj7, Db7, Ebm7, Fm7b5, GbMaj7, Abm7 — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Explore this key on the Bb Phrygian key page.