Where to capo for D Phrygian
Put the capo at fret 3 and play D Phrygian using B Phrygian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing D Phrygian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 5.6 to 3.4 and gains 13 ringing open strings.
You want D. Capo 3 and play in B.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes D 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | B Phrygian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 1 | C# Phrygian | 14 | 4.3 |
| 6 | G# Phrygian | 10 | 4.4 |
| 5 | A Phrygian | 15 | 4.7 |
| 4 | Bb Phrygian | 3 | 5.6 |
| None | D Phrygian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 7 | G Phrygian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 2 | C Phrygian | 2 | 6.2 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of D Phrygian are Dm, Eb, F, Gm, Adim, Bb, Cm — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the D Phrygian key page.