The Phrygian Reel (Hop Reel)
A tune composed using the Phrygian mode which, on the white notes of the piano, is the seven notes starting from an E note. E, F, G, A, B, C, D. It is common enough to classical music and jazz, but very rarely found in Irish traditional music. Not to be confused with the Phrygian Dominant mode often used in Spanish flamenco, which is E, F, G#, A, B, C, D. This tune has occasional bars of 6/4 which ‘hop’ the tune out of a usual reel structure. This is a rhythmic trick used by Tommy Potts and Con Cassidy, among others, apparently to fool dancers!
