A locrian
A natural minor with two notes lowered: B♭ and E♭. Seven notes: A B♭ C D E♭ F G. The same notes as B♭ major, centred on A. Locrian is rarely used as a home key.
- Parent key
- B♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- B♭ and E♭ The flat 2nd and 5th
- Repeating chords
- A° – B♭ i° – ♭II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| i°VampA°A · C · E♭ | ||||
| ♭IIVampB♭B♭ · D · F | ||||
| ♭iiiCmC · E♭ · G | ||||
| ivDmD · F · A | ||||
| ♭VE♭E♭ · G · B♭ | ||||
| ♭VIFF · A · C | ||||
| ♭viiGmG · B♭ · D |
What makes it locrian
Natural minor, with the 2nd and 5th lowered
Two notes separate A locrian from A natural minor: B becomes B♭ and E becomes E♭. Over the same root, that turns Am – B° into A° – B♭.
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- A
- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
Hear the difference
One chord that says locrian
Am7♭5 holds E♭, one of the mode's two colour notes. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on A
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Locrian is row 7 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- A lydianABC♯D♯EF♯G♯♯4
- A ionian (major)ABC♯DEF♯G♯—
- A mixolydianABC♯DEF♯G♭7
- A dorianABCDEF♯G♭3 ♭7
- A aeolian (natural minor)ABCDEFG♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- A phrygianAB♭CDEFG♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- A locrianAB♭CDE♭FG♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating A° – B♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with B♭ and E♭ ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickA° – B♭, two bars each, in frets 2–6. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while A° – B♭ sounds. Stay in frets 2–6.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver A°, aim for E♭; over B♭, aim for B♭. They are the notes that make it locrian.80 bpmLevel 2