C locrian
C natural minor with two notes lowered: D♭ and G♭. Seven notes: C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭. The same notes as D♭ major, centred on C. Locrian is rarely used as a home key.
- Parent key
- D♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- D♭ and G♭ The flat 2nd and 5th
- Repeating chords
- C° – D♭ i° – ♭II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| i°VampC°C · E♭ · G♭ | ||||
| ♭IIVampD♭D♭ · F · A♭ | ||||
| ♭iiiE♭mE♭ · G♭ · B♭ | ||||
| ivFmF · A♭ · C | ||||
| ♭VG♭G♭ · B♭ · D♭ | ||||
| ♭VIA♭A♭ · C · E♭ | ||||
| ♭viiB♭mB♭ · D♭ · F |
What makes it locrian
Natural minor, with the 2nd and 5th lowered
Two notes separate C locrian from C natural minor: D becomes D♭ and G becomes G♭. Over the same root, that turns Cm – D° into C° – D♭.
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
- C
- D♭
- E♭
- F
- G♭
- A♭
- B♭
Hear the difference
One chord that says locrian
Cm7♭5 holds G♭, one of the mode's two colour notes. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on C
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Locrian is row 7 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- C lydianCDEF♯GAB♯4
- C ionian (major)CDEFGAB—
- C mixolydianCDEFGAB♭♭7
- C dorianCDE♭FGAB♭♭3 ♭7
- C aeolian (natural minor)CDE♭FGA♭B♭♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- C phrygianCD♭E♭FGA♭B♭♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- C locrianCD♭E♭FG♭A♭B♭♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating C° – D♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with D♭ and G♭ ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickC° – D♭, two bars each, in frets 3–7. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while C° – D♭ sounds. Stay in frets 3–7.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver C°, aim for G♭; over D♭, aim for D♭. They are the notes that make it locrian.80 bpmLevel 2