D locrian
D natural minor with two notes lowered: E♭ and A♭. Seven notes: D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C. The same notes as E♭ major, centred on D. Locrian is rarely used as a home key.
- Parent key
- E♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- E♭ and A♭ The flat 2nd and 5th
- Repeating chords
- D° – E♭ i° – ♭II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| i°VampD°D · F · A♭ | ||||
| ♭IIVampE♭E♭ · G · B♭ | ||||
| ♭iiiFmF · A♭ · C | ||||
| ivGmG · B♭ · D | ||||
| ♭VA♭A♭ · C · E♭ | ||||
| ♭VIB♭B♭ · D · F | ||||
| ♭viiCmC · E♭ · G |
What makes it locrian
Natural minor, with the 2nd and 5th lowered
Two notes separate D locrian from D natural minor: E becomes E♭ and A becomes A♭. Over the same root, that turns Dm – E° into D° – E♭.
- D
- E
- F
- G
- A
- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
- C
Hear the difference
One chord that says locrian
Dm7♭5 holds A♭, one of the mode's two colour notes. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on D
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Locrian is row 7 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- D lydianDEF♯G♯ABC♯♯4
- D ionian (major)DEF♯GABC♯—
- D mixolydianDEF♯GABC♭7
- D dorianDEFGABC♭3 ♭7
- D aeolian (natural minor)DEFGAB♭C♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- D phrygianDE♭FGAB♭C♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- D locrianDE♭FGA♭B♭C♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating D° – E♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with E♭ and A♭ ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickD° – E♭, two bars each, in frets 3–6. Strum on the beat.80 bpmLevel 1
- Scale over the vampUp the scale and back down, one note a beat, while D° – E♭ sounds. Stay in frets 3–6.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver D°, aim for A♭; over E♭, aim for E♭. They are the notes that make it locrian.80 bpmLevel 2