F locrian
F natural minor with two notes lowered: G♭ and C♭. Seven notes: F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭. The same notes as G♭ major, centred on F. Locrian is rarely used as a home key.
- Parent key
- G♭ major Same notes
- Colour note
- G♭ and C♭ The flat 2nd and 5th
- Repeating chords
- F° – G♭ i° – ♭II
Across one chord in different positions. Down one place, every chord of the mode. | ||||
| i°VampF°F · A♭ · C♭ | ||||
| ♭IIVampG♭G♭ · B♭ · D♭ | ||||
| ♭iiiA♭mA♭ · C♭ · E♭ | ||||
| ivB♭mB♭ · D♭ · F | ||||
| ♭VC♭C♭ · E♭ · G♭ | ||||
| ♭VID♭D♭ · F · A♭ | ||||
| ♭viiE♭mE♭ · G♭ · B♭ |
What makes it locrian
Natural minor, with the 2nd and 5th lowered
Two notes separate F locrian from F natural minor: G becomes G♭ and C becomes C♭. Over the same root, that turns Fm – G° into F° – G♭.
- F
- G
- A♭
- B♭
- C
- D♭
- E♭
- F
- G♭
- A♭
- B♭
- C♭
- D♭
- E♭
Hear the difference
One chord that says locrian
Fm7♭5 holds C♭, one of the mode's two colour notes. Play it to hear those notes together.
The brightness ladder
Seven modes on F
From brightest to darkest, each row lowers one note of the row above. Locrian is row 7 of seven.
↑ Brighter
- F lydianFGABCDE♯4
- F ionian (major)FGAB♭CDE—
- F mixolydianFGAB♭CDE♭♭7
- F dorianFGA♭B♭CDE♭♭3 ♭7
- F aeolian (natural minor)FGA♭B♭CD♭E♭♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F phrygianFG♭A♭B♭CD♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭6 ♭7
- F locrianFG♭A♭B♭C♭D♭E♭♭2 ♭3 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Darker ↓
Jam along
Three drills over the vamp
Play over the repeating F° – G♭ chords with a metronome. The neck highlights the notes to aim for, with G♭ and C♭ ringed.
- The vamp, with a clickF° – G♭, 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 F° – G♭ sounds. Stay in frets 3–7.80 bpmLevel 1
- Land on the colour noteOver F°, aim for C♭; over G♭, aim for G♭. They are the notes that make it locrian.80 bpmLevel 2