ArpeggiosEN

Scale quality

locrian

Locrian is the seventh degree of the major scale and the darkest of the seven: a minor scale with a flattened second and a flattened fifth. The flat fifth is the tritone, sitting right above the root, so the tonic chord of the scale is already unstable — there is no comfortable place to rest. That is exactly why locrian is the sound of the m7♭5 chord and the ii chord in a minor ii–V–i, where it functions as a passing harmony rather than a home. It is rare as a key centre and common as a colour. Listen for the flat fifth and flat second framing the root.

Formula
1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7
Notes
C♯ D E F♯ G A B
Family
Major scale modes

Notation in C♯

representative key
441♭2♭34♭5♭6♭71

Fretboard — frets 0–12

C♯ locrian — frets 0 to 12, 48 notes, roots in orange♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭3♭71♭2♭34♭5♭6♭7♭5♭6♭71♭2♭34♭5♭2♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭6♭71♭2♭34♭5♭6♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭30123456789101112
C♯ locrian — frets 0 to 12, 48 notes, roots in orange♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭3♭71♭2♭34♭5♭6♭7♭5♭6♭71♭2♭34♭5♭2♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭6♭71♭2♭34♭5♭6♭34♭5♭6♭71♭2♭30123456789101112

All 17 keys

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Same family

How to practise this scale

  • Play the flat fifth against the root and hold the instability.
  • Improvise over an m7♭5 chord and keep returning to the flat fifth.
  • Compare it with aeolian and hear what lowering the second and fifth does.
  • Play the scale over a half-diminished chord that resolves to a dominant.