The Locrian Mode
Locrian is natural minor with b2 and b5 — formula 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7 — and its character is unstable by design. In B, the notes are B, C, D, E, F, G, A.
The sound
The mode theory teachers apologise for. Its home chord is diminished — the only mode whose tonic triad can't rest — so almost nothing is "in Locrian". But it earns its place as vocabulary: over half-diminished chords (m7b5), the ii chord in every minor ii–V–i, Locrian is exactly the right set of notes.
B Locrian on the fretboard
B Locrian uses only natural notes — the classic way to first find it — and the shape moves to any key like every guitar scale:
Practice B Locrian on the interactive fretboard →
When to use it
Soloing over m7b5 chords in jazz minor ii–V–i progressions; metal experiments that want maximum instability. Treat it as a chord scale, not a key.
Hear it in one minute: loop the Bm7b5 bar of a Bm7b5–E7–Am progression — suddenly Locrian makes sense.
Locrian in every key
| Key | 1 | b2 | b3 | 4 | b5 | b6 | b7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A | Bb | C | D | Eb | F | G |
| Bb | Bb | Cb | Db | Eb | Fb | Gb | Ab |
| B | B | C | D | E | F | G | A |
| C | C | Db | Eb | F | Gb | Ab | Bb |
| C# | C# | D | E | F# | G | A | B |
| D | D | Eb | F | G | Ab | Bb | C |
| Eb | Eb | Fb | Gb | Ab | B𝄫 | Cb | Db |
| E | E | F | G | A | Bb | C | D |
| F | F | Gb | Ab | Bb | Cb | Db | Eb |
| F# | F# | G | A | B | C | D | E |
| G | G | Ab | Bb | C | Db | Eb | F |
| Ab | Ab | B𝄫 | Cb | Db | E𝄫 | Fb | Gb |
Put it to work over a backing track — a static minor or dominant vamp is the ideal practice bed for modes.