The Locrian Mode on Guitar
Locrian is Phrygian with a flat 5th. In A, that’s A B♭ C D E♭ F G. Losing the perfect 5th means losing a stable home chord, so Locrian never settles. That’s why it has a reputation for being useless. It isn’t. It’s a one-chord scale, and the chord turns up all the time.
Most lessons either write Locrian off or teach it like the other modes: here are the notes, here’s a box, solo over a Locrian vamp. You’ll rarely meet a song that sits in Locrian from start to finish. You’ll meet the half-diminished chord in jazz standards, minor ballads, metal riffs and film cues. Locrian is the scale for that chord. This page shows you how to find it and what to play.
Hear it first
Let the open A string ring. Play this up the G string slowly and let each note hang over it.
One fret is the only difference. The E at the 9th fret is the 5th, the most stable note after the root. That’s Phrygian. Drop it a fret to E♭ and the floor goes. The E♭ sits exactly halfway between one A and the next: the tritone, the most unstable interval there is. Every other mode keeps the E. Locrian doesn’t.
Four patterns, root to root
You’ll find plenty of five-box Locrian charts elsewhere. I don’t use them. A six-string box hides the root somewhere in the middle of a grid of dots. A one-octave pattern that runs from A to A keeps home at the bottom and the top, so you always know which note you’re on.
It also makes the E♭ easy to find. In every pattern below, it’s the second note on the second string, one fret above the D. All four share the same layout: three notes, three notes, two notes.
That’s all the fingering you need. Find any A, play the pattern that starts there, and the E♭ is one fret above the D.
Locrian in every key
The Locrian note is always the flat 5th, six frets from the root. The chord is always the m7♭5 on the root. The last column is the minor pentatonic that fits it, which is explained further down. The patterns above move to any key: put the root on the key note.
| Key | Notes | Flat 5th | Pentatonic that fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| C Locrian | C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ | G♭ | E♭ minor |
| C# Locrian | C# D E F# G A B | G | E minor |
| D Locrian | D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C | A♭ | F minor |
| D# Locrian | D# E F# G# A B C# | A | F# minor |
| E Locrian | E F G A B♭ C D | B♭ | G minor |
| F Locrian | F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ | C♭ | A♭ minor |
| F# Locrian | F# G A B C D E | C | A minor |
| G Locrian | G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F | D♭ | B♭ minor |
| G# Locrian | G# A B C# D E F# | D | B minor |
| A Locrian | A B♭ C D E♭ F G | E♭ | C minor |
| A# Locrian | A# B C# D# E F# G# | E | C# minor |
| B Locrian | B C D E F G A | F | D minor |
When to use Locrian
With the other modes you check the chords for one note. With Locrian you look for one chord.
- If the chord is m7♭5, play Locrian on its root for as long as the chord lasts.
- If the chord has a perfect 5th, Locrian clashes. Use something else.
- Am7♭5 takes A Locrian. Bm7♭5 takes B Locrian. The chord name tells you the scale.
That’s the only mode with a test this simple, because the m7♭5 is the only common chord with a flat 5th on its root. Here’s where you’ll meet it:
| The chord | Where you’ll meet it |
|---|---|
| Am7♭5, D7, Gm | A minor ii–V, in G minor. “Autumn Leaves” and “Blue Bossa” are full of them |
| G#m7♭5 in A major | The 7th chord of a major key |
| A pedal with E♭ on top | Metal riffs |
| Am7♭5, held | Film and suspense |
The chord it lives on
Play Am7 with the root on the low E string (5x555x). Now move the B string down a fret (5x554x).
That’s Am7♭5, the half-diminished chord. The E on the B string drops to E♭. Am7 could end a song. Am7♭5 can’t. It sounds like a question, and that’s exactly what it’s for: it turns up wherever music needs a question before the answer.
The pentatonic you already know
Here’s the shortcut. Am7♭5 has the same notes as Cm6: A, C, E♭ and G. So C minor pentatonic, C E♭ F G B♭, fits it perfectly. Every note is in A Locrian, and none of them is the E that would clash.
The rule for any key: over a m7♭5 chord, play the minor pentatonic a minor 3rd up. Bm7♭5 takes D minor pentatonic. F#m7♭5 takes A minor pentatonic. Most players who think they can’t play over a half-diminished chord already can.
Where the E♭ goes
The E♭ means something different over every chord.
- Over Am7♭5, it’s the 5th. A chord tone. Land on it.
- Over D7, it’s the flat 9th. Let it fall a half step to D.
- Over Cm, it’s the 3rd. Safe and dark.
- Over A or Am, it clashes with the E. Avoid it.
Locrian: Half-Diminished Chords, Tritone Riffs and the Flat 5th
This page gets you the sound and the shapes. The book is about what to do with them. It’s a PDF, so you get it straight away.
- The minor ii–V. Where Locrian starts and stops, and the one note that changes over the V chord.
- Am7♭5 is Cm6. The trick that doubles your chord shapes and tells you what to solo with.
- Tritone riffs. The building blocks of Locrian metal, over a pedal and on the low string.
- Soloing without licks. Ten rules that make you build your own phrases.
- Where you’ll meet it. Jazz, metal, and suspense and ballads, plus twelve vamps to play over.
Common questions
Is the Locrian mode useless?
As a key, nearly. With no perfect 5th, there’s no stable chord to come home to, so whole songs in Locrian are rare. As a scale for one chord, the m7♭5, it’s essential. That chord is all over jazz, minor ballads and metal.
What’s the difference between Locrian and Phrygian?
One note. Locrian has a flat 5th, Phrygian a perfect 5th. In A, that’s E♭ against E. Over Am7♭5, use Locrian. Over Am or A5, use Phrygian.
What chord goes with the Locrian scale?
The half-diminished chord on its root, written m7♭5 or ø. In A, that’s Am7♭5: A, C, E♭ and G. Play it as 5x554x, or open as x0101x.
What scale do you play over a m7♭5 chord?
Locrian on the chord’s root. If that feels like too much, play the minor pentatonic a minor 3rd up: C minor pentatonic over Am7♭5. Jazz players also use a version of Locrian with a natural 2nd, which comes from melodic minor.
Is A Locrian the same as B♭ major?
It has the same notes, so on paper, yes. In practice, thinking “B♭ major” over Am7♭5 is how you end up landing on B♭. It’s more useful to think of A Locrian as A Phrygian with an E♭.
Is Locrian used in metal?
Yes. Over a chugging pedal, the flat 5th sounds like the riff is coming apart, which is the point. Most Locrian riffs are in E or lower, on the open low string.
Get past the scale and into the sound
The minor ii–V, tritone riffs and twelve vamps, in Locrian: Half-Diminished Chords, Tritone Riffs and the Flat 5th.
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