A Locrian
The A Locrian mode — A Bb C D Eb F G — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
A Locrian is the natural minor with the b2 and b5 — Bb and Eb. Those are the notes that give it its character.
What is A Locrian?
A Locrian is the seven notes A Bb C D Eb F G — the notes of Bb major started from its 7th degree, A. Same seven notes as the parent, but with A as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
A Locrian vs A natural minor
5 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is 2 notes, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- b2 is Bb in Locrian, where A natural minor has 2, B.
- b5 is Eb in Locrian, where A natural minor has 5, E.
Play A natural minor and A Locrian back to back over a Am chord and listen for Bb and Eb — those are the notes to lean on.
Chords in A Locrian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Adim; the rest are the chords of Bb major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. There is no settled two-chord vamp for Locrian: its home chord is diminished, which is why the mode is heard as a passing colour over other harmony more often than as a key of its own.
A Locrian on the guitar neck
Because A Locrian is Bb major from its 7th note, its natural fingering is position 7 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of Bb major — the shape whose lowest note is A. Learn that shape with A as home — start and end on it, over a drone on A — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with Bb as home and you hear Bb major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice A Locrian on guitar
- Loop position 7 of Bb major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on A so your ear hears A as home rather than Bb.
- Hold a Adim chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on Bb and Eb on the strong beats — that is the sound of Locrian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws A Locrian from its own root: the orange dots are on A and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, Bb major; to hear Locrian, start and end on A.
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