B Locrian
The B Locrian mode — B C D E F G A — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
B Locrian is the natural minor with the b2 and b5 — C and F. Those are the notes that give it its character.
What is B Locrian?
B Locrian is the seven notes B C D E F G A — the notes of C major started from its 7th degree, B. Same seven notes as the parent, but with B as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
B Locrian vs B 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 C in Locrian, where B natural minor has 2, C#.
- b5 is F in Locrian, where B natural minor has 5, F#.
Play B natural minor and B Locrian back to back over a Bm chord and listen for C and F — those are the notes to lean on.
Chords in B Locrian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Bdim; the rest are the chords of C 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.
B Locrian on the guitar neck
Because B Locrian is C major from its 7th note, its natural fingering is position 7 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of C major — the shape whose lowest note is B. Learn that shape with B as home — start and end on it, over a drone on B — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with C as home and you hear C major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice B Locrian on guitar
- Loop position 7 of C major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on B so your ear hears B as home rather than C.
- Hold a Bdim chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on C and F 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 B Locrian from its own root: the orange dots are on B and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, C major; to hear Locrian, start and end on B.
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