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