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