F Locrian
The F Locrian mode — F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb — shown across the guitar neck.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
F Locrian is the natural minor with the b2 and b5 — Gb and Cb. Those are the notes that give it its character.
What is F Locrian?
F Locrian is the seven notes F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb — the notes of F# major started from its 7th degree, F. Same seven notes as the parent, but with F as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
F Locrian vs F 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 Gb in Locrian, where F natural minor has 2, G.
- b5 is Cb in Locrian, where F natural minor has 5, C.
Play F natural minor and F Locrian back to back over a Fm chord and listen for Gb and Cb — those are the notes to lean on.
Chords in F Locrian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Fdim; 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.
F Locrian on the guitar neck
Because F 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 F. Learn that shape with F as home — start and end on it, over a drone on F — 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 F Locrian on guitar
- Loop position 7 of F# major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on F so your ear hears F as home rather than F#.
- Hold a Fdim chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on Gb and Cb 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# (the same pitch as F) 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 F.
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