F Locrian mode
F Locrian mode is F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭, with G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭ and E♭. Formula 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7. Play it, then slow the tempo until every note is clear.
F Locrian mode, note by note
Counted in steps it goes H W W H W W W (W = whole step, H = half step). The half steps fall between F–G♭ and B♭–C♭.
| Degree | Note | Interval from F | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | root | |
| ♭2 | G♭ | minor second | |
| ♭3 | A♭ | minor third | |
| 4 | B♭ | perfect fourth | |
| ♭5 | C♭ | tritone | |
| ♭6 | D♭ | minor sixth | |
| ♭7 | E♭ | minor seventh |
The sound of F Locrian mode
Locrian has a lowered 2nd and a lowered 5th, so its home chord is diminished. It's the least stable mode and is used more as a color over half-diminished chords than as a key.
Try it over a Fm7♭5 chord: the ♭2 (G♭) and ♭5 (C♭) are the notes that make the mode sound like itself.
Compared with F natural minor scale, F Locrian mode has G♭ and C♭ where the other has G and C; the other five notes are shared. Hear F natural minor scale and compare.
F Locrian mode uses the same seven notes as F♯ major, starting from F instead of F♯. Same notes, different home note: what makes it Locrian is playing it over a F bass or chord.
Where your hands go
On the piano it uses five black keys (G♭, A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and two white. C♭ is a white key with a sharp or flat name, because each letter can appear only once in the scale.
The guitar box starts with the root at the 1st fret of the low E string and spans frets 0–5: 18 notes, low string to high.
Chords built on each note
Stack every other note of the scale on each degree and you get 7 chords. These are the chords that fit F Locrian mode; the ones that differ from the F♯ major set are what give the mode its color. Tap to hear each one.
F Locrian mode shares all its notes with C♯ Mixolydian (starting on the 6th note, C♯), E♭ natural minor (starting on the 7th note, E♭), F♯ major (starting on the 2nd note, F♯), G♯ Dorian (starting on the 3rd note, G♯), B♭ Phrygian (starting on the 4th note, B♭) and B Lydian (starting on the 5th note, B). Which one you hear depends on which note the music treats as home.
Finding F Locrian on the neck
Find F first: fret 1 and 13 of the 6th string, fret 8 of the 5th. Most guitarists learn it in five overlapping positions; on the low E string they begin around frets 1, 3, 6, 8 and 10. Mostly used over a half-diminished chord rather than as a home key, because its tonic chord is unstable.
On the piano, F Locrian mode uses 5 black keys (G♭, A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and 2 white.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's F–A♭, G♭–B♭, A♭–C♭, B♭–D♭, C♭–E♭, D♭–F, E♭–G♭.
Drills for F Locrian
Once F Locrian is comfortable up and down, break the order. Each pattern below uses only its 7 notes.
- Groups of three: F G♭ A♭ · G♭ A♭ B♭ · A♭ B♭ C♭ · B♭ C♭ D♭ · C♭ D♭ E♭ · D♭ E♭ F.
- Land on C♭: F C♭ F C♭ F: the ♭5 makes even the home chord unstable.
Try next, from F
Locrian mode in every key
F Locrian mode: questions
What are the notes of the F Locrian mode?
F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F. As degrees: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7.
How many sharps or flats are in the F Locrian mode?
Six: G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭ and E♭.
What chords are in the F Locrian mode?
Stacking thirds on each note gives Fdim (i°), G♭ (II), A♭m (iii), B♭m (iv), C♭ (V), D♭ (VI) and E♭m (vii).
What's the difference between F Locrian mode and F natural minor scale?
G♭ and C♭ in F Locrian; G and C in the other. Everything else is the same.
Which major scale has the same notes as F Locrian mode?
F♯ major. F Locrian is F♯ major played from its 7th note, F.
Notes and fingering generated from the scale formula and checked automatically against the step pattern. Updated September 2026.