Scales › Locrian ♮6

Locrian ♮6 scale

half-diminished with major thirteenth

7 notes

RC b9Db b3Eb 11F b5Gb 13A b7Bb

guide tones (3rd & 7th — the heart of the sound) avoid (strong clash)

C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · A · Bb

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Locrian ♮6 on the guitar: the fretboard diagram

Here is the Locrian ♮6 scale laid out across the whole neck, from fret 0 to fret 15. The guide tones (3rd and 7th) are highlighted — they're what makes the scale's color sing. Use the key selector above to shift the shape along the neck and find the positions in your key.

E 11 b5 13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 B R b9 b3 11 b5 13 b7 R b9 G 13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 13 b7 D b3 11 b5 13 b7 R b9 b3 11 A 13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 13 b7 R E 11 b5 13 b7 R b9 b3 11 b5 0123456789101112131415

What color?

Locrian whose sixth is natural (major thirteenth) instead of b13, which brightens the m7b5 a little. A less closed color than classic Locrian, exotic without being austere, drawn from harmonic minor.

Origin & history

The second mode of the harmonic minor. A mode of modern modal theory, with no tradition of its own, its dark color tempered by a major sixth.

Which chords to play it on?

Outside the functional consensus: this is an exploration color. Lay it over a vamp or a held chord to tint your improvisation with an unexpected flavor, rather than inside a cadence.

Sibling modes

The Locrian ♮6 scale is one of the modes of the harmonic minor : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (harmonic minor).

harmonic minor classical minor, augmented second Ionian ♯5 (augmented major) major with augmented fifth Dorian ♯4 (Romanian) Romanian Dorian ♯4 Phrygian dominant (Spanish) Spanish flamenco ♭9 Lydian ♯2 crystalline Lydian ♯2 super-Locrian ♭♭7 (ultralocrian) diminished Locrian, bb7

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →