B Locrian mode
B Locrian mode is B – C – D – E – F – G – A, all naturals. Formula 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
Notes and steps
From B upward the gaps are H W W H W W W (W = whole step, H = half step). The half steps fall between B–C and E–F.
| Degree | Note | Interval from B | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | root | |
| ♭2 | C | minor second | |
| ♭3 | D | minor third | |
| 4 | E | perfect fourth | |
| ♭5 | F | tritone | |
| ♭6 | G | minor sixth | |
| ♭7 | A | minor seventh |
What B Locrian sounds like
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 Bm7♭5 chord: the ♭2 (C) and ♭5 (F) are the notes that make the mode sound like itself.
Compared with B natural minor scale, B Locrian mode has C and F where the other has C♯ and F♯; the other five notes are shared. Hear B natural minor scale and compare.
B Locrian mode uses the same seven notes as C major, starting from B instead of C. Same notes, different home note: what makes it Locrian is playing it over a B bass or chord.
Playing B Locrian
All white keys on the piano.
The guitar box starts with the root at the 7th fret of the low E string and spans frets 5–11: 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 B Locrian mode; the ones that differ from the C major set are what give the mode its color. Tap to hear each one.
Same notes, different home: C major (starting on the 2nd note, C), D Dorian (starting on the 3rd note, D), E Phrygian (starting on the 4th note, E), F Lydian (starting on the 5th note, F), G Mixolydian (starting on the 6th note, G) and A natural minor (starting on the 7th note, A). Play any of them over a drone on its first note and the mood changes, even though the keys you press don't.
Finding B Locrian on the neck
The root, B, sits at fret 7 on the low E string and 2 and 14 on the A string. Work up the neck in five positions (low E string frets 2, 4, 7, 9 and 12) and you'll have it everywhere. Mostly used over a half-diminished chord rather than as a home key, because its tonic chord is unstable.
On the piano, B Locrian mode uses no black keys at all.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's B–D, C–E, D–F, E–G, F–A, G–B, A–C.
Drills for B Locrian
Running a scale straight up and down only teaches the order. These patterns use the same 7 notes and train your ear and fingers to jump around inside B Locrian mode.
- Groups of three: B C D · C D E · D E F · E F G · F G A · G A B.
- Land on F: B F B F B: the ♭5 makes even the home chord unstable.
Close relatives of B Locrian mode
Locrian mode in every key
B Locrian mode: questions
What are the notes of the B Locrian mode?
7 notes: B, C, D, E, F, G and A.
How many sharps or flats are in the B Locrian mode?
Zero: B Locrian is all naturals.
What chords are in the B Locrian mode?
Stacking thirds on each note gives Bdim (i°), C (II), Dm (iii), Em (iv), F (V), G (VI) and Am (vii).
What's the difference between B Locrian mode and B natural minor scale?
C and F in B Locrian; C♯ and F♯ in the other. Everything else is the same.
Which major scale has the same notes as B Locrian mode?
C major. B Locrian is C major played from its 7th note, B.
Every note on this page is computed from 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 and tested. Updated September 2026.