D Locrian mode
D Locrian mode is D – E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C, with E♭, A♭ and B♭. Formula 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
D Locrian mode, note by note
The step pattern is H W W H W W W (W = whole step, H = half step). The half steps fall between D–E♭ and G–A♭.
| Degree | Note | Interval from D | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | root | |
| ♭2 | E♭ | minor second | |
| ♭3 | F | minor third | |
| 4 | G | perfect fourth | |
| ♭5 | A♭ | tritone | |
| ♭6 | B♭ | minor sixth | |
| ♭7 | C | minor seventh |
The sound of D 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 Dm7♭5 chord: the ♭2 (E♭) and ♭5 (A♭) are the notes that make the mode sound like itself.
Compared with D natural minor scale, D Locrian mode has E♭ and A♭ where the other has E and A; the other five notes are shared. Hear D natural minor scale and compare.
D Locrian mode uses the same seven notes as E♭ major, starting from D instead of E♭. Same notes, different home note: what makes it Locrian is playing it over a D bass or chord.
Playing D Locrian
On the piano it uses three black keys (E♭, A♭ and B♭) and four white.
The guitar box starts with the root at the 10th fret of the low E string and spans frets 8–14: 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 D Locrian mode; the ones that differ from the E♭ major set are what give the mode its color. Tap to hear each one.
Same notes, different home: C natural minor (starting on the 7th note, C), E♭ major (starting on the 2nd note, E♭), F Dorian (starting on the 3rd note, F), G Phrygian (starting on the 4th note, G), A♭ Lydian (starting on the 5th note, A♭) and B♭ Mixolydian (starting on the 6th note, B♭). Play any of them over a drone on its first note and the mood changes, even though the keys you press don't.
Moving it around the guitar
The root, D, sits at fret 10 on the low E string and 5 on the A string. Five overlapping fingerings cover the neck, starting near frets 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 on the low E string. Mostly used over a half-diminished chord rather than as a home key, because its tonic chord is unstable.
On the piano, D Locrian mode uses 3 black keys (E♭, A♭ and B♭) and 4 white.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's D–F, E♭–G, F–A♭, G–B♭, A♭–C, B♭–D, C–E♭.
Drills for D Locrian
Try these after the plain scale. Tap to hear each pattern at a steady speed, then play along.
- Up in threes: D E♭ F · E♭ F G · F G A♭ · G A♭ B♭ · A♭ B♭ C · B♭ C D.
- Land on A♭: D A♭ D A♭ D: the ♭5 makes even the home chord unstable.
Close relatives of D Locrian mode
Locrian mode in every key
D Locrian mode: questions
What are the notes of the D Locrian mode?
D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D. As degrees: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7.
How many sharps or flats are in the D Locrian mode?
Three: E♭, A♭ and B♭.
What chords are in the D Locrian mode?
Stacking thirds on each note gives Ddim (i°), E♭ (II), Fm (iii), Gm (iv), A♭ (V), B♭ (VI) and Cm (vii).
What's the difference between D Locrian mode and D natural minor scale?
E♭ and A♭ in D Locrian; E and A in the other. Everything else is the same.
Which major scale has the same notes as D Locrian mode?
E♭ major. D Locrian is E♭ major played from its 7th note, D.
Generated from the step pattern 1-2-2-1-2-2-2 and checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026.