F Locrian scale on piano
F Locrian has 7 notes: F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭. Degrees: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7. Formula: H W W H W W W.
What notes are in the F Locrian scale?
F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭ and E♭. It has 7 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is H W W H W W W.
What does F Locrian sound like, and when do you use it?
Unstable, no perfect fifth: pure tension that wants to move. Use it over m7♭5 · the vii of a major key (the ii of a minor ii–V).
Chords in F Locrian
| Degree | Triad | Seventh chord |
|---|---|---|
| i° | F° | Fm7♭5 |
| ♭II | G♭ | G♭maj7 |
| ♭iii | A♭m | A♭m7 |
| iv | B♭m | B♭m7 |
| ♭V | C♭ | C♭maj7 |
| ♭VI | D♭ | D♭7 |
| ♭vii | E♭m | E♭m7 |
Chord progressions to improvise with F Locrian
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the keyboard lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in F:
- Locrian vamp (iø7–♭IImaj7): Fm7♭5 | G♭maj7. No perfect fifth: the C♭ is the color. The ♭II gives the G♭ somewhere to land.
- Modal (iø7): a Fm7♭5 vamp. A sustained half-diminished chord: pure tension that wants to move.
F Locrian on the keyboard
It uses 5 black keys: G♭, A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭. On the interactive keyboard above you can hear it, show its degrees or intervals and practice its chords.
Same notes as
F♯ major · D♯ natural minor · F♯ Ionian · G♯ Dorian · A♯ Phrygian · B Lydian · C♯ Mixolydian · D♯ Aeolian