Bb Locrian
B flat Locrian scale for guitar.
The Bb Locrian is a seven-note scale, it is also called a mode. Colored circles in the diagram mark the notes in the scale (darker color highlighting the root notes). In the fretboard pattern, the first root note is on the 6th string, 6th fret.
Bb Locrian 2 octaves
Bb Locrian full fretboard
Bb Locrian note names
The scale displayed with its numeric formula, notes, intervals and scale degrees.
| Formula | Notes | Intervals | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bb | Unison | Tonic |
| b2 | Cb | Minor second | Supertonic |
| b3 | Db | Minor third | Mediant |
| 4 | Eb | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| b5 | Fb | Diminished fifth | Dominant |
| b6 | Gb | Minor sixth | Submediant |
| b7 | Ab | Minor seventh | Subtonic |
The second degree is written as Cb, which is the same as B. The fifth degree is written as Fb, which is the same as E. A practice in a scale notation is to not include the same letter twice, if it can be avoided.
The B flat Locrian scale consists of seven notes. These can be described as steps on the guitar fingerboard according to the following formula: half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole from the first note to the same in the next octave.
The Bb Locrian is a mode of the B Major Scale. It contains exactly the same notes, but starts on another note.
This scale is primarily used in jazz and is rare in popular music.
The easiest way to learn this scale is to think of it as the B Major starting on its seventh note.
Chords that are related to this scale are the following:
| Bbdim, Bbm7b5 |
| Cb, Cbmaj7, Cb6, Cb6/9, Cbmaj9, Cbmaj13 |
| Dbm, Dbm7, Dbm6, Dbm9, Dbm11, Dbm13 |
| Ebm, Ebm7 |
| Fb, Fbmaj7, Fb6, Fb6/9, Fbmaj9, Fbmaj13 |
| Gb, Gb7, Gb6, Gb6/9, Gb9, Gb11, Gb13 |
| Abm, Abm7, Abm9, Abm11 |
The tones in these chords correspond to the tones of the Bb Locrian scale.
Related to Locrian are Locrian ♮2 and Locrian #6, being the 4th mode of the Melodic Minor and the 2nd mode of the Harmonic Minor.
The Bb Locrian ♮2 scale, also called Bb Half-diminished scale, is identical with the Bb Locrian except for a major second instead of a minor second which is indicated by the natural symbol. It can be displayed as follows:
| Formula | Notes | Intervals | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bb | Unison | Tonic |
| 2 | C | Major second | Supertonic |
| b3 | Db | Minor third | Mediant |
| 4 | Eb | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| b5 | Fb | Diminished fifth | Dominant |
| b6 | Gb | Minor sixth | Submediant |
| b7 | Ab | Minor seventh | Subtonic |
The Bb Locrian ♮2 contains the same notes as the Db Melodic Minor Scale, but starts on another note.
The Bb Locrian #6 scale is identical with the Bb Locrian except for a major sixth instead of a minor sixth which is indicated by the sharp symbol in the name. It can be displayed as follows:
| Formula | Notes | Intervals | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bb | Unison | Tonic |
| b2 | Cb | Minor second | Supertonic |
| b3 | Db | Minor third | Mediant |
| 4 | Eb | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| b5 | Fb | Diminished fifth | Dominant |
| 6 | G | Major sixth | Submediant |
| b7 | Ab | Minor seventh | Subtonic |
The Bb Locrian #6 contains the same notes as the Ab Harmonic Minor Scale, but starts on another note.