Ab Locrian, Spelled with Double Flats
Ab, Bbb, Cb, Db, Ebb, Fb and Gb make up the Ab Locrian scale. The double flats are just the notes A and D, so on the neck you play what G# Locrian gives you, and that is the spelling a chart would use.
Place the root on the 4th fret of the low E string or the 11th fret of the A string. For context on how the seven modes connect, see practising scales in context.
Play the Ab locrian scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the Ab locrian scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ab | 1 | Root | 0 |
| Bbb | b2 | Minor 2nd | 1 |
| Cb | b3 | Minor 3rd | 3 |
| Db | 4 | Perfect 4th | 5 |
| Ebb | b5 | Tritone | 6 |
| Fb | b6 | Minor 6th | 8 |
| Gb | b7 | Minor 7th | 10 |
Structure
Ab locrian scale notes:
How the locrian scale is built:
The locrian scale is built from the degrees 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7, which gives the step pattern H-W-W-H-W-W-W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10. That makes it a 7-note scale.
It is mode 7 of the Major Scale, so both scales share the same notes from a different starting point.
Ab Locrian Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (G)
Box pattern — position 1
Box pattern — position 2
Box pattern — position 3
Box pattern — position 4
Box pattern — position 5
3 notes per string — position 1
3 notes per string — position 2
3 notes per string — position 3
3 notes per string — position 4
3 notes per string — position 5
Chords in the Ab locrian scale
Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.
Related modes
These scales share the same notes as the locrian scale, starting from a different degree.
The locrian scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
