A# Locrian on Guitar

A# Locrian is A#, B, C#, D#, E, F# and G#, and the sharp spelling is the friendly one: Bb Locrian sounds identical but needs Cb and Fb. The root is on the 6th fret of the low E string.

Play the A# locrian scale

Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.

Notes of the A# locrian scale

NoteDegreeIntervalSemitones from root
A#1Root0
Bb2Minor 2nd1
C#b3Minor 3rd3
D#4Perfect 4th5
Eb5Tritone6
F#b6Minor 6th8
G#b7Minor 7th10

Structure

A# locrian scale notes:

A# B C# D# E F# G#

How the locrian scale is built:

1
b2
2
b3
3
4
b5
5
b6
6
b7
7

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.

A# Locrian Scale Guitar Patterns

Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - On one string (A)

On one string (A)

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 1

Box pattern — position 1

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 2

Box pattern — position 2

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 3

Box pattern — position 3

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 4

Box pattern — position 4

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 5

Box pattern — position 5

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 1

3 notes per string — position 1

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 2

3 notes per string — position 2

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 3

3 notes per string — position 3

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 4

3 notes per string — position 4

A# Locrian Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 5

3 notes per string — position 5

Chords in the A# locrian scale

Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.

DegreeTriadSeventh chord
1 A#dim A#m7(b5)
b2 B Bmaj7
b3 C#m C#m7
4 D#m D#m7
b5 E Emaj7
b6 F# F#7
b7 G#m G#m7

Related modes

These scales share the same notes as the locrian scale, starting from a different degree.

The locrian scale in other keys

C C# Db D D# Eb E F F# Gb G G# Ab A A# Bb B

All about the locrian scale →