Scales
C# Locrian Scale
C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B
The seventh mode — a diminished fifth above the tonic, and the only mode with no stable home chord.
C# Locrian Scale
C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B
Fingering on the piano
| Hand | Fingering | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 | C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B · C# | |
| Left hand | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 | C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B · C# |
One octave ascending; 1 is the thumb. A standard fingering, not the only one.
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Scale degrees
C# Locrian is made of the notes C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B. Each is a degree counted from the tonic, and the gaps between them are the step pattern H W W H W W W.
Read on: scale degrees · building any scale · the seven modes
Modes
A mode is the same set of notes started from another degree. Each card is one rotation of C# Locrian: choose it to re-order the degrees from its tonic and hear it, or open its own page. The seven modes of the major scale are the ones most players learn first.
Chords in this key
Stacking thirds on each degree of C# Locrian gives the chords of the key; the roman numeral names the degree each is built on.
Related scales
The scales C# Locrian shares its notes with: the one it is a rotation of, the relative and parallel keys, the scales inside it and the ones that contain it.
D MajorD · E · F# · G · A · B · C#
Parent scale: the major scale this is a rotation of
Scales inside it
C# IwatoC# · D · F# · G · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Locrian.
C# Malkos RagaC# · E · F# · A · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Locrian.
C# Locrian PentatonicC# · E · F# · G · B
Every note of this scale is in C# Locrian.
Scales that contain it
C# Bebop LocrianC# · D · E · F# · G · G# · A · B
Contains every note of C# Locrian.
C# ChromaticC# · D · D# · E · E# · F# · G · G# · A · A# · B · B#
Contains every note of C# Locrian.
Understanding C# Locrian
Names and spellings
A mode is named by the note it starts on, not by the major scale it comes from: D Dorian uses the notes of C major, but its tonic is D and its chords are built from D. The same mode name on another tonic is a different scale with the same pattern.
How it is built
On C# the mode is C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B, following the step pattern H W W H W W W. It has both a flattened second and, crucially, a flattened fifth.
That flattened fifth is what sets it apart from every other mode. The chord on its first degree is diminished, so the scale has no consonant tonic to rest on.
How it is used
Rarely as a key, often as a colour: it is the scale over a half-diminished chord, which makes it the natural choice for the ii of a minor ii–V–i.
Jazz players more often use locrian ♮2 — the sixth mode of melodic minor — in that role, because raising the second removes the one note that clashes hardest with the chord.
Learn this properly
Chapter 9: ModesCommon questions
- What notes are in C# Locrian?
- C# Locrian contains C# · D · E · F# · G · A · B. Find every scale that contains these notes with the scale finder.
- Why is locrian rarely used as a key?
- Its tonic chord is diminished, so there is nothing stable to resolve to. It works as a colour over a chord rather than as a home key.
- What chord does locrian fit over?
- The half-diminished seventh — m7♭5.
- How do I play C# Locrian?
- On guitar start with the 1st position, played from the lowest string upward; the instrument panel on this page shows its frets and the positions further up the neck. On the piano the right hand ascends 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4, with 1 as the thumb. Every position plays when you press it.
- What chords are in the key of C# Locrian?
- Stacking thirds on each degree of C# Locrian gives C#dim (i°), D (II), Em (iii), F#m (iv), G (V), A (VI), Bm (vii). These are the diatonic chords of the key, the ones a song in this key uses most; the harmony band on this page lists them with the seventh chords built the same way.