RiffRoute

E Locrian Mode on guitar

The Locrian mode is the 7th mode of the major scale, featuring both a flat 2nd and a flat 5th (tritone). It is the darkest and most dissonant mode, ideal for heavy metal riffs and half-diminished chords.

The notes of E Locrian Mode

Built on E, the scale degrees spell out like this. The degree is the number you would call that note relative to E:

RiffRoute writes every accidental as a sharp. A sharp and the flat above it are the same fret, so A♯ is B♭ and so on.

Where it lands on the fretboard

Every fret from the open string up to the 12th that belongs to the E Locrian Mode, string by string. Root notes are highlighted.

  • Low E: 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12
  • A: 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
  • D: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
  • G: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12
  • B: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11
  • High E: 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12

Your anchor points: E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. Start every pattern from one of those and you always know where home is.

Resolve your phrases intentionally — the flat 5th creates unresolved tension that wants to collapse into the root.

Chords that fit

These chords from RiffRoute's library use only notes inside the E Locrian Mode, so they will not clash with it:

Same notes, different home

These scales contain exactly the same notes as the E Locrian Mode. The fretboard pattern is identical — what changes is which note you treat as home:

Other E scales

Same starting note, different colour. Switching between these over one E chord is the quickest way to hear what each scale does:

The Locrian scale in other keys

Practise it in the app

A list of frets only gets you so far. RiffRoute shows the E Locrian Mode lit up on a full fretboard, plays it back and lets you practise it against a backing track.

Open the E Locrian Mode in RiffRoute