Bb Locrian Mode

What is the Bb Locrian Mode?

Locrian is the seventh and darkest mode of the major scale, with both a ♭2 and a ♭5 that produce a diminished tonic triad — making it inherently unstable and restless. It's rarely used as a tonal center in traditional music, but metal and progressive players lean into that instability for intense, dissonant passages. Here's how the Bb Locrian Mode lays out on the fretboard. This scale is enharmonically equivalent to A# Locrian.

Notes and Positions

The seventh mode - the darkest diatonic mode with a flat 5th. On bass, the fretboard view helps you visualize where the important tones sit for building lines across positions. Use a finger-per-fret approach first, then add shifts only when the line needs a wider range. In the key of Bb, the notes are: Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab.

How to Use It

You'll often hear it in Metal, Jazz, and Modal. A good way to internalize the sound is to sing the root, then sing a few scale degrees before you play them.

Start with the root on beat 1, add the 5th on beat 3, then work the other scale tones in as passing notes. Use the interactive fretboard above to spot repeats of the same note on different strings and frets.