F♯ Locrian Scale
F♯ Locrian contains 7 notes: F♯, G, A, B, C, D, E. It has 1 sharp: F♯. The step pattern is H–W–W–H–W–W–W. It is the 7th mode of G Major, meaning it shares the same notes but starts on F♯.
The darkest and most unstable of all the modes. Both a flat 2nd and a flat 5th make it sound totally unresolved — there's no comfortable place to rest. It's more of a special-purpose tool than an everyday scale, but when you need maximum darkness, nothing else compares.
The formula is 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7. Built off the 7th degree of the major scale. The flat 5th means the root chord is diminished, which is inherently unstable — the ear never feels a true sense of resolution. It's the most altered, most dissonant rotation of the major scale.
Rarely used as a home key for soloing, but it's essential for navigating half-diminished chords in jazz (the 'two chord' in a minor key progression). In metal, short Locrian riffs over a pedal tone can create an incredibly heavy, dissonant atmosphere. The shapes are the same CAGED positions as any other mode — just rooted on the 7th degree.
Think of Locrian as a color, not a home base. A few bars of Locrian tension before resolving to a more stable mode creates powerful dramatic contrast. Bjork, The Strokes, and some progressive metal bands have built songs around Locrian's instability, but it takes careful arrangement to make it work as a sustained tonality.
- Juicebox - The Strokes
- Army of Me - Bjork
- YYZ - Rush (intro)
- Enter Sandman - Metallica (intro buildup)