Thursday, March 31, 2011

Learn Guitar Scales : The Unusual Locrian Mode

By Jonathan Hart


You know that you need to learn guitar scales so that your guitar playing, whether you play rock guitar or jazz guitar or even Country guitar, improves dramatically. You want to sound fluid and creative, not formulaic; you won't want to play the "same ol' same ol'". When you learn guitar scales you'll take your guitar playing even higher with the learning of modes. Modes are simply variations upon guitar scales that, when played in certain ways, cause the music to take some dramatic turns. If you learn guitar scales as well as modes, you will be far ahead of those who only learn one, or don't learn any, of these things.



Among the guitar modes is the Locrian Mode. You might have heard of the Phrygian Mode before, and the Locrian Mode is quite similar to it. In fact, there is just one note's difference. But that one different note means a lot.

Playing in the Locrian Mode, in its simplest sense, means beginning and ending a solo or lead break on the 7th note of the "straight" scale-that is, the scale the comes from the key that you are playing in. So, if you were playing in the key of C, and you wanted to play a solo in Locrian, you would start and end the solo on an B note. It would not have to be exactly the same B note, it could be a B note in another octave if you preferred, but it must be B (ha!).

Playing in B Locrian means playing something different than the B major scale. It also means playing in C in a different way than you would if you just were going to use the C major or its relative minor (A minor) scale for a solo.

Advanced guitar players love understanding the intervalic relationship between the notes in a mode, as this allows for deeper understanding of how to use the mode. The intervals for the Locrian Mode go like this Root, flatted 2nd , flatted 3rd ,major 4th ,flatted 5th , flatted 6th, flatted 7th . So to play F Locrian in the G major key, the scale that you would use would go F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F3'.

If you played F Locrian, you would be playing in the key of G but with "sound and feel" of an F major scale. You would "think in" the pattern of notes that begins and ends on F, but please recognize that they all be the notes of the G major scale. Do you think that might spark your creativity?

Imagine playing the F Locrian mode (or "scale") against a chord progression in G major. You would give a very different feel to the music than you would simply by playing G major "straight".

The Locrian Mode is not used very much, in truth. There are differing theories as to why. It might be that the Locrian Mode, as it is based on the Leading Tone, is too "suggestive of" the Ionian Mode and thus loses effectiveness. It's also thought that the Locrian Mode sounds so much like the Phrygian Mode that it's barely distinguishable and, so, why should a guitar player learn or use both when Phrygian is so popular?

When you learn guitar scales, don't forget your modes. When you learn modes, don't forget the Locrian Mode.




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