STRINGSCALES

B♭ bebop locrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

A string: Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Ab at frets 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11

D string: Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db at frets 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11

G string: Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb at frets 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11

B string: Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb at frets 0, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

High E string: Fb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

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Bb bebop locrian

The bebop locrian scale adds a natural 5th as a passing tone inside the locrian mode, smoothing the m7b5 sound into an eight note bebop vehicle. The borrowed 5th lets lines glide through half-diminished chords with the same downbeat logic as the other bebop scales. Use it on the ii chord of a minor ii-V-i.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

B♭

I

C♭

bII

D♭

bIII

E♭

IV

F♭

bV

F

V

G♭

bVI

A♭

bVII

Same notes, different mode

Bb bebop locrian uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

Cb ichikosuchoDb bebop minorGb bebop

bebop locrian in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Use Bb bebop locrian over m7b5 chords in eighth-note lines; the borrowed natural 5th (F) is strictly a passing tone between bV (E) and bVI (Gb).
  • Anchor on the half-diminished arpeggio (root, bIII (Db), bV (E), bVII (Ab)) and let the scale fill the gaps.
  • It pairs with the dominant bebop scale of the V7b9 that follows: same eighth-note engine through the whole minor ii-V-i.
  • Accent the flat 2nd (B) sparingly; on a m7b5 it adds bite, but resolving it down to the root ends phrases cleanly.

How to play B♭ bebop locrian on guitar

Seven flats sit on the staff, so almost every tone here arrives with an accidental attached. Three open strings are in key, though the tonic and its fifth are not among them, letting them work only as passing colour. Position one ends at fret 10. Lowest root arrives at the 6th fret of the sixth string, while a capo at fret 1 turns the grips into A shapes.

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