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B♭ locrian pentatonic Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12

A string: Bb, Db, Eb, Fb, Ab at frets 1, 4, 6, 7, 11

D string: Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb, Db at frets 1, 2, 6, 8, 11

G string: Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 9

B string: Db, Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb at frets 2, 4, 5, 9, 11

High E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12

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Bb locrian pentatonic

The locrian pentatonic is the minor pentatonic with its 5th flattened: root, flat 3rd, 4th, flat 5th, flat 7th. It spells a m7b5 chord plus the 4th, making it the quickest route to a half-diminished sound in familiar pentatonic fingering. Use it over the ii chord in a minor ii-V, or for deliberately unresolved riffing.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

B♭

I

D♭

bIII

E♭

IV

F♭

bV

A♭

bVII

Same notes, different mode

Bb locrian pentatonic 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.

Db flat three pentatonicEb in-sen

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

tip
  • A m7b5 chord plus the 4th: root, b3 (Db), IV, b5 (E), b7 (Ab); the quickest half-diminished vocabulary in a familiar pentatonic grip.
  • It is the minor pentatonic with the 5th lowered: shift that one finger and every box you know turns half-diminished.
  • Over the ii chord of a minor ii-V in the key a whole step below Bb, this is the pocket-size choice.
  • Use the b5 (E) as a landing tone here (unlike in the blues scale); over m7b5 harmony it is a chord tone, not a passing note.

How to play B♭ locrian pentatonic on guitar

Both open E strings sound Fb here, a diminished fifth above the root, letting them add tension without ever supporting the fretted root at 6. Fret 1 on the A matches that low E root in pitch, which puts two fingerings on the same note. Roots also sit at 3 on the G, 8 on the D and 11 on the B. Capo 1 and A shapes transfer.

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