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B locrian pentatonic Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F, A, B, D, E at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 10, 12

A string: A, B, D, E, F, A at frets 0, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12

D string: D, E, F, A, B, D at frets 0, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12

G string: A, B, D, E, F at frets 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

B string: B, D, E, F, A, B at frets 0, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12

High E string: E, F, A, B, D, E at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 10, 12

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B 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

B 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.

D flat three pentatonicE in-sen

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

tip
  • A m7b5 chord plus the 4th: root, b3 (D), IV, b5 (F), b7 (A); 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 B, this is the pocket-size choice.
  • Use the b5 (F) 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

Every note here is a natural, meaning 5 of the 6 open strings already sit in the key. Open B is a root and both E strings give the fourth, which lets an open-position drone carry a line played up at 7. Fret 2 on the A matches the low E root at 7 exactly. Also 4 on the G, 9 on the D.

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