STRINGSCALES

E bebop locrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F, G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12

A string: A, Bb, B, C, D, E, F, G, A at frets 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12

D string: D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B, C, D at frets 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12

G string: G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E, F, G at frets 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12

B string: B, C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12

High E string: E, F, G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E at frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12

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E 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:

E

I

F

bII

G

bIII

A

IV

B♭

bV

B

V

C

bVI

D

bVII

Same notes, different mode

E 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.

F ichikosuchoG bebop minorC bebop

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

tip
  • Use E bebop locrian over m7b5 chords in eighth-note lines; the borrowed natural 5th (B) is strictly a passing tone between bV (Bb) and bVI (C).
  • Anchor on the half-diminished arpeggio (root, bIII (G), bV (Bb), bVII (D)) 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 (F) sparingly; on a m7b5 it adds bite, but resolving it down to the root ends phrases cleanly.

How to play E bebop locrian on guitar

Both E strings ring the root open and the B string the fifth, so a drone here asks nothing of the fretting hand. Every open string belongs to the scale. Lowest root is the open sixth string, which puts box one right at the nut and hands off at fret 4. One flat only, with a fifth-string barre at fret 7 and inner-string roots at fret 2 and fret 9.

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