STRINGSCALES

F bebop locrian Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

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

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

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

G string: Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Db, Eb, F, Gb at frets 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11

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

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

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F 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:

F

I

G♭

bII

A♭

bIII

B♭

IV

C♭

bV

C

V

D♭

bVI

E♭

bVII

Same notes, different mode

F 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.

Gb ichikosuchoAb bebop minorDb bebop

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

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

How to play F bebop locrian on guitar

Just one open string is in key, the B, and it sits a diminished fifth from the tonic, so it works as a passing tone and never as a drone. Lowest root is fret 1 at the bottom, letting an E-shape barre sit almost in open position. Six flats to read. Box one is done at fret 5, and the fifth-string barre waits at fret 8.

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