midicnTheory 中文
Phrygian ModeNatural Minor ScaleAugmented and Diminished IntervalsScale

Locrian is the one mode among the six that almost never stands alone, for a plain reason:

natural minor (C): C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ Locrian (C): C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭

It lowers two notes of natural minor:

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Together the two lowered notes produce two consequences:

1. The second is a semitone — a semitone sits directly above the tonic (as in Phrygian); 2. The fifth is diminished — there is no stable fifth above the tonic.

The second point is fatal. Tonal music stands on the prop of tonic and fifth, and Locrian's tonic triad is a diminished triad (C–E♭–G♭). Without a stable fifth there is no chord one can arrive at, so Locrian almost never carries a piece by itself. It is usually discussed as the structural fact of starting a major scale on its seventh degree.

How to hear it

Since the library holds no piece labelled Locrian, the useful method is to derive it and listen:

1. Take a major scale or major-key theme (all three instances below are major-key C1 material); 2. Start on the seventh degree and climb to the next seventh; 3. You will hear at once that the semitone above the tonic makes the starting point unsteady, and the diminished fifth above keeps the whole line hanging.

That is the selection-versus-tonic point from scale turned into something audible.

Diagram: why it cannot stand still

The fifth above the tonic is lowered to a diminished fifth — the prop is gone CD♭E♭ FG♭A♭ B♭C Locrian 1: a semitone above the tonic 2: a diminished fifth, not a perfect one Tonic triad = diminished (C–E♭–G♭): no stable chord to arrive on Another way to see it: C Locrian holds the notes of D♭ major, played from its 7th degree Repertoire note: of 133,667 tracks in midi-lib, zero titles mention locrian

Listen: a scale that hangs

Hear first the semitone above the tonic (steps 1–2), then notice that the fifth is diminished. The scale never seems to find a resting point — which is why it hardly ever carries a piece.

Common misconceptions

Listen in the library

Scales, Arpeggios, and CadencesC13:22Scale exercises let you play the mode itself — the most direct way to hear the missing stable fifthDetails12 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je maman K.265/300eC17:31Starting on the seventh degree of a major theme gives a Locrian — hear where the mode actually beginsDetailsOde to JoyC10:37The same theme as a control — with the tonic moved to the seventh degree it instantly loses its footholdDetails

All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).

Sources

  • 洛克里亚调式 = 自然小调降第 2 级与第 5 级；亦等于大调音阶自第 7 级起的排列，属乐理通则
  • 主音上方为减五度、缺乏稳定的五度支撑，故极少独立成曲，为通行理论表述

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.