F♯ locrian ♮6 scale on bass

F♯ · G · A · B · C · D♯ · E

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 24 · Modes.

The notes

  1. F♯1
  2. G♭2
  3. A♭3
  4. B4
  5. C♭5
  6. D♯6
  7. E♭7

The F♯ locrian ♮6 scale is F♯, G, A, B, C, D♯, E.

You may also see it called Locrian ♯6 · 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 6 ♭7.

On the staff

F♯GABCD♯EF♯

On a bass staff, the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale is written F♯ G A B C D♯ E.

This is one octave of the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale, written on the bass clef. Guitar and bass music is written an octave higher than it sounds, and the small 8 under the clef is the sign for that.

Why the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale has these sharps

  1. F♯1
  2. S
  3. G♭2
  4. T
  5. A♭3
  6. T
  7. B4
  8. S
  9. C♭5
  10. T+S
  11. D♯6
  12. S
  13. E♭7
  14. T
  15. F♯8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is S T T S T+S S T: a semitone, a tone, a tone, and so on. S stands for a semitone, the distance of one fret or one key. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. T+S stands for a tone and a half, which is three semitones. The pattern is what gives F♯ locrian ♮6 its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

The second rule is that a seven-note scale uses each letter name once, from A to G, so its seven notes take seven different letters. That is why F♯ locrian ♮6 is spelled the way it is, rather than with whichever accidental looks tidier.

Together, the two rules leave no room for choice. If you walk the pattern up from F♯, one letter cannot keep up:

  • D♯ — the sixth. The pattern needs a tone and a half from C, but C to D is only a tone, so D has to rise to D♯.

That accidental was not a choice. Once you pick the note to start on, the pattern decides the rest, and a key signature is a record of the result.

The F♯ locrian ♮6 scale is written with F♯ and D♯. F♯ has its accidental because that is the key, and the other note needs one because the S T T S T+S S T pattern of steps cannot be spelled from F♯ with plain letters.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

♭5CD♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5CD♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5CD♭7EF♭2G♭3A4B♭5CC♯6D♯1F♯G♯A♯C♯6D♯1F♯G♯A♯C♯6D♯1F♯G♯A♯C1C2C3C4

The keyboard shows the same seven notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale, and you can click any key to hear it.

F♯ locrian ♮6 scale on the whole neck

EADG123456789101112131415E♭7F♯1G♭2A♭3B4C♭5D♯6E♭7F♯1G♭2A♭3B4C♭5D♯6E♭7F♯1G♭2A♭3B4C♭5D♯6E♭7F♯1G♭2A♭3B4C♭5D♯6E♭7G♭2A♭3B4C♭5D♯6E♭7F♯1G♭2A♭3

49 notes of the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale are marked across four strings.

This is every place the notes of the F♯ locrian ♮6 scale fall on the bass, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

Position by position

Position 1 — starts on the 1
EADG2345671♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2♭34♭5
Position 2 — starts on the ♭2
EADG345678♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2♭34♭5
Position 3 — starts on the ♭3
EADG5678910♭34♭56♭71♭2♭34♭56♭7
Position 4 — starts on the 4
EADG7891011124♭56♭71♭2♭34♭56♭71
Position 5 — starts on the ♭5
EADG8910111213♭56♭71♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2
Position 6 — starts on the 6
EADG1112131415166♭71♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2♭3
Position 7 — starts on the ♭7
EADG121314151617♭71♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2♭34

The F♯ locrian ♮6 scale has seven playable positions, at frets 2–6, 3–7, 5–9, 7–11, 8–12, 11–15 and 12–16.

Each shape starts on a different degree of the scale and fits inside five frets, so your hand can play all of it without moving.

One climb up the neck

EADG23456789101♭2♭34♭56♭71♭2♭34♭56♭7TAB23573674579589

The climb runs from fret 2 to fret 9 and plays fourteen notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes a different number of notes on different strings. The widest stretch on any one string is five frets.