guitarchords

Scale degree map

Every chord in a key has a job: it feels like home, it moves away, or it builds tension that wants to resolve. Tap a chord to hear it and see where it wants to go.

C Locrian, riff mode. Its home chord is diminished and never settles, so it's heard as riffs over a low root, with the ♭2 and ♭5 as colour. Same notes as D♭ major.

The seven chords of C Locrian

tap to hear
CLocrian
strongest
occasional
common
where i° goes · thicker = stronger pullchords that lead into i°

Tonic

C diminished

The unstable center — feels tense, unstable, hollow

All Cdim voicings

Home that refuses to hold. A diminished triad can't anchor anything — you don't resolve here, you collapse here. The closest thing Locrian has to rest is the feeling right before something breaks.

Where it wants to go

Heard in

  • Portishead — "Machine Gun"
  • Nine Inch Nails — "The Becoming"

Play C diminished on guitar

Start with the plain chord, then colour it.
EADGBe412312345
  • CRoot
  • E♭♭3
  • G♭♭5

Colour it

dashed = needs a note from outside C Locrian
Base
Colour
CdimUnstable, anxious, wants to moveIn C Locrian

Go further in C Locrian

How phrases end: the moves that create (or deny) resolution.

  • ♭IID♭i°Cdim
    Locrian Drop♭II→i° — the defining Locrian cadence. The only move that feels like landing. Still unstable on arrival, but it's as close to home as this mode gets.
  • ♭VG♭i°Cdim
    Tritone Collapse♭V→i° — tritone resolving to a diminished tonic. Two unstable points meeting. No relief on arrival, just a different kind of tension.
  • ♭VIA♭♭viiB♭mi°Cdim
    Descent from Above♭VI→♭vii→i° — approaching the tonic from two steps above. The gentlest path into the abyss. Used to build dread before the diminished landing.
  • ivFmi°Cdim
    Minor Plagaliv→i° — plagal motion that delivers you nowhere stable. Familiar movement, broken promise. The iv sounds almost warm before the diminished tonic pulls the floor out.