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Fig. 1 · Ab Locrian · first 12 frets

ukulele scale

A♭ Locrian

A♭1B♭♭♭2C♭♭3D♭4E♭♭♭5F♭♭6G♭♭7

The only mode of the major scale whose fifth is diminished, which is why its tonic chord cannot rest.

The same sounds spelled from the other side are G♯ Locrian.

on guitaron piano

Written out

Fig. 2 · Ab Locrian, ascending

Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.

The step pattern

A♭HB♭♭WC♭WD♭HE♭♭WF♭WG♭WA♭

What is true of it

A♭ Locrian is A♭, B♭♭, C♭, D♭, E♭♭, F♭ and G♭, and back to A♭.

Its steps are H – W – W – H – W – W – W, where W is a whole step and H a half.

Written correctly it needs 9 alterations, B♭♭ and E♭♭ among them. That is what the letters force, and it is also why nobody writes music in this key: the same notes spelled from the other side are easier to read.

On the same tonic, A♭ Phrygian differs from it by exactly one note.

Across the first twelve frets of the ukulele its notes fall in 30 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.

Chords made only of these notes

D♭mminorD♭m7minor seventhG♭mminorG♭m7minor seventhA♭dimdiminishedA♭m7♭5half-diminished seventh

Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 7 sounds, not chosen.

Other scales on A♭

A♭ DorianmodeA♭ PhrygianmodeA♭ LydianmodeA♭ majormajorA♭ natural minorminorA♭ harmonic minorminor

C locC♯ locD♭ locD locD♯ locE♭ locE locF locall 374