 Hello everyone and welcome to Black Star Potential. My name is Lee Fuge and I'm here today with MusicTeacher.com and in this video we're going to learn the final one of the modes in our series about learning the modes as extensions of the pentatonic scale. In this video we're going to talk about the Locrian mode. This is the mode that you're probably going to use the least because this is very much based around a diminished sound. Unless you're playing jazz or you really want to get out there with some of your note choices, this is probably a mode that you're going to steer well away from. But there are some practical applications which we'll talk about in this video. All the tones you're hearing in this video today are coming from my Washburn N2 guitar which is plugged into the Black Star Studio 10 6L6. So as with all the other videos in this series, all of these modal shapes are based around pentatonic patterns. The whole purpose of this is to give you some additional note choices to play when you're playing your regular pentatonic licks. So the Locrian is a difficult mode to use because it contains an interval known as a flat five. In all the other modes and our pentatonic scale we've always had the interval five. So when we've done this in the key of A for instance, we've always had our A as the root. And we've always added or subtracted other notes around that. But this five has always been there, in this case it's always going to be that E note. That interval is always there, but if we flatten that five we get a diminished sound which as you can hear does create quite a strange sound especially when you combine it with the root. So if you're playing over a track that has an A minor chord in it for instance and you hit that flat five you're going to get this almost discordant sound. So it's not really a note that you're going to be using a lot of the time but it's great as a passing note. And there's a couple of little things I'm going to show you in this video that will get you some use out of this scale. So first of all we're going to tie this in to our natural minor scale like we always do. So the natural minor scale once more. If you haven't learned that yet this is also the Aeolian mode. Go check out the other videos in this series and then come back to this one. The intervals we're doing now one, two, flat three, four, five, flat six, flat seven. So to make this Locrian we need to flatten the two, kind of like the Phrygian mode, and we need to flatten the five. So that gives us one flat two, flat three, four, flat five, flat six, and flat seven. And then it repeats with the octave. One, flat two, flat three, four, flat five, flat six, flat seven, one, flat two, flat three. So with this scale having the flat five interval like I said it's quite hard to actually resolve anything onto a flat five note because it always sounds slightly wrong unless you're playing a diminished chord that matches the note of the flat five. It's not really going to fit too well. It's a pretty tricky interval to use, but where this interval is really useful is just as a passing note. We can use the flat five in blues and in rock just to hit on the way to another note. So let's say I'm coming down my pentatonic scale. I could just pass through this flat five here on my way to another note and I didn't really hang on that note because that's when we're going to notice something is wrong. If we just pass through it on the way somewhere else it does work and it doesn't become too overbearing. That is the main use I think for the flat five note. If we're thinking about this in a pentatonic context we could actually move this flat five note from the fourth of the B string to the eighth of the G. We could use it there. In the key of A minor it also exists on the sixth fret of the A string where I would use this again is as a passing note if I'm coming up or down my pentatonic scale. But I'd pretty much never hang on that note for risk of that clash happening. That diminished flat five note is not a pleasant note to stick on too long, but if you're just passing through it works great. So instead of using the locker in mode on its own as its own mode I would suggest using it as an extension of another mode so you could throw that flat five in to your natural minor scale or your minor pentatonic scale. That in my opinion is the best way to use that because this scale also has the flat two you could also view this kind of like an extension of the Phrygian mode. So I could be playing some Phrygian licks with the flat two and I could just hit that flat five as well. So the only difference between what I played there and a regular locker in mode is I did add the five interval back in. So I'm just sort of adding the regular five into the locker in just to make it a little bit more useful because playing on the locker in mode on its own is a pretty tricky thing to do unless you're really going for that diminished slightly dissonant sound. So out of the modes this is probably the one you're going to use the least but like all the other modes you've learned in this little series they're all there as options so you can use them with your regular pentatonic shapes just to extend those boxes a little bit break you out of that regular pentatonic rut that you might be stuck in just to give you a few new note choices to choose. They can all add some interesting colors to your songs so try mixing them up as well if you're playing in one mode try adding an element of another mode like I mentioned there sort of combining the Phrygian with the locker in to get a Phrygian with a flat five added you can do all sorts of cool stuff with modes they're just great for adding options to pentatonic lex for players who maybe don't want to use modes in the conventional sense. So there you go there is an overview of how to learn the modes for guitar based around pentatonic scales for more traditionally rock and blues minded players. Let me know down below in the comments how you guys have gotten on with all the modes in this mini series and which ones you found have fit great into your playing style. If there's anything you'd like to see us talk about in future videos please let us know down below as well don't forget to head over to the Blackstar Amplification YouTube channel to check out all the other lessons there's a bunch of other free lessons and like I said there's also three other lessons in this mode series so go check those out as well. If you're looking for a guitar teacher in your local area please head to musicteacher.com check out the network of great teachers all around the country with to help you guys out. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you soon.