In music, the major Locrian scale, also called the ''Locrian major scale'', is the scale obtained by sharpening the second and third notes of the diatonic

Locrian mode The Locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. It is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. On the piano, it is the scale that starts with B and only uses the white keys from there. Its ascending form consists of the key note, ...

. With a tonic of C, it consists of the notes C D E F G A B. It can be described as a whole tone scale extending from G to E, with F introduced within the

diminished third In classical music from Western culture, a diminished third () is the musical interval produced by narrowing a minor third by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . For instance, the inte ...

interval from E to G. The scale therefore shares with the Locrian mode the property of having a

diminished fifth Diminished may refer to: *Diminution In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which ...

above the tonic. It can also be the natural minor scale or

Aeolian mode The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the natural minor scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with A. Its ascending interval form consists of a ''key note, whole step, half ste ...

with raised third and lowered fifth intervals. It may also be derived from the Phrygian Dominant scale, but this time, the second is major, while the fifth is diminished. In English, Arabian scale may refer to what is known as the major Locrian scale. A version of the major Locrian scale is listed as ''mode 3'' in the French translation of Safi Al-Din's treatise Kitab Al-Adwar. This was a

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

version of the scale. Aside from this Arabic version, interest in the major Locrian is a phenomenon of the twentieth century, but the scale is definable in any

meantone Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by narrowing the fifths so that their ratio is slightly less than 3:2 (making them ''narrower'' than a perfect fifth), in order to push the thirds closer to pure. Me ...

system. It is notable as one of the five

proper Proper may refer to: Mathematics * Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact * Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...

seven-note scales in equal temperament, and as strictly proper in any meantone tuning with fifths flatter than 700 cents. If we take the tonic in the scale given above to be G rather than C, we obtain the ''leading whole-tone scale'', which with a tonic on C is C–D–E–F–G–A–B; this can equally well be characterized as one of the five proper seven-note scales of equal temperament. The major Locrian scale is the 5th mode of the Neapolitan major scale, which may be used in conjunction with the

Neapolitan chord In Classical music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered ( flatted) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is b ...

, but is not limited to it. This scale is also known as ''melodic minor 2''. Its modes and corresponding seventh chords are: # Neapolitan major; Cm^M7 (add 9, 11, and 13) (

Dorian mode Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the medieval musical modes; or—mo ...

with

major seventh In music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it i ...

and

minor second A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

) # leading whole-tone; D^M75 (add 9, 11, and 13) ( Phrygian mode with

major sixth In music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six note letter names or staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as ''major ...

and diminished unison) (whole-tone scale plus major seventh) # Lydian dominant augmented; E⁷⁵ (add 9, 11, and 13) ( Lydian mode with

augmented fifth In classical music from Western culture, an augmented fifth () is an interval produced by widening a perfect fifth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . For instance, the interval f ...

and

minor seventh In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval fr ...

) (whole-tone scale plus major sixth) # Lydian minor; F⁷ (add 9, 11, and 13) ( Mixolydian mode with augmented fourth and minor sixth) (whole-tone scale plus natural fifth) # major Locrian; G⁷⁵ (add 9, 11, and 13) (

with

major third In classical music, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones.Allen Forte, ...

and

) (whole-tone scale plus natural fourth) # altered dominant major 2nd; Am⁷⁵ (add 9, 11, and 13) (

with

major second In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more de ...

and

diminished fourth In classical music from Western culture, a diminished fourth () is an interval produced by narrowing a perfect fourth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an d4 ...

) (whole-tone scale plus minor third) # altered dominant diminished 3rd; B⁷⁵ (add 9, 9, and 13) (

Ionian mode Ionian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the major scale. It is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C (mode 11 in his numbering scheme), which uses the diatonic octave ...

with

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

and augmented unison) (whole-tone scale plus 9) The major Locrian scale has only two perfect fifths, but it has in some sense a complete cycle of thirds if one is willing to count a

as a third: four major thirds, two minor thirds and a diminished third making up two octaves. In 12-equal temperament, the diminished third is

enharmonically equivalent In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...

to a major second, but in other meantone systems it is wider and more nearly like a third.

The major Locrian in 12 equal temperament

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

in his ''Harmonic Materials of Modern Music'' devotes several pages to the major Locrian,Hanson, Howard (1960). ''Harmonic Materials of Modern Music'', . Appleton-Century-Crofts. . or more precisely to its transpositional set class, a concept Hanson pioneered. He names this transpositional class the ''seven-tone impure major second scale'', and notes that the various modes of the major Locrian can all be defined as the

whole tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or '' hexatonic' ...

with one additional note, and where that note occurs does not affect the transpositional class. He also notes that the scale has the property that every three-note chord possible in the twelve tone chromatic scale already appears in the major Locrian. Examples are given of the use of this scale by Claude Debussy in his opera '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' and Alban Berg in his song " Nacht".

References

External links

Major Locrian Scale - Analysis
{{scales Heptatonic scales

The major Locrian in 12 equal temperament

References

Further reading

External links