Scales › Locrian ♮2 (6th mode of melodic minor)

Locrian ♮2 (6th mode of melodic minor) scale

half-diminished ♮9, more stable

What color?

A Locrian softened by a natural ninth that replaces the b9 and makes m7b5 singable with no avoid note. The default jazz choice on half-diminished ii chords: all of Locrian's tension but with a color you can breathe in.

Origin & history

The sixth mode of the melodic minor (the jazz "half-diminished"). The scale of choice over the m7♭5 chord, the ii of a minor ii-V-i — a tool of jazz harmony more than a scale of tradition.

Which chords to play it on?

The jazz consensus (Aebersold) recommends it on:

Sibling modes

The Locrian ♮2 (6th mode of melodic minor) scale is one of the modes of the melodic minor : it shares exactly the same notes as the modes below, but built on a different degree of the parent scale (melodic minor).

Try it in a real chart

Paste a chord chart into the tool: Pentania tells you, chord by chord, when this scale fits — and what other colors are open to you. Open the tool →