F Locrian — 5-String Banjo

F Locrian is 7 notes to the octave (modes family), drawn here across the 5-String Banjo's gDGBD strings with every F marked, so home stays visible from anywhere in the pattern.

The most dissonant, unstable mode — the tonic chord is diminished (b5), making a true Locrian tonal center rare. Used for color and passing harmony.

Heard in: Metal riffs, jazz (half-diminished ø7 chords in ii°7 – V – i), horror and tension film scores.

A scale here always has to negotiate with the short g: it is one fixed pitch that belongs to some keys and argues with others, so these maps mark where it falls inside the pattern instead of hiding it.

Learn it as melody first and picking pattern second: get the notes under the left hand, then work out which right-hand fingers reach them without breaking the pulse. That second question is the one that takes the time.