Where to capo for A Locrian
Put the capo at fret 3 and play A Locrian using F# Locrian shapes. That is the easiest of the eight positions ranked below, and it is what most players reach for. Against playing A Locrian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 5.6 to 3.4 and gains 13 ringing open strings.
You want A. Capo 3 and play in F#.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes A Locrian down by that many frets to find the shapes your hand would actually make, then scores the best voicing of all seven chords — fewer fingers, less stretch, closer to the nut, fewer muted strings. Lower is easier. Standard tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4).
| Capo | Shapes you play | Open strings | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | F# Locrian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 1 | G# Locrian | 14 | 4.3 |
| 6 | D# Locrian | 10 | 4.4 |
| 5 | E Locrian | 15 | 4.7 |
| 4 | F Locrian | 3 | 5.6 |
| None | A Locrian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 7 | D Locrian | 4 | 5.6 |
| 2 | G Locrian | 2 | 6.2 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of A Locrian are Adim, Bb, Cm, Dm, Eb, F, Gm — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the A Locrian key page.