Where to capo for C Locrian
Put the capo at fret 6 and play C 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 C Locrian open, it drops the mean difficulty of the key's seven chords from 6.3 to 3.4 and gains 19 ringing open strings.
You want C. Capo 6 and play in F#.
All eight positions, ranked
Each row transposes C 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | F# Locrian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 1 | B Locrian | 19 | 3.4 |
| 4 | Ab Locrian | 14 | 4.3 |
| 2 | Bb Locrian | 8 | 5.2 |
| 7 | F Locrian | 3 | 5.6 |
| 3 | A Locrian | 6 | 5.6 |
| 5 | G Locrian | 2 | 6.2 |
| None | C Locrian | 0 | 6.3 |
What you are playing
The seven chords of C Locrian are Cdim, Db, Ebm, Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm — the ones the ranking above is scored against. Their diagrams are on the C Locrian key page.