STRINGSCALES

E♭ in-sen Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12

A string: Bb, Db, Eb, Fb, Ab at frets 1, 4, 6, 7, 11

D string: Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb, Db at frets 1, 2, 6, 8, 11

G string: Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 9

B string: Db, Eb, Fb, Ab, Bb at frets 2, 4, 5, 9, 11

High E string: Fb, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Fb at frets 0, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12

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Eb in-sen

The in-sen scale is a Japanese pentatonic mixing dark and open colors: root, flat 2nd, 4th, 5th, flat 7th. The flat 2nd supplies the shadow, while the 4th, 5th and flat 7th form the skeleton of a sus chord, so lines resolve into open fourths and fifths. Kenny Kirkland and other jazz players borrowed it for exactly that sus-with-an-edge sound.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

E♭

I

F♭

bII

A♭

IV

B♭

V

D♭

bVII

Same notes, different mode

Eb in-sen uses the same notes as the scales below. Start from a different note and you get a new mode built on the very same note set.

Bb locrian pentatonicDb flat three pentatonic

in-sen in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • The dark b2 (E) against an otherwise sus-flavored set (IV, V, b7 (Db)): open with the half step, then let the 4ths ring.
  • Over a sus7 chord on Eb it behaves like an exotic sus vocabulary; jazz players use exactly this trick.
  • Build riffs in stacked 4ths (b2 (E) to b7 (Db)... IV to root...); the scale is practically tuned for quartal playing.
  • End phrases on the 5th (Bb) rather than the root for the traditional floating finish.

How to play E♭ in-sen on guitar

A capo on fret 1 rewrites this as D in-sen, so every shape from that key transfers up one. Both E strings carry Fb, a minor second above the tonic, which means they colour a line rather than anchor it. Fret 1 on the D string is the root closest to open position. Lowest root waits until fret 11. Move the same grip up 7 semitones for Bb locrian pentatonic, giving you two keys off one map.

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