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E♭ ritusen Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb at frets 1, 4, 6, 8, 11

A string: Bb, C, Eb, F, Ab at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 11

D string: Eb, F, Ab, Bb, C at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 10

G string: Ab, Bb, C, Eb, F at frets 1, 3, 5, 8, 10

B string: C, Eb, F, Ab, Bb at frets 1, 4, 6, 9, 11

High E string: F, Ab, Bb, C, Eb at frets 1, 4, 6, 8, 11

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Eb ritusen

The ritusen scale is the Japanese ritsu pentatonic: root, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th. It contains the same pitches as the major pentatonic starting a fourth higher, but centering them here gives an open, suspended sound with no 3rd at all. That neutrality is what makes it feel calm and folk-like, and it doubles as a sus-chord vocabulary in modern playing.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

E♭

I

F

II

A♭

IV

B♭

V

C

VI

Same notes, different mode

Eb ritusen 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.

F minor pentatonicAb major pentatonicBb egyptianC malkos raga

ritusen in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • The ritsu sound is the open 2nd and 6th around the missing 3rd: no major, no minor, just calm; keep harmonies to 4ths and 5ths.
  • It shares its pitches with the major pentatonic a 4th above Eb: same notes, different home, so borrow every fingering.
  • Over a sus2 or bare-5th drone, every note lands; it is a folk melody generator with no wrong choices.
  • Contrast register: low root-and-5th ostinato, high II-IV-VI melodic cells... the scale's serenity comes from that spacing.

How to play E♭ ritusen on guitar

Clamp a capo at fret 1 and D fingerings produce this key, which lets the low end stay playable without an eleventh-fret barre. Not one open string is in the key. Roots start at 1 on the D string, then 4 on the B, 6 on the A, 8 on the G and 11 on both E strings. Three flats sit in the signature and the first shape reaches to 15, so the upper neck carries most of the work.

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