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E in-sen Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: E, F, A, B, D, E at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 10, 12

A string: A, B, D, E, F, A at frets 0, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12

D string: D, E, F, A, B, D at frets 0, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12

G string: A, B, D, E, F at frets 2, 4, 7, 9, 10

B string: B, D, E, F, A, B at frets 0, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12

High E string: E, F, A, B, D, E at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 10, 12

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E 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

E 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.

B locrian pentatonicD flat three pentatonic

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

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

How to play E in-sen on guitar

Five of the six open strings belong to this key, and both E strings sound the root, so the whole open position can ring underneath. Open B adds the fifth and open A the fourth, which lets you hold a pedal while the left hand moves. No accidentals appear anywhere here. Roots begin at the open low E and repeat at the 2nd fret on the D string, the 5th on the B and the 7th on the A.

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