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F in-sen Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, Gb, Bb, C, Eb at frets 1, 2, 6, 8, 11

A string: Bb, C, Eb, F, Gb at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 9

D string: Eb, F, Gb, Bb, C at frets 1, 3, 4, 8, 10

G string: Bb, C, Eb, F, Gb at frets 3, 5, 8, 10, 11

B string: C, Eb, F, Gb, Bb at frets 1, 4, 6, 7, 11

High E string: F, Gb, Bb, C, Eb at frets 1, 2, 6, 8, 11

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F 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:

F

I

G♭

bII

B♭

IV

C

V

E♭

bVII

Same notes, different mode

F 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.

C locrian pentatonicEb flat three pentatonic

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

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

How to play F in-sen on guitar

Roots sit close to the nut, at fret 1 on both E strings, fret 3 on the D and fret 6 on the B. Nothing in open position rings, which means the low box needs a fretted bass note at all times. Clamp fret 1 and the whole key reads as E in-sen, so those shapes carry over intact. Next box takes over at fret 5.

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