Low E string: Gb, Ab, Cb, Db, Eb at frets 2, 4, 7, 9, 11
A string: Cb, Db, Eb, Gb, Ab at frets 2, 4, 6, 9, 11
D string: Eb, Gb, Ab, Cb, Db at frets 1, 4, 6, 9, 11
G string: Ab, Cb, Db, Eb, Gb at frets 1, 4, 6, 8, 11
B string: Cb, Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, Cb at frets 0, 2, 4, 7, 9, 12
High E string: Gb, Ab, Cb, Db, Eb at frets 2, 4, 7, 9, 11
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:
I
II
IV
V
VI
Same notes, different mode
Gb 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.
How to play G♭ ritusen on guitar
Capo fret 2 turns E fingerings into this key, so the flat-heavy spelling never has to be read at pitch. Only the open B carries a scale tone. Roots occupy 2 on both E strings, 9 on the A, 4 on the D and 11 on the G. Five flats on the page against a box that ends at 6, which means memorising the shape beats reading the notation.
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