STRINGSCALES

G in-sen Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: F, G, Ab, C, D at frets 1, 3, 4, 8, 10

A string: C, D, F, G, Ab at frets 3, 5, 8, 10, 11

D string: D, F, G, Ab, C, D at frets 0, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12

G string: G, Ab, C, D, F, G at frets 0, 1, 5, 7, 10, 12

B string: C, D, F, G, Ab at frets 1, 3, 6, 8, 9

High E string: F, G, Ab, C, D at frets 1, 3, 4, 8, 10

Pick a root note

Pick a scale

G 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:

G

I

A♭

bII

C

IV

D

V

F

bVII

Same notes, different mode

G 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.

D locrian pentatonicF flat three pentatonic

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

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

How to play G in-sen on guitar

Open G is a root and open D the fifth above it, so those two make a standing pedal with nothing fretted. Away from that open G, the first fretted root is 3 on both E strings, with the D string root at 5. One flat in the signature. Same fingering 7 semitones up spells D locrian pentatonic, meaning one map serves two tonics without relearning a thing.

homeall scalesaboutfaqpricingmicrotonalterms & conditionsprivacy policycookie policy© 2026 StringScales. All rights reserved.