Japanese Scale Piano Reference With Notes & Intervals
🎹 The Japanese scale, also known as In Sen scale, is a 5-note pentatonic scale adapted from Shamisen music, similarly to the Hirajoshi scale.
Here you'll find an interactive piano reference for the Japanese scale with notes on the piano keyboard, intervals and scale formula.
Japanese Scale Intervals
The intervals of the Japanese scale are:
- Root/Prime (1P)
- Minor 2nd (2m)
- Perfect 4th (4P)
- Perfect 5th (5P)
- Minor 7th (7m)
Japanese Scale Formula
The formula for the Japanese scale is: h, 4 steps, W, (W+h), W
W: Whole step, h: Half step (semitone)
Japanese Scales Note Chart
| C | D♭ | F | G | B♭ | C | ||
| C♯ | D | F♯ | G♯ | B | C♯ | ||
| D | E♭ | G | A | C | D | ||
| D♯ | E | G♯ | A♯ | C♯ | D♯ | ||
| E | F | A | B | D | E | ||
| F | G♭ | B♭ | C | E♭ | F | ||
| F♯ | G | B | C♯ | E | F♯ | ||
| G | A♭ | C | D | F | G | ||
| G♯ | A | C♯ | D♯ | F♯ | G♯ | ||
| A | B♭ | D | E | G | A | ||
| A♯ | B | D♯ | F | G♯ | A♯ | ||
| B | C | E | F♯ | A | B |
And now here are interactive piano keyboard layouts, one for each key, where you can hear the Japanese scales being played up and down:
C Japanese Scale
notes: C D♭ F G B♭
C♯ Japanese Scale
notes: C♯ D F♯ G♯ B
D Japanese Scale
notes: D E♭ G A C
D♯ Japanese Scale
notes: D♯ E G♯ A♯ C♯
E Japanese Scale
notes: E F A B D
F Japanese Scale
notes: F G♭ B♭ C E♭
F♯ Japanese Scale
notes: F♯ G B C♯ E
G Japanese Scale
notes: G A♭ C D F
G♯ Japanese Scale
notes: G♯ A C♯ D♯ F♯
A Japanese Scale
notes: A B♭ D E G
A♯ Japanese Scale
notes: A♯ B D♯ F G♯
B Japanese Scale
notes: B C E F♯ A
Japanese Scale Chords
Here's a list of chord types that fit the Japanese scale:
- 5 (fifth)
- sus4 (suspended fourth)
- 7sus4 (suspended fourth seventh)
References to major & minor scales:
C majorC♯ majorD♭ majorD majorE♭ majorE majorF majorF♯ majorG♭ majorG majorA♭ majorA majorB♭ majorB majorC♭ major
C minor C♯ minor D♭ minorD minorD♯ minorE♭ minorE minorF minorF♯ minorG minorG♯ minorA♭ minorA minorA♯ minorB♭ minorB minor
