The ''in'' scale (also known as the ''Sakura'' pentatonic scale due to its use in the well-known folk song ''

Sakura Sakura , also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate ...

'') is, according to a traditional theory, one of two

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many an ...

s used in much Japanese music, excluding '' gagaku'' and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

chanting. The ''in'' scale, which contains minor notes, is used specifically in music for the ''

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'' and '' shamisen'' and is contrasted with the ''yo'' scale, which does not contain minor notes. More recent theory emphasizes that it is more useful in interpreting Japanese melody to view scales on the basis of "nuclear tones" located a fourth apart and containing notes between them, as in the ''miyako-bushi'' scale used in ''koto'' and ''shamisen'' music and whose pitches are equivalent to the ''in'' scale:

''In'' scale in the other musical traditions

In Indian classical music,

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(Hindustani), Raga Salanganata (Indian) and Karnataka Shuddha Saveri (Carnatic) are nearly identical to the pentatonic ''in'' scale, highlighting the shared past of their origins. Some rare examples of ancient genres of Andean music (e.g. k'antu) use a scale similar to the ''in'' scale combined with melody leading with a parallel fifths and fourths. For example, ''Machulas Kantu'' by

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folk group from the album ''Wiñayataqui''.

''In'' scale in the other musical traditions

See also

Sources

Further reading