What is a Chromatic Scale?
A scale is a series of musical notes arranged in ascending or descending order by pitch. There are many different scales, built around many different sets of relationships. Most classical Western music is based on scales built around an octave, or eight tones (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do). Some notes in a do-re-mi scale are a full step apart (do-re-mi) and some are only half a step apart (mi-fa, si-do). The same relationship between half and whole tones is the same, no matter what note you start. An octave can start on any note and the scale will be given the name of the note on which it starts. For example, a C scale starts on a C, a D on D, and so on.
Chromatic Scale
A chromatic scale consists of all 8 tones in the do-re-mi scale plus all the extra semitones left out when singing do-re-mi. In other words, the 12 tones in a chromatic scale are half or half-tone apart. The word “chromatic” comes from the Greek word chroma meaning “color”. The chromatic scale consists of 12 tones each half a step apart. It is from the chromatic scale that every other scale or chord is derived in most Western music. We take the chromatic scale C as an example:
