In this lesson, we are going to talk about the Chromatic scale at length. It's really kind of Ironic that we are talking about the Chromatic scale in lesson number 12. Because the Chromatic scale is a 12 note scale. Initially, I asked you to memorize 13 notes from one A note to the next higher pitched A note. I had you do this so that you could recognize that playing an A string open and playing the 12th fret of an A string both involved playing an A note, with the understanding that these two A notes were 12 half steps apart. From here, we were able to generalize that no matter what note we got when playing a string open, a higher pitched version of that same note could be found on the 12th fret of that same string as well. We call this interval between two such notes an Octave. Since our pattern of notes repeats as we continue past the octave, it really doesn't matter which note we start on. For example, the interval between C and the next higher pitched C is an Octave also.


C
C sharp
D
D sharp
E
F
F sharp
G
G sharp
A
A sharp
B
C


Because the note names start repeating at the Octave, it is usually convenient to simply leave the octave out of the list and only focus on the 12 notes that remain. Doing this insures that the 12 notes which remain are truly unique as a set, such that no note in this scale is an octave with respect to any other note in the scale. A scale of 12 consecutive half steps is called a Chromatic scale.

What we are interested in is the interval lengths between the starting note C and the other notes in the Chromatic scale. Let's list the interval lengths.


C to the same C
Interval length = 0
Interval type : Unison (or a perfect prime)


C to C sharp
Interval length = 1 half step
Interval type: Minor 2nd


C to D
Interval length = 2 half steps (or one whole step)
Interval type : Major 2nd


C to D sharp
Interval = 3 half steps
Interval type : minor 3rd


C to E
Interval = 4 half steps (or two steps)
Interval type: Major 3rd.


C to f
Interval = 5 half steps
Interval type: Perfect 4th


C to F sharp
Interval = 6 half steps (or 3 whole steps)
Interval type: Diminished 5th


C to G
Interval = 7 half steps
Interval type: Perfect 5th


C to G sharp
Interval = 8 half steps (or 4 whole steps)
Interval type: minor 6th


C to A
Interval = 9 half steps
Interval type: Major 6th


C to A sharp
Interval = 10 half steps (or 5 whole steps)
Interval Type: Minor 7th


C to B
Interval = 11 half steps
Interval type: Major 7th


If we add the octave, we can also calculate its interval as well.


C to next higher C
Interval = 12 half steps (or 6 whole steps)
Interval type: Octave


I recommend copying the above information into your notes for future reference. Eventually, you will probably want to memorize this information, because it will help you to speak in the language of music theory. The language of music theory is a language of intervals primarily. It is through the use of intervals that we construct scales, chords, and other useful patterns of notes.

Up and until now, we have noticed that our chromatic scale contains notes like C and then if we move up a half step we find C sharp, for example. As we ascend a Chromatic scale, we use the convention of sharping certain notes, to indicate that we are raising in pitch as we ascend the scale. When we descend a Chromatic scale, we change our convention and speak of flatting these same notes on the way back down. So, a note like C sharp will be called D flat in this situation. In fact, let us list all the notes in a descending Chromatic scale.

B
B flat
A
A flat
G
G flat
F
E
E flat
D
D flat
C


The notes that are not labeled either sharp or flats in this fashion are called natural notes. These happen to be all the notes in the C major scale.

C, D, E, F, G, A, B

The remaining five notes in the Chromatic scale that are either sharp or flat are called Enharmonic tones.

C sharp, D sharp, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp

or

B flat, A flat, G flat, E flat, D flat

So, there are seven natural notes and five enharmonic notes, which compose the 12 notes of the Chromatic scale.

Okay, some of you reading this are probably saying, "Corey, please stop, my brain hurts already." My goal here is not to burden you with a lot of confusing music theory jargon. Rather, my goal here is to provide you with a basic background of what the Chromatic scale is and how to view it without getting too overly technical. So, if you only walk away from this lesson with the understanding that the Chromatic scale is a scale containing 12 notes, you have done well. If you understand that seven of those notes are natural notes that compose the C major scale in the example used above and the remaining five notes (refered to as sharps or flats) are Enharmonic tones, then you should give yourself a pat on the back.

For homework, I would like you to take the time to review the list of intervals we wrote out earlier. You can memorize them if you like, but it is not a requirement. A basic familiarity with the intervals should suffice to keep everyone on the same page though. And I will repeat myself enough times in future lessons as needed to make it easy for you to retain the information as you use it over and over again. So, before you know it, you'll probably be spouting intervals in your sleep.


Corey J. Bray